On a day that reminds my community of its responsibility towards not just pupils but also the society at large, thought it would be only pragmatic to recall our duties from a renewed perspective.
Earth is on boil, literally. Men have led the human race to the cusp of intelligence and achievement with many ground-breaking inventions, many more hatching as we write. Mechanization, automation and AI have, in that order, helped us move deeper into the arms of comfort and luxury. The mind is now given a break more frequently, although the body continues to toil harder each subsequent decade. Such is the affliction of the body, that the mind distances itself from core emotions and only answers to the basal instincts of the physique.
The lines dividing regions are slowly blurring due to the rapid advances of technology and communication, but creases among individuals and communities are more apparent, ironically, due to the same reasons. New monstrosities, hitherto unheard of, are being committed against target groups least expected and deserving to be harassed. Trade has sky-rocketed many a mile, while how it is conducted- the ethics of it- has plummeted into unfathomable depths. Somewhere these actors have had conflicting notions, one of which has been cemented by their teachers- Gurus, Padres, Mualvis, Shifus, Masters, Parents, Elders, Bosses- someone missed out on the moral science class.
Good Samaritans still abound, nursing wounds inflicted in their resistance to the new world order, for the critical intellectual support they need to nourish their defiance is down to all but a trickle now. Parents worry about grades (if not marks), teachers are wary about securing their jobs (if not misdirection), preachers crave for religious hegemony (if not genocide), businesses strive for pursuit of greater heights (if not simply profits), even monks have compromised with the ideals of their scriptures, if not entirely derailing from basic tenets of their respective religions. Knowledge isn't a treasure anymore, for ill founded illusions of learning through machines have taken over the time-tested methods of pedagogy. Classrooms are grounds where Google is justified and teachers are conduits to these ends. Hence, the new age of materialist learning only calls for desperate measures from our community, which I surmise isn't a prospect that needs to be written home about.
On a day when children, students, parents look up to my community for inspiration, I have nothing to offer in return but a few words of hope. Despite all odds, the teaching-learning duality exists and will continue to flourish, although the word teacher takes on new meanings while the student and her intellectual needs continually evolve. In the name of change and survival, the two sides of knowledge will continue to meet in new platforms of time, place and manner.
Cheers to the spirit of learning!
Earth is on boil, literally. Men have led the human race to the cusp of intelligence and achievement with many ground-breaking inventions, many more hatching as we write. Mechanization, automation and AI have, in that order, helped us move deeper into the arms of comfort and luxury. The mind is now given a break more frequently, although the body continues to toil harder each subsequent decade. Such is the affliction of the body, that the mind distances itself from core emotions and only answers to the basal instincts of the physique.
The lines dividing regions are slowly blurring due to the rapid advances of technology and communication, but creases among individuals and communities are more apparent, ironically, due to the same reasons. New monstrosities, hitherto unheard of, are being committed against target groups least expected and deserving to be harassed. Trade has sky-rocketed many a mile, while how it is conducted- the ethics of it- has plummeted into unfathomable depths. Somewhere these actors have had conflicting notions, one of which has been cemented by their teachers- Gurus, Padres, Mualvis, Shifus, Masters, Parents, Elders, Bosses- someone missed out on the moral science class.
Good Samaritans still abound, nursing wounds inflicted in their resistance to the new world order, for the critical intellectual support they need to nourish their defiance is down to all but a trickle now. Parents worry about grades (if not marks), teachers are wary about securing their jobs (if not misdirection), preachers crave for religious hegemony (if not genocide), businesses strive for pursuit of greater heights (if not simply profits), even monks have compromised with the ideals of their scriptures, if not entirely derailing from basic tenets of their respective religions. Knowledge isn't a treasure anymore, for ill founded illusions of learning through machines have taken over the time-tested methods of pedagogy. Classrooms are grounds where Google is justified and teachers are conduits to these ends. Hence, the new age of materialist learning only calls for desperate measures from our community, which I surmise isn't a prospect that needs to be written home about.
On a day when children, students, parents look up to my community for inspiration, I have nothing to offer in return but a few words of hope. Despite all odds, the teaching-learning duality exists and will continue to flourish, although the word teacher takes on new meanings while the student and her intellectual needs continually evolve. In the name of change and survival, the two sides of knowledge will continue to meet in new platforms of time, place and manner.
Cheers to the spirit of learning!
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