by Akua Hinds

Created on: August 26, 2010

The saying “You learn something new everyday” is not a cliché; it really is true.  Education happens to us every day even when we are not seeking new knowledge.  Somehow, the new knowledge finds us and our minds are opened.  Most people are educated during their childhood years in the same way that their parents were educated; in the classroom and at the mercy of well-meaning but overworked teachers who are following a system laid out to them by government expectations.  Schools provide education for the masses but it has always been my personal philosophy that education is best achieved in a positive environment with few distractions.  Unfortunately, the majority of students receive an education in a completely different environment.  Government schools are packed to the brim with students from all walks of life that all have different interests and different learning styles.  Instead of encouraging learning diversity and catering to each student’s individual needs, school administrators force the students to adjust their learning styles and interests to the teacher’s expectations.  By doing this, education becomes a chore for students instead of a joy.

Growing up, I always believed deep in my heart that public schools were an inappropriate place for me to receive an education.  As I was a child at the time, I had no choice but to attend public schools, even though I strongly believed in private education.  My parents supported public school education over private school education while I on the other hand, always believed that education is best when the person who is being educated has a say in how it would be done.  Now that I am an adult and a teacher myself, I can say without a doubt that private education where the learning is customized to the student’s learning aptitudes works much better than general public education for the masses.  There are some subjects like drama and team sports where studying within a group is beneficial to a student’s learning, but other subjects are easier to understand when one on one instruction with an educator is more beneficial to the student.  Learning to play the piano is a subject that is extremely difficult to learn in a group setting.  The same applies to many subjects learned in a traditional classroom setting however because many people are accustomed to learning in a classroom setting, they scoff at the idea of learning being best achieved outside of the four walls in a brick and mortar classroom. 

The truth about education is that it happens every day to every person on the planet.  There are so many different ways of receiving an education and different methods need to be explored and embraced before automatically being shunned.  Many studies have proven that private education, one on one tutoring and homeschooling produces happier and highly educated students than learning in over crowded classrooms with teachers being forced to teach government issued doctrine.  However, there are individuals who thrive upon learning in large classroom settings amongst their peers and would have a difficult time adapting to any other type of environment.  Education is not a one size fits all experience; every person responds to different learning methods and for that reason alone, customized and personalized education is ideal for children and adults.  When students are able to receive an education that is tailored to their learning style and needs, only then will education be a joyful experience for them and not a chore.

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