I believe education is encapsulated in a variety of formats. Children, as do any ordinary individual, have different educational and cultural backgrounds that merit the attention of their facilitators or teachers. I admire a classroom that is culturally and linguistically rich.

 

I believe that there is a plethora of approaches to learning that can be implemented to ease the teaching and learning process. Whether a child is physically challenged or has some form of disability, it is very likely that there's a special method a teacher or an institution can prescribe to in order to inject into that child's innate learning ability the experience of learning.

 

For example, on the first day of every semester, I always start my classes by going over many pre-distorted notions that students usually have about Math. I invalidate the notion that Math is hard as if it's reserved to a specific elite, group, or individual. I had a student who once came up to my desk at the end of class crying. I inquired about what was the matter. I thought it was probably because she was not performing well. It was rather more profound than my anticipation could convince me. She revealed that she was around 9 years old when she was told that she was a slow learner. She internalized it so deeply that she believed she was inferior to other students academically. She was shy and quiet; would not ask questions for fear of sounding unintelligent to her peers; would isolate herself in an attempt to avoid any involvement or communication related to the subject with other constituents in the class. 

 

I asked her whether she drove to come to class. She responded affirmatively. At that time she was not using a GPS. I asked if she ever thought of the complexity to drive locally and from a long distance to reach the school and other destinations from her place of residence. She admitted to have never thought of it. I asked her to imagine that someone told her at an early age that she could never drive, remember the connections that lead back and forth to any destination, or comply with the regulations pertaining to driving, if she would have been able to do it. After a long talk, she came to the self-realization that she must have been poisoned and lived through that prescription for a lifetime believing that she could not learn the way others do. She was so thankful. She became mindful of the ocean and dormant resources within herself that were there all along to tap into. 

 

I believe in empowering students. I love reinforcing to students that there's no limit to what they can learn. The only element of success they need is their desire to acquire the knowledge coupled with the belief that if anyone can do it so can they. Different approaches may lead to the same result: learning. 

 

I believe technology is a magnificent educational tool that has greatly helped transition from the traditional teacher-centered to the mostly student-centered approach. In this process, I take advantage of the immense reservoir of web 2.0 tools that a great many students use to facilitate learning both synchronously and asynchronously while adhering to the strict academic standards. In so doing, increase in participation becomes reflective of an effective learning process.