thoughts on public education

Thoughts on Education, by Sensei Ronald Panlilio Thoughts on education got to get this stuff out before I forget it all Teachers do not get paid enough for the hours and commitment they need to make, problems is some do not make the necessary commitment to love those children as if they were their own. If education is to be a top priority then they should be paid as much as we pay our entertainers and our creators of culture and products. Children are the most important resource we have, and they need to be protected and guided through their early years. So in the stead of parents who are busying generating income for their families we must have teachers that are willing to care for these children as if they were parents of those children. The only way to attract the best teachers is to pay them what they are worth. If you do not pay them enough to care for their own families then how can you expect them to make their students a top priority. Besides pay teachers need resources and support of the administration the community and the parents. They need involvement on all levels for there to be effective education. If the teachers are abandoned and alone then they will be defensive instead of proactive and leaders within their own room. If the teachers are happy then the students will be calmer and confident about themselves. It is reciprocal, the students feed the teacher and the teacher feeds the student. The teacher needs to pass on their expertise and also learn from the students because they have some knowledge and experiences that the teacher has never seen or felt regardless of age. There will always be reasons to share and continue to learn, if their is nothing more to teach then the student and teacher must seperate find new experiences then come back and share them with each other again. Learning must be continuous. Tenure is an awful thing as well because it creates lazy teachers. If there is no chance for losing your job then there is no reason to work harder to improve yourself. This applies to principals and teachers and students. If students do not work they should fail, and eventually be forced to leave school if they do not want to participate. If administrators cannot manage the money and resources of the school in a healthy way to maximize opportunities for the teachers and students then they should be removed from their position. If teachers continually have negative responses from students and parents then they should be removed or at least moved to a different position. If students and parents do not like the results then they need to seek new and better teachers. Longevity should not determine pay. Just cause you do something a long time does not mean you are good at it. Now if you put in many good years of service as a student, teacher or administrator then you should be protected in your old age, because if you do not stay sharp you may lose some of your skills and need assistance whether that assistance is physical, financial, mental, or spiritual depends on the needs of the person. And it is not just an age thing, everyone has needs and strengths at different times. But to get the most from our schools and our children we must utilize the strengths of our business and we must pool our talents to pick up for the weaknesses we may posess as individuals. Each school is a team, each class is a team and it must be treated like that. The best teams coordinate their talents towards one goal, the problem with schools is that everyone has different goals. I believe the main goal for schools should be to maximize the talents of each student and give them time to nurture their individual talents in a supportive environment. Not everyone is going to be good at reading and math, but those are basic skills that will help in most situations. Each student must study as hard as possible to learn all the knowledge that they want to know. And they must be exposed to as much information as possible so they can decide what they think will best serve them in life. Every skill and muscle needs to be trained and developed, stimulated at different rates otherwise the skill or the muscle will atrophy and you will lose some of those talents. You can use tools to accentuate those skills at times or to help in the learning process, but each individual needs those at different times and for different purposes. You need to seek people that have those skills and that knowledge. Those people may be living or dead, near or far. You can talk to them, read their books, watch them, listen to them, touch them, think about them, but you must seek them out if you wish to attain any of their knowledge. Each moment and each thought is special and part of the growing process. I have always believed that I could always learn more and always improve, always adapt to new situations if given guidance, opportunities or necessities or desire to learn. The only limits are the ones we put on ourselves through experience. Sadly other people try to put limits on other people because they have found those to be their limits. You can warn other people of the limits you have found, and if they trust you they will use those as a guideline. But if they do not trust you they will do whatever they please because they do not believe you usually because your words and your actions are contradictory.