RWL Assignment 2 (13/05/2014)
skills and competences relevant today... tomorrow... always...?
Life is not static, it changes and its priorities are changing as well. What was important yesterday is not relevant today and will not be valued in the future. Throughout the years, educational scholars have continuously emphasized the importance of “relation between the processes of actual experience and education” (Dewey, 1997, p. 20). Thus, education should be focused on present experience, taking into consideration the past core concepts to build a bridge to the future. The
paper attempts to analyze important 21 century skills from personal experience
perspective.
I haven’t been a student for ovedr 9 years. After such a long break I appeared to be in a totally new educational environment where I faced with a Critical Thinking problem. I feel that the development of this skill was missing in my background; therefore, currently I experience certain difficulties with my studies. From my previous experience I learned how to memorize the enormous amount of information and recall when needed. That time the educated person was the one who could put others’ words into the conversation and operate with the facts. Time passed and now this ability does not really help as I am expected to express my own opinion and to make critical decisions every day. I believe in the Digital Age it is very important to have strong critical thinking, analytical, and logical skills to be able to make the right choices in any aspect of life and not to drown in the flood of information. I have been a teacher for 9 years. During these years I had noticed that students were actively engaged in boring activities if they were presented in an artistic way. Art is not only a great way to express ourselves but to develop thinking, logical, creative, speaking skills and imagination. |
In fact, Arts & Crafts enhance the brain’s work, reduce stress and increase confidence. I believe that Arts & Crafts can be easily applied to a variety of subject: literature, math, languages, science etc. In this case, the process of creation is more important than the final product. It does not matter how good you are at painting, creative writing, singing, or dancing if you can open up freely you can make a difference in your life and society as the whole.
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I have been pursuing a professional
career for about 11 years. Through trial-and-error method I developed
communication
and collaboration skills in order to perform work in a
professional, creative, and effective manner. They say life is the best teacher but sometimes
its lesson lasts for too long and you miss great opportunities. Therefore, I believe
that educators should encourage students to learn mother and foreign languages;
support team work and students’ personal discovery to form their own notions. Even if they do not understand the importance
of these skills at the moment this knowledge will help them to find their own way later. Since
we live in a Digital Age computer literacy is an essential skill as well. Students
should be given an opportunity to explore the amazing world of technology and develop
skills that can be applied no matter how fast new devices or apps are
being developed.
I have been a human being for over 30 years. My life experience formed my philosophy, “You can be a poor educated person but you cannot be an inhuman one.” So, here comes other competence that should be developed – Self/Cultural/Global awareness. Being tolerant to differences and accepting your own and other people’s individuality you make the world a safe and exciting place to live in. To make the world a better place you should respect not only people around you but natural environment. We should stop being consumers and start thinking of the next generation if we want life to go on. I believe each person has his own important list of skills; however, we should always remember Dewey’s philosophy, “Education is a social process; education is growth; education is not a preparation for life but is life itself.” (as cited in Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2010, p.177).
I have been a human being for over 30 years. My life experience formed my philosophy, “You can be a poor educated person but you cannot be an inhuman one.” So, here comes other competence that should be developed – Self/Cultural/Global awareness. Being tolerant to differences and accepting your own and other people’s individuality you make the world a safe and exciting place to live in. To make the world a better place you should respect not only people around you but natural environment. We should stop being consumers and start thinking of the next generation if we want life to go on. I believe each person has his own important list of skills; however, we should always remember Dewey’s philosophy, “Education is a social process; education is growth; education is not a preparation for life but is life itself.” (as cited in Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2010, p.177).
My Students' Art
Assignments: Listen and Draw, Explain the Saying, Make an Example of a Preposition etc.
References
Dewey, J. (1997). Experience and education. New York, NY: Touchstone. (Original work published 1938).
Tokuhama-Espinosa, T. (2010). Mind, brain, and education science: A comprehensive guide to the new brain-based teaching. WW Norton & Company.
Tokuhama-Espinosa, T. (2010). Mind, brain, and education science: A comprehensive guide to the new brain-based teaching. WW Norton & Company.