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The Life Aspect of Education

There is a “life” aspect to education that many teachers often become blind to. It is concerned with the relevance to life not only of the subject matter but also of the teacher’s way of teaching. Blindness to this important aspect becomes intensified when teachers feel compelled to finish the required subject matters to be covered and they start to pressure students to catch up with the lessons according to a certain schedule or pace.

The syllabus becomes all-important. It is rammed into the students regardless of whether they are really learning or not, whether they are enjoying it or not, whether it is relevant to them or not. Subject learning becomes more important than life education.

The Significance of Learning a Subject

I once had a elementary school teacher in music who required us to memorize the different keys (key of F, G, etc.) and how they are sequenced (G, D, A, E, B, F). We had to know what a G clef or a bar or a quarter rest is, and we pass or fail the music subject depending upon whether we can answer exam questions on these. I remember that I was beginning to develop a distaste of the subject as we went on in the semester. Then one day, this teacher was sick and couldn’t teach. A math teacher substituted for her. With a smile in his face, and an enthusiasm in his manner, he led us in fun singing, and then explained along the way why that song was a 4/4 or a 3/4. It was the fun of singing first that he tried to instill, and then gave the technicalities afterwards. Although he taught only for one or two days, this substitute teacher influenced me in my amateur interest in music. It is possible that I might have developed a distaste for music today had I only learned music the way the other teacher was drilling us.

What is the real significance of music to the human life? To the vast majority of people, it is appreciation of music, not its production or composition. Only a small percentage of people need to master chords, harmonics, keys, and other such things about music.

    There is a life aspect to teaching. It is not just a matter of meeting the requirements of the lesson plans. Knowing the different music keys is far less important than developing a love for music. After all, how many students in a class of grade 6 students will eventually become professional musicians? I would far rather let them flunk in the technicalities of music but learn to love music, than to pass music exams and develop a hatred of it.

    Love of Learning

Love of learning about a subject is far more important than learning facts or formulas about the subject. In the former case, the students will become self-motivated to learn more about the subject by themselves. In the latter, the students tend to study the subject just to pass the exam, and are ready to drop and forget it once the semester is over. Such knowledge becomes virtually useless to life.

When teachers are too absorbed with the lesson plan schedule, they tend to hurry up and pressure students to learn things without preparing the students to be in a state of mind to absorb and learn. They neglect spending time to motivate students or arouse their interest in the subject matter. They consider such efforts as wasted time that could have been devoted to cover the required subject matters. This results in the student just cramming to pass the subject, and not developing a wholesome interest in it.

    In life, such a way of learning is counter-productive. The students don’t learn how to learn. They sometimes even develop a phobia or hatred of the subject. When they have become professionals, teachers, or executives, they nurture inferiority complexes when it comes to certain fields, such as mathematics, language, science, etc.

    Developing a genuine interest in the subject is almost always more important than memorizing facts about the subject just to pass exams.

Life Lessons from Each Teacher

There is another kind of life education that teachers ignore.

Every single class day, teachers are imparting life lessons to the students while they are teaching history, biology, mathematics or any subject whatsoever. A harsh and tyrannical teacher is imparting the lesson that it is all right to use bullying and oppressive tactics when you have the authority. This attitude may later reflect in the parenting style of the students after they get married; or their management style when they assume higher positions.

The way the teachers talk, the way they handle conflicts and problems, the way they interact with other people, their enthusiasm - all these affect the students in very significant ways.

It is a sad mistake for mathematics teachers, for example,  to think that their duty is just to let the students learn mathematics, and that their temper is their own personal business. There are teachers who almost take pleasure in scaring students with their sharp stares and threatening language in order to motivate the students to pass math exams. The student may learn how to solve trigonometric problems but they also acquire something worse: fear of authority, dislike of the subject, or hostility as a method of dealing with people.