At K.E.Y.S. Trust, we are in the process of educating and gaining an education in a world where it has been reduced to a profit making business. To educate is not to merely be competitive in the rat race that is life. What it should be is liberating, unleashing the true potential of a person, whatever it might be. Competition is but natural to humanity even without encouragement and it holds an intimate relationship with education and culture. therefore cannot be fully divorced from it. 'Survival of the fittest' is a phrase that is often attributed to the Darwinian theory of evolution, and used to describe the mechanism of natural selection.
It must be clarified that it may not necessarily be just physical strength that leads to survival via natural selection, even the smartest, the most adaptive or simply the luckiest may survive giving hope to diverse outcomes, depending upon the environment, upbringing and opportunities and threats presented. This in itself in one way or another is a competition- 'survival of the fittest'; the reward is survival which is an inherent need of every species including mankind. Since it is natural for humans to compete, it is also understandable that competition is put to educational use. However, the pitfall is that competition is found to be so important to human life that our society especially educates a child just to compete. In that case, the outcomes maybe unfavorable.
Here we are not debating the necessity of competition, even education theorists and practitioners, do not agree on whether competitive desires should be encouraged or constrained. Our take is that, healthy competition is essential however, a pure focus on competition alone maybe detrimental to holistic growth and to drawing out innate abilities and skills of that individual. Education reform proponents often advocate for standards to assess what students know and what they can do as a means to measure, and gauge their competence. These standards for assessment are further utilized to benchmark and raise competitive output.
Though it is important to maintain and improve outcomes, the real point of education is lost in the process. It is also very much about cultivating intangibles like soft skills, critical thinking, creative thinking, confidence, etc. For many of those interaction is key to evolution. Buddha sitting under the Bodhi tree may have attained enlightenment but it did not happen in a day. It would have been the outcome of a lifetime of absorbing and coming to terms with experiences, knowledge, the right contemplative critical, logical and curious mindset, the right view, appropriate intent, identifying and using the right words and actions, identifying the right calling, putting adequate effort, being mindful accepting and aware, and prioritizing and focusing on identified goals and objectives as laid out in the Eight Fold Path. Forming the right mindset is critical to learning.
Accumulating knowledge and experiences in as many ways as possible is crucial to self-introspection and self-actualization in the long run. Student engagement in learning by way of sustained personal interaction with educators, peers, the outside environment and other stimuli are vital to positive outcomes. If Maslows' Hierarchy of needs are to be indulged in then after meeting physiological needs, student engagement ensures safety and security, formation of relationships, bonds and sense of belonging. Feeling like one belongs is just as essential to encourage healthy competition in order to hit the next stage in terms of inculcating a sense of achievement and prestige. A sense of accomplishment helps one actualize to their true potential. Hence the need for a holistic approach.
To be effective teaching should be not just about what is taught but also how it is taught. This is done by setting both the optimal methodology and creating the circumstances conducive to learning. A real education exceeds mere rote learning and transfer of knowledge from source to receptacle, which in this case is a fertile young mind starved for stimulus. Education is about providing perspectives, context that is meaningful, examination of ideas, thoughts and processes in the subject matter, analyzing ways to do it and ways how not to do it, opportunities to fail and to succeed, and about finding ones' reason for being after gaining the capacity to access and assimilate with the unfolding future dynamically.
Ikigai, a Japanese concept that means "reason for being" is similar to the French phrase Raison d'être. Finding it requires self-introspection or meditation and is important culturally as is competition, in that discovering ones true reason for being brings about satisfaction and adds meaning to life. A self-actualized person is aware of his reason for being, vice versa a person who has found his reason for being finds himself on the path to self-actualization as a better human being and productive member of civic society. So the goal of education should be to support the growth of the seed (baby) to sapling (child) into a resilient tree (human being) that is a contributing valued member of the ecosystem (community).
Valuing knowledge and showing its relevance to human life is critical in making education progressive, interesting and satisfying. Association, engaging analytical ability and practical exposure enhance learning. The outcome that educators at any level should aim for is to provide an education that is connected with reality, with the individuals' personal and professional lives, abilities and ambitions and must prepare them to become active contributors to societal transformation. Engagement using multiple methods and stimuli enhances learning outcomes as research has revealed time and again. Not everyone learns the same way.
Those who are offered encouragement and multiple avenues of learning are found to be more receptive to absorb and accumulate knowledge, better adept at practical application of acquired knowledge and overall the sense of confidence, well-being and understanding results in better competitive achievements both within academic life and beyond. A person is the cumulative product of his being, of innate or inherent capacity, the information acquired, and experiences undergone. In the words of Albert Einstein, "Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school."
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