I believe that anyone can learn. It takes a moment of an educator's time to open the mind of each and every student, no matter what one's age. In each person lies an intelligence or a strength, sometimes undiscovered until the moment of awakening.
Education is a lesson that goes beyond the walls of a classroom. It goes beyond the boundaries of a textbook. Education, along with learning, is grounded, through best practices, in real life matters of the heart, mind, and experience.
We, as educators, learn best when we empathize or when we see others take similar steps we have. The best educators are those who, not hinder, but inspire. The best educators see potential in each person. No student should be left behind. And, no one is too old to learn.
There are lessons in everything, every day. There lies a story behind each person. The amount of knowledge one may acquire could be limitless if a caring educator unlocks a mind's potential.
Education goes beyond Binet's IQ scale. Life cannot be limited to a number. Howard Gardner found that we, as educators and learners, exist better through the lenses of our Multiple Intelligences. In other words, every person is smart to a certain degree. One may be talented musically. One may be a great orator. But, in every person, as Howard Gardner sees it, and as I have discovered over the last decade, each person has some form of all eight intelligences.
The best teaching is through dialogue, story telling, retelling of experiences, and sharing. We learn that we are not alone in our happiest moments, in our saddest times, in our fears, or in our dreams. There are those out there ready to share and place another piece of the jigsaw puzzle on this mantelpiece, where a fire of knowledge keeps brewing.
Students learn best through individual attention. It is best granted in an online learning forum. Unlike in a traditional classroom, where an educator is limited by time and space, in an online forum, an educator has the room to communicate one-on-one with any student needing extra guidance. In return, students' confidence levels rise and those students are more willing to continue on the journey toward the course's end. Also, the students come away from the course inspired to be stronger leaders in their communities and reflect upon the instructor as someone who truly made a difference in their lives. If someone cares about their education, they, as graduating students, will go out into the community and start showing a similar level of care toward others.
Education, thus, is a reciprocal process. How well an educator treats his or her students may correlate with how well they do in class and beyond. The lesson plans of a course may be the same semester after semester, but the individual experiences each time may be different. And, that is a sign of a great teacher-student learning-teaching model. Everyone walks away happy and with a greater sense of empowerment.
