Learning to love learning

Thousands of years of human experience and learning have led us to the point in history where we are now, by the consistent sharing and developing of knowledge and skill through education. But we can and will do better. We have even begun right here in South Africa with our outstanding Matrics of 2022 and their 80% pass rate, well done to you all! You are our brightest shining lights.

Our constitution enshrines our right to education as one of the basic human rights. Internationally, it is protected under the Convention of rights of the child, because it is the most precious gift we can give. Not only does it keep on giving, but it can never be taken from you. And it is never too late to start. Learning at the scale and speed that humans do, sets us aside from the animals. We have even created new kinds of learning and new things that can learn on their own, because learning is power like nothing else. Power, we need now more than anything else. Yes, even more than we need power in the grid.

While few would disagree if you stated that a balanced diet and lots of exercise are important for a healthy body, many start to um and ah when it comes to feeding and exercising our minds. Government spending, public support, state of public schools and the generalised anxiety around learning new things are all symptomatic of the strained relationship that we have with education.

There are many reasons for this anxiety. Some are individual, like difficulties at school and some are generational, like the experiences of those who sat through the weaponizing of our own education system during Apartheid. All of these things can sit in the back of your mind while you are trying to learn and make the whole experience difficult and uncomfortable. As bitter as some learning experiences can be, there is an equal and opposite side to take into a count.

There is an almost indescribable pleasure in putting your education to work. Using it to create, improve and even repair the world around you, is a satisfaction that knows no equal. Not a cold drink on a hot day or even pay day in January. It is the purest joy, because it promises so much, and proves that it can deliver. Every living thing has the right to experience the thrill of learning, rather than its traumatic side, and we need to reach a stage where that right is a reality for more than the privileged few.

For the first time in history, we have oceans of information available to us. While everything on the internet may not be knowledge, it feeds the work of creating knowledge. What does that mean? When you apply certain skills to information, you generate knowledge. Those skills are interrogating, evaluating, and analysing. In those processes we learn and test and develop, all the while changing our surroundings and the people in them. That is the value of an education. Most importantly, the more we learn, the more we want to learn. And the less we will put up with nonsensical policies and excuses from those in power, but who have done nothing with it. Education will feed our future and build the better lives we want for the generations after us, by forming individuals who hold our leaders to higher standards. Who can think for themselves and who not fall prey to the soothing propaganda of spin-doctors and politicians who’s only talent is looking busy.

All of this is nearly within reach. But there is a shift that needs to happen, and it is no easy task. Yes, we need better school facilities, more qualified and passionate teachers, more books, more meals in schools, more access to resources, and more parents supporting their kids, but before all of that: We need to appreciate what education can do for us, before we have to learn the hard way. It is a painful thing to acknowledge missed opportunities, but it is even harder to try and recreate them later. If we could inspire that appreciation for learning while we are still in primary school, approach learning with as much enthusiasm as making money, imagine what we could achieve? Seize every opportunity, learn every lesson, and see further by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Want to offer your child every opportunity to learn? Take advantage of the amazing work that TeleTeacher does!

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