Reflection on the Role of Education
Reflection
From an individual perspective, I believe that the role of education is varied and wide but majorly premised on learning new ideas that are aimed at addressing the contemporary problems that an individual encounters. Education should play the role of arming an individual with the requisite skills and knowledge that would enable them to navigate through the tricky life terrains in people’s day-to-day lives. To a great extent, my perception of the purpose of education aligns with Chomsky’s assertion that education should “help people determine how to learn on their own” (Chomsky, 2012). Therefore, education should create a platform upon which an individual realizes continued learning, as Benjamin (1939) espouses. According to Benjamin (1939), the “essence of education is timelessness, and an individual should always strive to change,” look for innovations based on the contemporary problems they encounter. Based on the above assertions, I believe that the role of education in my life should go beyond the traditional aspects of bequeathing me with requisite knowledge and skills needed to excel in life but also prepare me holistically to address varied challenges in the society.
Formal schooling activities would lay a formidable ground for ensuring that I effectively attain the enlightenment, imagination, and creativity needed to address the day-to-day problems that I will encounter and question the rationality of diverse issues in the society. On the other hand, informal schooling that manifests through my hobbies and engagement in different co-curricular activities is instrumental will develop holistically in society. Therefore, I believe that based on my expectations, education will not act as a tool of indoctrination and conformation to the existing societal ideals and values but would immensely modify my perception regarding actions and help me become a better person holistically as Chomsky (2012) espouses. In that regard, my goals for education in SFU is to ensure that I am well-informed, I use education as a platform for fostering my timeless learning, and being whole-rounded in the society through the incorporation of both skills and knowledge learned in formal school set-up and enhancement of talents nurtured through informal schooling.
Based on the above individual purposes and goals for education, I believe that I perfectly fit in President Petter’s vision for what education in SFU strives to attain. According to Petter (2012), SFU strives to establish itself as an engaged university, a university that immensely engages students, research, and the communities interdependently to ensure that learning is enhanced and all the aspects of learning take into account multiple aspects life. Further, through such engagement, Petter (2012) notes that students will be in a position to make discoveries and develop aptitudes for life-long knowledge in life. Therefore, I believe that through my desire to achieve holistic learning during my time at SFU, I would effectively attain the cultural knowledge, experiences, skills, and knowledge through the engagement of local communities and use my hobbies to develop effectively.
References
Benjamin, H.R. (1939). In Saber-tooth Curriculum: Including other lectures in the history of paleolithic education (pp. 154-159). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Chomsky, N. (2012). Learning without frontiers. Purpose of education. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdNAUJWJN08
Petter, A. (2012). SFU’s President Vision of SFU AS Canada’s Leading Engaged University. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H_GvkWomuo