Formal schooling makes some parents, guardians, scholars and even pupils and students to believe that good certificates one acquires in any academic discipline will make them rich and successful in life.
This is the common meaning of education in Africa, or atleast many people understand it this way. Of course, this motivated me to go to school every day even when I laid on my grass bed with a vacant stomach, watching the moon through the holes in our leaking roof—wondering whether I will ever make it.
Experience shows that this is very wrong perception. If all that we know -about money, life and success, is what school taught us then we are really in big problems.
If certificates really matter that much then why are most teachers, professors and others professionals poor and keep on holding industrial actions (strikes) demanding for more pay?
Because I really loved learning and always found myself teaching fellow students, when I finished college, I trained as a teacher of Physics and Mathematics.
I have taught high school students for more than 5 years, and I feel proud when many, including doctors, engineers and teachers look up to me as their mentor. I try to give my students the best learning experience and motivate them to be creative.
In today’s world, formal school may not matter a lot, but the 21st century skills—collaboration and teamwork, creativity and imagination, critical thinking and problem solving—are the most important for success and development.
This indeed is the true meaning of education and Steemit is an enabling platform that facilitates the ability to learn, apply, unlearn, and relearn. True learning is about acquiring the skills, knowledge, and experiences that are helpful, and this does not necessarily require a classroom environment.
Through Steemit, I see a great potential to impact learners/ students in various ways, keep them up to date with knowledge say on cryptocurrency, and expose them to a community that help them develop the 21st century skills that are essential for today’s students. I am encouraging my students, to sign up for Steemit, albeit the challenges with irregular internet connection.
We do others and ourselves a great disservice when we don't build up minds for success until we come to that point in life where we can boldly affirm that nothing on earth can stop us from being rich , nothing!! Not even religion, not politics, not bad government, not bad economy, not even English (for English is just another language for communication but not a measure of one’s education or intelligence for that matter) but just our minds can! The earlier in life we get to that point the better—OUR MINDS CAN ONLY DETERMINE OUR SUCCESS.
Together with other like-minded educators, expanding the educational uses of Steemit platform should be possible, so that this can be a real game change for many students and communities.
Watch the space!