The school plays a vital role in shaping young people’s mind and heart. As students spend most of their time in school to learn and develop skills and competencies, teachers are in a critical position of honing the students’ character.
Education does not only have to impart academic facts or let the students remember dates and terms. It is more than that. It should instill attributes that will help the learners be capable of dealing with life outside the school and be ready for the future workplace. To be able to create a better and positive world, efforts should be made to inculcate justice and peace not only to every student’s mind but to their heart as well.
Students were formed in the school. The moment they first step foot on the door of their classroom until the tassel was switched to conclude schooling, the character is built like bricks forming a building. Teachers serve as carpenters and the learning we impart are the building blocks. The metals, cement composites and concretes are the resources, curriculum, topics, and lessons that we utilize and implement in the classroom. The stronger the foundation the school set to the students the sturdier the building will be. No matter how strong the storm or typhoon is, it would not be annihilated.
In our modern world, news and information can be acquired by a tap of a finger. It is sad to say that with our media right now, they are not helping in creating a positive outlook of what our society can offer. Crimes are everywhere. When you open the television bloody scenes are aired, the partial and unjust system of the government system is being monitored and corruption is all over. And these all do not create a good impact on our students, our future. Educators, and the whole school as well, should be able to attend to these factors that might affect learning negatively. Educators should be in an active role of helping the students realize and reflect on events that are not beneficial and destroy the planet. Through these, students will be capable of developing a conscious mentality on what a society should be like for them.
Awareness is the key for learners to realize a problem and address a need. Through proper education, the school community can help each student to raise their consciousness of global and local issues pertaining to justice and peace. We should put deliberate efforts in creating a positive school atmosphere conducive to learning where impartiality and justice prevails. As once said, “Charity begins at home” and so does all the positive attributes that a learner should develop. And the school, as their home, should be a role model for these.
Image Source: edutopia.org
MITCHEL AFRICA 