Is this upside down enough, or what? It’s presumptuous to consider myself educated, yet it is fair to say that I have been educated. Of the layers upon layers of education that have taken place through this lifetime, what is the nature of what has been learned? The evaluation of the learned teachings ranges; from the sure, to the sublime, to subliminal. The teachers have also ranged. Some teachers care about who they’re teaching, some care about the subject, some perhaps both. Some educators may revere posterity, some may care primarily about themselves. The objective quality of an education relies on the root. What is the education rooted in? Is it rooted in helping someone gain skills which will help them become their own best selves, or to become what effective commodities of the educating system itself? What is the basic mission of the education programs in which I’ve been involved? How much propaganda makes it into the curriculum?
Well, I personally broke ranks with, what I believe, is the standard mission of education some time ago. Which is basically to make students subjects of the machine that is running the education system. The pursuit of a variety of versions of instruction on themes of social studies, religion/spirituality, philosophy, physics/metaphysics, anthropology, chemistry/alchemy, energy/free energy, and HISTORY has been a growing experience of wonder. The experience of life, and the expressions of this experience one provides, expands greatly with the consideration of the possibility of knowing that the standard education process has had its way with us, and we’ve got a lot to learn. The primary reason for having been left with this wide open field of unexplored education is because the standardized teaching has capped curiosity with belief. The rooted, supported, and reinforced belief system installed by educations is standardized. By design standardized education cuts off the nourishment for effective criticism and growth. The resultant belief system is so doggone rigid that it strangles the imagination, undercuts the ability to conceive, and makes any “outside the box” theme unbelievable. Students are at the mercy of the system’s objectives, and (very importantly) the quality of the character of the teachers. The products of education indoctrination are profound. Profound yet transcend-able.
A most hopeful, and sort of tragic, aspect of the modern world’s teaching, learning, and believing systems is the spirit in which it has been delivered. The teacher and the school’s culture is an enormous factor in the quality of the learning process. We can’t escape our humanity. An example that frequently comes to mind is from a grade school teacher I had the privilege to spend time in the classroom with as an aid. The year was 2002. A preeminent theme at the time was 911. This particular teacher was, in my view, progressive, disciplined, organized, fair, and genuinely seemed to care about the kids in the class. The attending rhetorical rap, regarding world news, delivered by this teacher was straight out of traditional media. It did, also include some opinion. At the time it felt like steering. As time has gone on, the realization has become critical. Any repetition of the standard narration on the 911 story in order to instruct, or teach, is wrong. This is the metaphor for all our education. Consider the source.
Learning takes place all the time. Generally speaking, the world is our classroom; the occupants are our teachers. It is absolutely critical that I learn how to learn. Once a, so called, fact has been accepted a belief is established. The lengths that we as people will go to to protect beliefs is far out. Challenges are not welcome. The unwelcoming place is a closed minded place. Even the slightest departure from the standard narration is unbelievable for many. Objectively speaking, this has a critical effect on the overall experience we are all sharing. Our everything is a function of the completeness of the beliefs and the known. In many ways, our collective world experience includes a very real amount of stress, confusion, illness, violence, disillusion, and injustice. It really is hard to believe that with all the advancements in technology that the modern world would ever suffer as intensely as it surely appears to be. Something is seriously lacking here. This I believe has a lot to do with what we do, and do not, really know. The whole idea that people don’t, in mass, take a greater interest in critically researching this world, human culture, the raw teachings of civilization, and the freaking crazy contradictions that we’re fed on a daily basis blows my mind. This is unbelievable.