A reality check!

As soon as I think about class I remember a song called "true colors" which was presented by students from all over the world and it always reminded me of education. this is the image I get in my head when I listen to it (students in rows and lines sitting and standing by the side, sad faces everywhere, and teachers come alone with colors and smiles, changing the mood and giving hope, encouraging to be yourself, to aim far and shoot for the stars)... The lyrics goes as follow:

You with the sad eyes

Don't be discouraged

Oh i realize

It's hard to take courage

In a world full of people

You can lose sight of it all

And the darkness inside you 

Can make you feel so small 

(refrain)

But I see your true colors

Shining through 

I see your true colors

And that's why I love you

So don't be afraid to let them show

Your true colors 

True colors are beautiful 

Like a rainbow 

Show me a smile then

Don't be unhappy, can't remember

When I last saw you laughing 

If this world makes you crazy 

And you've taken all you can bear 

You call me up 

Because you know I'll be there 

Cant remember when I last saw you laughing

If this world makes you crazy

And you've taken all you can bear 

You call me up 

Because you know I'll be there 

So coming back to earth, I must admit that yesterday's class was a big reality check for me. Even though I felt sick and was totally out of mood, but the spirit got the better of me and I became very excited and eager to share and be a part of the activity. What I learned was that, I feel I have been speaking about reform as child walking along his path with covered eyes. It seems that all the dreams and arguments I have even though they are legitimate to the cause are still influenced by the old and traditional perspective of things. When given an opportunity to break free, I still abide by what I know. 


To be honest, that made me think about myself a lot. Am I acting the way I preach? Am I lying to myself by being a person away from the reality of who I truly am?


Back to the educational perspective of that awakening. I was mesmerized that the amount of knowledge I personally lack in many areas, thus referring to the image of a child.

• I was astonished when Mike and Othman chose a poor country, it was really not expected at all. 
• I argued a lot with Koboul about having people below average because she really supported the idea, I didn't understand why would I need those sort of people in my made up country. 
• I also never realized how important agriculture is. I always think of technology and moving forward, ignoring the benefits coming from agriculture. 
• When Phililps and Mariam proposed having a class of students regardless of age but are on the same level, I did not feel they really understand the flexibility, effort and level of creativity the teacher has to have to be able to achieve that sort of things and the resistance that might occur from students. Being someone who personally is facing this situation in my voluntary class where I have students whose age range from 1 to 13 is challenging enough without adding adolescents and adults, and i must admit they are only 20 students in class. 

My final conclusion is to research read, analyze, integrate, think outside the box, take risks, take action and most importantly learn from your mistakes.


until next time!