A SHORT ESSAY ON EDUCATION
Education begins with teaching pre-K and kindergarten children how to communicate with each other. Teaching basic social communication skills is even more important than reading and math. The Lakota Tribes have a list of 12 values that should be taught to every one of our children from the moment they step into the educational system. These are values that have not changed in tens of thousands of years. They include Humility, Perseverance, Respect, Honor, Love, Sacrifice, Truth, Compassion, Bravery, Fortitude, Generosity and Wisdom.
We must learn to teach every child as an individual with individual strengths and weaknesses. Once a year is sufficient to test a student. We should nurture their strengths and their loves by guiding them to develop them. And we should gently reinforce their learning in the areas where they are not as strong. Education should be a choice of adventures, not a competition to subvert others.
Businesses should be investing in education at every grade level. Not as a way to advertise their business, but as a way to develop and recruit the very best talent in the field or area the business wants to grow. Higher education should not be just a ‘stepping stone’. It should be a long term investment for both the student and the business. We must look beyond the generic grade point average to examine individual strengths. Creating a tighter fit for both, the student developing their passion for a career, and the business developing the very best talent to assure a long term relationship.
THE CIRCUS . . . . . . . . . AND THE ZOO 