Is Education Valued?
As the school year across much of the Western hemisphere readies itself to begin, this is not meant to be a cynical post.
Really.
Its an honest question.
Much of the research is clear. Higher levels of education mean improved rights in a society. Higher levels of education lead to higher levels of income, increased prosperity, better health care, etc., etc. And yet, we see very little in newspapers or magazines about education. People in the general public often hear little news out of schools that is not negative. In a globalised, advanced, inter-connected world, we hear almost nothing about the importance of learning.
We hear about businesses striking massive deals to make huge amounts of money. We hear about conflicts raging across the globe and about those people that are needed to fight them. Quick results are rewarded while small, continuous movements and improvements often go unnoticed. This is why education and what is happening in classrooms often goes under the radar of society. Learning can be a long, slow process requiring a lot of time, hard work and reflection; things the media doesn't find important or sexy enough to write about.
Classrooms are ground zero for the improvement of society and people's lives. Classrooms are where it all happens; or where it doesn't. While I am certainly biased, I can think of very few spaces on the globe that are more important to the future health and well being of the planet then the classrooms scattered across towns and neighbourhoods.
This is why, as teachers roll into classrooms and students collect their things and get ready to head back, we need to take some time to reflect on the absolute importance of what we do and the consequences of not pushing hard enough to do this job well.
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