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What's the Purpose of Education?!

What do you see as the purpose of education?  Why might innovation be crucial in education?

In my head it's hard to come up with the 'purpose' of education because it seems like such an enormous idea that encompasses so much more than classrooms, books, and tests.  

 I'll do my best, but forgive the run-on sentences that may follow.  I think the purpose of education is to help students reach their potential.  I think educators are required to challenge students to prepare themselves for both the known and unknown.  Learners must be provided a safe place to take risks, ask questions, search for answers, share opinions, fail, and try again.  The purpose of education is to empower those that feel powerless, to help them see that their circumstances don't define them, and that they can find a better way.  I think education should encourage problem, ideas, and solutions and embrace new ways to do things. Our job as educators is to provide an environment in which learning is a desire for all students, no matter where they are.

 I see innovation in education as a requirement, not an option.  Information is readily available at our fingertips, any time we want it.  I know that I Google at least 20 questions each and everyday, and I don't have to depend on anyone else to get the information I need.  However, information at the ready, is not the key to creating a world of learners.  We have to utilize that information along with our students, our greatest asset in our schools!  Collaborating, and connecting our students inside and outside our buildings is key, so that we can all learn from one another, always.  

 Thanks to Dave Burgess I am moving forward, not focussing on those that don't want change, but helping those that are ready.  I want to continue to build upon the success we're having with our students, and let the story unfold, with other watching.  I want to grow the pockets of innovation in my schools so that the others WANT to grow and change in their profession.

   


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  1. CathySeptember 24, 2016 at 6:37 PM

    This: "Learners must be provided a safe place to take risks, ask questions, search for answers, share opinions, fail, and try again."

    Looking forward to continued conversation.
    Cathy

    ReplyDelete

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