I have taken the liberty to adapt and paraphrase an excerpt which may/ may not describe your present experience as you struggle between assignments and finals for this course. I just want to know if you agree/ disagree with the writer.
... I was sitting in the midst of papers, pencils, PC's and books. My head was throbbing with the weight of the information that I was cramming into it. But why was I working so hard on this assignment? It was not as though I could not teach without it. I know that I would graduate anyway. Besides, I may never teach ESP. So, what was this obsession to produce a worthwhile product. It suddenly occurred to me that after involving myself in the needs analysis, reading up all those articles on my learners, preparing for the FYP, loosing sleep, skipping meals, rushing to classes and forcing thoughts on paper, I was actually enjoying what I was doing! No, I didn't really mean the minimal sleep and long hours of studying, endless lectures. But what I noticed was that I was learning, my lecturers were actually listening to me. I performed well during my FYP presentation. My mind was soaking up ideas and I could see the larger picture. A lot of what I had studied all these years in the university actually make sense. Now, I do not want to miss anything. I can think rationally, my opinions matter and I want to make a difference in the society in which I live. That is why education is so important to me.
Do any of you see your education this way?
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I agree with the writer that learning should happen that way but honestly my behavior towards learning is not as positive as hers. Even though I am not as diligent as her in learning, as a future teacher I still have the attitude to make a difference in the society in which I live. Everyone should learn in order to make a better individual, society and a better life ahead..that is why learning is important for human being.
ReplyDeleteOf course in the beginning of our learning process, we did not able to realize the pattern of the learning or education. In my opinion, experience is the best teacher of knowledge. Then we will able to integrate the knowledge in our life. The writer was lucky because all his hard works are paid, how about those who are unlucky, who had tried their best however not able to achieve their goals or objectives. So, during this tough situation, we need to be brave to face the failure. Failure is not the end of our world. However, it is a lesson for us to reflect and improve our weaknesses and plan for other strategy. Then we will able see the pattern in education or the process of our learning.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree on the role of education in our life. Through education, we embrace ourselves with state-of-the-art of knowledge and acquire the skills are needed for employment.It is through education, I apply the knowledge and skills that I had for employment and living skills. There is a dim chance for me to design either conduct the ESP course, but who knows what future wait for me. The basic ideas on what ESP is all about has developed awareness for me to accomodate the learners' needs and improve their language competencies.First, self-improvement on every aspects before assisting others for similar reasons.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it can't be disputed that education is very important. For many of us, it's the only way to improve our lives. However, that doesn't stop many of us from wondering what some courses are for. I'm sure many of us think certain subjects are unimportant in the big scheme of things, but then again, to each his own. One man's meat is another's poison, and what might seem useless to us (whether it be assignments or stuff) could mean the world to someone else on the other side of the world.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with the writer. Learning is not a simple and easy process. We need to get through a lot of things for us to succeed. Take the process of building a house as an example, in order to build a house; we need to lay its foundation first and the quality of the foundation will determine the stability of the house. This is the same for knowledge; it is built up bit by bit with a lot of hard work, tears, sacrifices and etc. Looking back at the four years in the TESL programme, frankly speaking, at first, I did not what my learning has to do with my future career. The courses that we had undergone were not easy and it seemed to be not related to our future career. However, as time goes by, I began to see the importance and relevance of them. Knowledge is never too much and useless. There is still a long way to go and a lot more things to learn and I am learning everyday…
ReplyDeleteI do agree with the writer. Education is important but it is not easy to understand all the things that we are learned. Throughout the years of studying, I have been struggling to understand and learn. Even though I might not doing well in the courses, at least I have learn new things. Besides, I think that we do not just learn from the education that we get, but we also learn from the things that happen surround us. Experiences that we faced teach us in some sense and we do learn from it. Learning is ongoing and never ending.=p
ReplyDeleteI do agree with the writer that learning play an important role in our life. Even though learning required us to sacrifice and losing something in our life (loosing sleep, skipping meals, rushing to classes and forcing thoughts on paper)but the outcome from we have done can make us smile to ourselves later on.I may never teach ESP course later on but the knowledge that i gained in this course gave me an insights in order to be a good future teacher..hopefully. As mentioned by Dr.Shanti in her class, it is not about the product but the process in learning..we learn from each other and from the mistakes. Thus, the experience that we gained from the courses that we had undergone can be used in the future as knowledge has no expired date and we can use it a life time.
ReplyDeleteFor me, education is the foundation for each of us to survive in this real world. Without any knowledge in hand, it is hard to be what we want to be and to success in life.
ReplyDeleteMaulana Wahiduddin Khan said "Education is the knowledge of putting one's potentials to maximum use. One can safely say that a human being is not in the proper sense till he is educated"
I really attracted to this quote as it do reflect this importance of education for human being. It tells man how to think and how to make decision. In short,education makes man a right thinker.
well, I do agree with the part where the writer asks, "But why was I working so hard on this assignment? It was not as though I could not teach without it. I know that I would graduate anyway." i've always asked myself this question because i don't see the rewards given to me after all the hard work, yet, i do agree the education is important. But (there is always a but)what i learnt in university was not solely on knowledge but on how to "survive" in the society in the future and how to deal with various people that i've never met before.... i am sure that the knowledge that we learnt here will be applicable one day, yet, the network is much more vital.
ReplyDeleteOh, first of all, I would say that nothing is easy in this world,haha...Education world, school days, university days-all have it's own difficulties or ups and downs. I agree with the writer but some parts maybe sound idealistic. Anyway, overall, i agree. What matters at the end of the day is the experience that we gain; the process-that's exactly the word.Knowledge is made of little pieces of everything, believe it or not.What may seem not important today, may become important in the other day. So, whether it's ups or downs or whatever, what matters is we learn something, even a little. After all, the biggest room in our lives is the room for improvements.
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ReplyDeleteFor me, the education is very important and thus, it must be life-long. Honestly, i do not read the materials/books that were required for TESL courses, for past three years the only novel required in literature courses that i did succesfully completely read was "Things Fall Apart". Sometimes, I really feel like an iiliterate in TESL. In the process of doing FYP, i did realized that disability for me to digest those articles perhaps i lack of academic reading skills and interets. Surprisingly, i learnt something new in my life, the spirit of a researcher to find the most related materials which trained the patience and commitment. TESL seems really a tough course for me as my foundation for English is not firm enough.Thus, in TESL i did experience the "education shock". It is really hard for me to cope with the lecture and the study itself. However, I am blessed as I learnt a lot in TESL, it did improve my English. Thus, for me the TESL course itself can be regarded as ESP for my future study. In sum, education is really important regardless what kind of our feeling towards it as it will help to enhance our knowledge and equips us with some skills which might be used in the future.
ReplyDeleteEducation that bring us here. It is everlasting knowledge as long as we use and apply it. If not it will be a fossilized. That is what my understanding here.
ReplyDeleteBut from what the text mean above it men sacrifice of everything to achieve your goal, my goal. to gain the scroll at the end of this study. Improve your weakness yet achieve your best in life.
What the writer has said had really reflected the life of university students, like me and others. Sometimes, the stress that we have throughout the university life (not enough sleep, rushing here and there, all the sweats) teach us lots of lesson, such as to become more manageable person and able to handle multiple things within time constraints. For me, this is what the education is all about. All the processes that taught us lots of valuable things. I think, I will miss my ‘stress’ in university life when I get into working place soon. ---NOR AZMA MANAN 14749
ReplyDeleteYes, I do feel a lot of burden with all those assignment, FYP and also those few hours that I spent everyday which often makes me feel presurred. But compared to the pressure that I will experience in my future workplace and the stressful life that I experience right now while studying, of course I feel that I rather studying and feel the pressure than working and feel stress because of work matter. Education is important and learning should be for lifetime also. Thabk you.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do agree with the writer as well. Ever since I enter the university, I am being surrounded by homework, assignments, discussion, presentations, quizzes, tests and examinations, having insufficient sleep, skipping meals, cracking head for answers and feeling confused with lectures. Am I doing all these for the sake of graduation and employment? I do think so most of the time. However, I find myself gaining new knowledge and perspectives towards life after undergoing these processes and struggles. They help me become more mature and experienced. Even though some knowledge may seem irrelevant and not applicable for the time-being, they prepare me to face future challenges.
ReplyDeleteIrene Ngu (14156)
No I don't. I see education more like a series of conscious decision-making, minus the pain, and plus knowing how learning can take routes alternative to torturing yourself.
ReplyDeleteOf course you have to decide what to find out, why you want to find out what you want to find out and how you want to find out something; in any kind of learning, it is not up to you to decide if you can opt to sit a procedure out.
However, you don't really need to sit there getting frazzled by the books or whatever it is in order to feel enlightened; it's a pity if you need to experience pain just to be able to learn. If anybody enters a course and expect to do nothing, then that person deserves a shot in the head; similarly if you think learning only occurs by force/water-boarding/book-boarding, then chances are you will never enjoy learning for the rest of your life at all.
Learning, to me is all about delighting in making mistakes as well as finding out why the mistakes occur. If I remembered correctly, someone once said there are no such things as "genius", just people who learn differently from everybody else. I learn best when people around me tell me it's OK to make mistakes and I know that I need to do something to correct them.
It also hits upon me: there's a valid reason why children learn languages better than adults; but of course everybody is entitled to their opinion, and I welcome all suggestions/re-rebuttal/concurrence.
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ReplyDeleteGood,
ReplyDeleteFinally someone who views education differently. We learn all the time. Education is definitely a series of learning experiences in which the individual brings along his/her own experience and that is important to the process. Then again, I am not sure about mistakes being an entirely delightful experience though (depends on the level- I suppose) but it is important to understand why the mistake occured in the first place and take appropriate measures to minimize the error. Well, I am not too worried. Students will learn at some point even if the system fails them.
Now about children being better language learners, there are two sides to the coin. Plato might have said:
"Do not train children to learn by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each."
Languages work for children because their experiences are limited, they take a language dge for what it is and communciate. They do not have to sit for exams at the end of the day to prove that they have mastered it. Their language is simple and they do not fight over CGPA's. Your language is complex. It is a problem, a right and a resource. You want to master language to understand calculus, geometry and the sciences and tell the world that you know them. You want to debate over high languages and low languages and force your views on them just as your lecturers do. There lies our issues. Modern education created this monsters and now we need to learn to tame them.
i also do agree with the writer.. through all this years i was struggling to understand the lectures and complete the assignments. yup, sometimes i also do think of, that i also still can teach well event though without do all of these stuff. for me teaching is about talent. but after all, now i realize that everything i learn in this teaching programme will lead me to become a good teacher in the future. i had learn so many new things event though i do not know either it useful for me in the future or not. but i really enjoy being in this course. i also wish i can change the world too.. :)
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