The Essence of Education

The current educational system the world over which is based on the Prussian model came into being in late 18^th century. The basic aim of the Prussian model was to teach basic technical skills such as reading and writing, but also music (singing) and religious (Christian) education in close cooperation with the churches. In Ghana, the initial aim of education was to educate children that the slave masters had with their African wives and to train people to spread the gospel. A lot has changed since then but our educational system remains the same in terms of what it seeks to achieve. This has resulted in a huge disconnect between the quality of graduate produced and the quality of work force industries require. There has being lots of attempts to reform education in Ghana but no attempts have been made to transform it.

There is a huge difference between these two words; to reform something is to make changes in order to improve it. However, to transform means to make a marked change in the form, nature, or appearance of an institution. This means that all previous attempts made as far as education reforms was concerned were to make slight changes to an already existing system that did not work. It is very clear that this approach to changing education has done little to improve our system that continues to produce dysfunctional graduates. So what must education seek to achieve in the 21^st century?

21^st Century Education

In his book Creative Schools, author and 21^st century education guru Sir Ken Robinson emphasize that education should be about helping kids discover talents and interests that lie within them. He considers this absolutely critical. Secondly it should help them understand the world around them so they can become compassionate and productive citizens. The era where schools were modelled along the assembly line concept where students are grouped according to the date of manufacture (Date of birth) has outlived its usefulness. What we require in the 21^st century is an education system that groups children in terms of their capabilities and helps unearth the hidden talent in each child. Therefore, the one size fit all approach to educating our children only guarantees us a nation of individuals enduring life instead of enjoying life. For this to be realized, key stakeholders such as government, schools, parents and teachers must know the roles and play them well. So what must key stakeholders such as government, schools, teachers and parents do to realize this objective.

Government

Governments over the years have made education in this country a political issue. As the framers of educational policies they should be seen to be neutral. Governments must also ensure that schools are equipped with the right material and human resources. Unfortunately, governments over the years have not helped much. In an era where digital technologies are being used all over the world to get education to the majority of people, broadband internet is still very expensive and a luxury in Ghana. In an era where coding (programming) is considered a right in some jurisdiction to be as important as reading and numeracy, we still continue to lag behind as a nation. Our ICT curriculum in basic schools only end up equipping students with basic computer literacy skills instead of programming skills that have wider application in the world. What our government must do is to ensure that there is electricity and internet access in every basic school in Ghana and also introduce basic programming into the ICT curriculum. By sending broad band internet to our school, students can begin to learn on their own even if there are no teachers physically present. There are lots of massive open online courses on platforms like Khan Academy, Edx, Coursera that can be utilized by students to learn on their own.

Schools

Schools must create the right environment that enables balanced, individualized and creative approaches to learning. In that sense over concentration of the STEM (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics) only seeks to kill the creativity of students with other skills. It is rather sad that most schools in Accra and other municipalities do not have any avenues where students with talent in the creative arts and sports can flourish. When I was in JHS, the teachers in my school ignorantly advised us on which courses we should choose based our scores in class and not based on our talent. This has lead to many of us ending up in professions we do not have passion for. Some educators even create the impression that some subjects are more important than others instead of putting equal premium on each subject. Students who perform well in subjects such as humanities and the arts are not given as much praise as their colleagues who do well in the sciences. Schools must encourage each student irrespective of their talent.

Teachers

The role of the teacher in the education process cannot be overemphasized. Of the four major stakeholders, a good education can still thrive without three of them; government, schools and parents. Therefore education cannot take place without the principal actors who are the teachers whether physically present or online. Teachers are very important to any success story in education since they are at the forefront of the educational system. Unfortunately, what we see in most school systems is that teachers are poorly motivated and disrespected. This has ended up creating teachers who are not satisfied on the job, no wonder most of them end up leaving the profession when they find other opportunities elsewhere. There is the need for schools to do all within their means to keep their human capital which is its most important asset. This can be achieved through regular training to help them improve on the teaching skills and good salaries. The role of teachers as a repository of knowledge is fast changing to those who can help facilitate learning and guide children to learn on their own.

Parents

Parents play an important role in their children’s education; first because they themselves are their first teachers of these children. However, most parents are not changing with the times. They are offering the same advice and approach to parenting like their great grandparents did. Instead of parents to carefully monitor their children and look out for the things they naturally enjoy doing, most parents prefer to impose their chosen careers on their children. What this does to that child is that they go through their entire life doing what their parents wanted and not what they are passionate about. Some parents are so obsessed with money that they hardly spend any quality time with the kids to know their interest. What parents must do is to liaise with teachers to know the talent and passion of their wards and create the necessary environment by means of encouragement, advice and funding to enable them develop these talents. What we rather tend to see is parents discouraging their children from pursuing their passion in certain fields especially the arts. We have all heard about numerous stars of today whose parents used any means including beating them up to discourage them from pursuing their passion to rather go to school and learn how to memorize stuff. I remember an interview where Samuel Osei Kufour, a former Bayern Munich and Blackstars of Ghana defender, narrated how as a young boy he was advised to desist from playing football by his mum but later ended up as one of the best defenders in world football. As a teacher, unfortunately what you  notice when you meet parents is their obsession with marks. I am not seeking to say that parents should not show concern when their kids don’t do well in school but rather what I seek to put across is that you cannot measure a child’s intelligence or how they will turn out in life based on school test. There is a lot more to the intelligence of a child than just basing it on test scores. I will throw more light on ways schools can get the best out of their children in subsequent articles.

The author is an educational consultant and IT teacher at Tema International School. He can be reached on 0200112201 or email at ericampah2003@gmail.com

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10 Benefits of Reading: Why You Should Read Every Day

When was the last time you read a book, or a substantial magazine article? Do your daily reading habits center around tweets, Facebook updates, or the directions on your instant oatmeal packet? If you’re one of countless people who don’t make a habit of reading regularly, you might be missing out: reading has a significant number of benefits, and just a few benefits of reading are listed below.

1. Mental Stimulation

Studies have shown that staying mentally stimulated can slow the progress of (or possibly even prevent) Alzheimer’s and Dementia, since keeping your brain active and engaged prevents it from losing power. Just like any other muscle in the body, the brain requires exercise to keep it strong and healthy, so the phrase “use it or lose it” is particularly apt when it comes to your mind. Doing puzzles and playing games such as chess have also been found to be helpful with cognitive stimulation.

2. Stress Reduction

No matter how much stress you have at work, in your personal relationships, or countless other issues faced in daily life, it all just slips away when you lose yourself in a great story. A well-written novel can transport you to other realms, while an engaging article will distract you and keep you in the present moment, letting tensions drain away and allowing you to relax.

3. Knowledge

Everything you read fills your head with new bits of information, and you never know when it might come in handy. The more knowledge you have, the better-equipped you are to tackle any challenge you’ll ever face.

Additionally, here’s a bit of food for thought: should you ever find yourself in dire circumstances, remember that although you might lose everything else—your job, your possessions, your money, even your health—knowledge can never be taken from you.

4. Vocabulary Expansion

This goes with the above topic: the more you read, the more words you gain exposure to, and they’ll inevitably make their way into your everyday vocabulary. Being articulate and well-spoken is of great help in any profession, and knowing that you can speak to higher-ups with self-confidence can be an enormous boost to your self-esteem. It could even aid in your career, as those who are well-read, well-spoken, and knowledgeable on a variety of topics tend to get promotions more quickly (and more often) than those with smaller vocabularies and lack of awareness of literature, scientific breakthroughs, and global events.

Reading books is also vital for learning new languages, as non-native speakers gain exposure to words used in context, which will ameliorate their own speaking and writing fluency.

5. Memory Improvement

When you read a book, you have to remember an assortment of characters, their backgrounds, ambitions, history, and nuances, as well as the various arcs and sub-plots that weave their way through every story. That’s a fair bit to remember, but brains are marvellous things and can remember these things with relative ease. Amazingly enough, every new memory you create forges new synapses (brain pathways)and strengthens existing ones, which assists in short-term memory recall as well as stabilizing moods. How cool is that?

6. Stronger Analytical Thinking Skills

Have you ever read an amazing mystery novel, and solved the mystery yourself before finishing the book? If so, you were able to put critical and analytical thinking to work by taking note of all the details provided and sorting them out to determine “whodunnit”.

That same ability to analyze details also comes in handy when it comes to critiquing the plot; determining whether it was a well-written piece, if the characters were properly developed, if the storyline ran smoothly, etc. Should you ever have an opportunity to discuss the book with others, you’ll be able to state your opinions clearly, as you’ve taken the time to really consider all the aspects involved.

7. Improved Focus and Concentration

In our internet-crazed world, attention is drawn in a million different directions at once as we multi-task through every day. In a single 5-minute span, the average person will divide their time between working on a task, checking email, chatting with a couple of people (via gchat, skype, etc.), keeping an eye on twitter, monitoring their smartphone, and interacting with co-workers. This type of ADD-like behaviour causes stress levels to rise, and lowers our productivity.

When you read a book, all of your attention is focused on the story—the rest of the world just falls away, and you can immerse yourself in every fine detail you’re absorbing. Try reading for 15-20 minutes before work (i.e. on your morning commute, if you take public transit), and you’ll be surprised at how much more focused you are once you get to the office.

8. Better Writing Skills

This goes hand-in-hand with the expansion of your vocabulary: exposure to published, well-written work has a noted effect on one’s own writing, as observing the cadence, fluidity, and writing styles of other authors will invariably influence your own work. In the same way that musicians influence one another, and painters use techniques established by previous masters, so do writers learn how to craft prose by reading the works of others.

9. Tranquility

In addition to the relaxation that accompanies reading a good book, it’s possible that the subject you read about can bring about immense inner peace and tranquility. Reading spiritual texts can lower blood pressure and bring about an immense sense of calm, while reading self-help books has been shown to help people suffering from certain mood disorders and mild mental illnesses.

10. Free Entertainment

Though many of us like to buy books so we can annotate them and dog-ear pages for future reference, they can be quite pricey. For low-budget entertainment, you can visit your local library and bask in the glory of the countless tomes available there for free. Libraries have books on every subject imaginable, and since they rotate their stock and constantly get new books, you’ll never run out of reading materials.

If you happen to live in an area that doesn’t have a local library, or if you’re mobility-impaired and can’t get to one easily, most libraries have their books available in PDF or ePub format so you can read them on your e-reader, iPad, or your computer screen. There are also many sources online where you can download free e-books, so go hunting for something new to read!

There’s a reading genre for every literate person on the planet, and whether your tastes lie in classical literature, poetry, fashion magazines, biographies, religious texts, young adult books, self-help guides, street lit, or romance novels, there’s something out there to capture your curiosity and imagination. Step away from your computer for a little while, crack open a book, and replenish your soul for a little while.

Source: lifehack.org

Important manners everyone must know before age 10

Today’s world is considered are global village hence we are not limited to only what happens our immediate environment but also what happens elsewhere. We are expected to think globally and act locally but there are certain values which are considered global. In this piece I try to put together certain deeds that make people around us feel like human beings.

Say please: Saying please when requesting others to do something for you is a sure way to getting them to do it even if they don’t feel like it. Saying please shows the other person that you respect them and that you are not using them as a means to achieve your goal.

I am sorry: As human as we are, we are imperfect. From time to time we offend the people around us. Learning to say sorry and saying it at the right time helps to sustain the relationship we have with people we may have offended. Some people think that by saying sorry we are demeaning ourselves but rather the opposite happens. It tells the person you have offended that you have a fellow feeling and that you care about how they feel. When we offend other people, in most cases is the person at the receiving end of the offence who suffers because it is the ego that is hurt. By refusing to say sorry you make them go through moments of emotional pain and loss of self-respect.

Say thank you: Saying thank you is one the most important etiquette every human being can learn. Since we are interdependent on each other, it is the case that people will offer you services that you may not be able to offer yourself. Saying thank you for such deed tells the other person that you appreciate what they have done for you and that they are one of a kind. By refusing to say thank you, you are not only considered as ungrateful but also you deny others of the opportunity to experience the similar favour from your benefactor and other people who will be informed of your ungratefulness. 

Always lend help if you can: Make it part of your plan every day to at least give help to one person who cannot pay you back either in kind or in cash. When we are kind to others merely due to the fact that they can pay us back then we have already received our reward here on earth. The Bible makes it emphatically clear in Ephesians 6:8  “Knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free”. This means that the good we do unto others will come back to us in equal measure pressed down and shaken but the motive for doing good must not be because we will receive reward since it makes us selfish.

Give your seat to others: Growing up as a kid, it was highly distasteful for a child to sit whiles an adult stood. Children were expected to give their seats to adults. The only condition under which an adult stood and a child sat was on health grounds or if the adult refused the offer but these days that culture is gradually changing. Young people don’t deem it necessary to offer such gestures to adults. This is a clear indication that we care less about each other.

Learn to pronounce people’s name correctly: The sweetest words for everyone is their name. Most people find it very offensive when their names are pronounced wrongly. A good rule of thumb is to ask the person to pronounce their name to you. That way the chances that you will make mistakes are minimized.

Pay attention: In this day and age where we are surrounded by technology, it a common sight to see people not paying attention during conversations. The average person has one of these three devices; a phone, tablet or a PC and is on various social media platforms. This means that people are increasingly engaged in virtual conversations. Platforms like Whatapp and Facebook can be very addictive and hence make us spend less and less time with our loved ones. These devices and platforms are good but we need to manage them otherwise they will manage us. Texting and whatsapping has created problems for some marriage couples. A good rule will be to agree with your partner that phones are not allowed in bed.

Don’t interrupt others when they are speaking. Not training your child not to get into conversations they are not invited to can be very embarrassing at times for parents. Sometimes parents are not discrete about sensitive conversations at home. They allow children to sit around whiles such conversations are going on thinking that they are not listening to what is going on. Children being inquisitive listen in on these conversations and blow the whistle at unusual place causing parents a lot of embarrassment.  

Excuse me. Learning to say excuse me when it matters is very important. It will prevent you from making unwanted enemies.

Avoid bad comments about others. Always learn to say good things about other people. If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t talk. Learning to love others as yourself will help you not to fall into this trap and also avoiding the company of people who are always speaking evil of others helps a lot. Remember, they will say the say the things about you in your absence.

5 websites that can change your life

Many of us go online every day to read news and access other information. Sometimes the net can be a boring platform if you don’t really know where to find good stuff that will enhance your knowledge and make you a better person. In this post, I am going to share with you some websites that will make your time online more useful and productive.

Coursera, is a one stop website for hundreds of courses delivered by expects from around the world. The good news is that it is for free. If you have the desire to educate yourself but don’t have the financial resources to help you accomplish that feat then your problems are over. All you need is high speed internet and the time. You can participate in courses moderated by top notch professors from ivy league schools and other educational institutions around the world. Udacity, Khanacademy and EdX are three other sites that operate like coursera. Another good thing about these courses is that you get to meet other people from all over the world with whom you can form partnerships and share ideas. You can even get a certificate to show you partook in such a course if you carry out all assignments given for the duration of the course.

YouTube is a video streaming website that streams both live and recorded videos. It is a fantastic site in the sense that it has helped many people to expose their talent to the world. For instance musician Justin Bieber became a star because his parents were able to use the youtube platform to give him free exposure. They recorded his guitar playing skills and posted it on youtube and within a matter of hours, many people saw the talent that this young chap had. In the end it culminated with him getting a contract with a major record label and the rest is history. Youtube has been my top website for learning new you stuffs or anything I am ignorant about. I will particularly encourage teachers to visit the site since it has videos of most of the things taught in the classroom which may be abstract. It is also a place where upcoming businesses can advertise their products for free by doing a short video of their product and uploading it. Many footballers have used this platform to advertise the footballing skills to the rest of the world.

Ted website contains thousands of inspiring speeches on relevant issues around the world. Most of these are short speeches of individuals who are making a difference in their carriers and communities. These speeches are from people who are role models and an example to their generation. Such individuals such as former Vice-President Al Gore, BBC anchor Komla Dumor, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda, Sir Ken Robinson, ace investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, Bono, author Malcolm Gladwell etc have all used the ted platform to share with the world. These inspiring speeches are recorded and uploaded from ted conferences which are held around the world.

Alltop is a web aggregator that gathers news on all subjects from archeology to zoology. If you want to read news articles on a specific subject, then that should be the website of choice for you. For instance, if you want news on specific subject such as project management, education, gaming or babies all at one place then just visit this site and click on the appropriate alphabet that begins the issue  you are looking for and read news articles from all over the world on that issue.

The BBC website in my opinion is the most comprehensive and detailed website ever. Most people think it is only a news website but there is a lot more to that site than just news. It is a news websites as well as a learning website for kids especially those doing the GCSE syllabus which might be similar to many other syllabuses for kids around the same age in other parts of the world. It has hundreds of podcast of BBC programs on various issues like technology, culture, parenting, science, auto, religion and many more.