The value of Education (new beginnings)

Rob Bernshaw 

on the road of lifelong learning

Rob Bernshaw, Columnist

How many of us have truly thought about the value of  education in our every day lives?

How many of us have taken the time to contemplate on how the education we have received provides us the ability to enrich the value of our lives, as well as contributing to the well being of others in their everyday lives?


Another question that begs to be asked is when does education truly start?  Does it start in the public, catholic, private school or home taught school systems of the day or does education’s beginning start way before that time arrives?

Does it start the moment we open our eyes every new day or is every moment new and fresh for all seeking value added education?

Who are the educators along our individual and collective journey to the future?

Is the mothers womb the beginning of the value added education trail going forward?

Does what she eat, drink or if she smokes affect the quality of life and education, the child will have when emerging into the light of a new world?

Will emotions within the woman carrying the child or the people around her also affect the types and amount of emotions that the child will carry forward along their individual journey through life?

Now who or what else may influence the value of education being taught and received by the child in every day interactions with others around them?

How will siblings, neighbors, friends, strangers, technology or lack of technology, proper nourishment and proper funding affect the education value that a child receives?

Will local agencies whether government affiliated or not, as well as provincial and federal agencies have influence in determining the value of education today and into tomorrow?

Is the nature of the quote, unquote ‘modern family’ also a determining factor in a child’s development and growth?

Is the child truly receiving value added education or only the values of the educators around them?

With the nature of the economy where some people are working two and three jobs to put food on the table, clothes on their backs affect the quality and value of the education their children receive at any given moment?

Does proper exercise as well as proper sleep of both the educators and the students affect the education value being provided?

Will sociological and cultural diversity also have an affect on the value and type of education being taught?

With the above questions in mind the answers may be as varied as the many individuals seeking quality value added education wherever they may live.

Does curiosity actually kill the cat or does it help the imagination and ability of people to create, flourish and grow so that innovation and creativity are the norm and not the exception.

Now with all the above in mind is education only taught in the brick and mortar schools of the day or is the whole world our classroom?

Not every person is conducive to learning in a structured environment that has been developed in various societies over the centuries.

Every person is unique in nature and are not formed out of a cookie cutter mold therefore every individual has various ways of assimilating information in their daily lives.

Three learning styles that are available to every individual are:

1. Audio (hearing)
2. Visua l(seeing)
3. Tactile or Kinesthetic (learn through experience or by doing)

There may be more styles but these are the most prominent ones in helping us obtain value added education.

For a lot of people one learning style may stand out and be more prominent in how the information is assimilated and processed.

Sometimes all three styles are used together in determining the outcome or the quality and value of the education being received.

As we all travel forward helping ourselves and others to grow, progress and prosper, let us all remember that curiosity and imagination is what brought us the great technological advances that all of us depend on every day to enrich and improve our lives going forward.

Learning and education is an ongoing lifelong process and on that note I will leave you with:

more to come...