(Final Part 1: An Education Syllabus For Meaningful Change)
LAST week I posited the idea that change is fueled by education and that education is a means to discovering God within but that such awareness does not mean the absence of evil. In addition, education allows a wider choice of lifestyles. It enhances the choice towards a better, more appropriate and positive path to a more fulfilling and rewarding life. In the final analysis, it ought to be remembered that the quality of parenting and a conducive environment are crucial in supporting formal education helping shape young minds – and society at large.
A broad based relevant school curriculum is intended to build upon strong positive parenting and to provide a learning environment aimed at better informing citizens of their rights and obligations. The State therefore plays an active role in pointing citizens towards education and an environment for better parenting. However, parental guidance remains the crucial element. If the process of formal education is built on a weak parental foundation, the end result will be flawed regardless of its academic achievements. Examples abound! Books alone do not the man make.
The broad philosophy of education and the role of parents (and the State) in its planning and execution will not soon change. Whatās more likely are the periodic reviews of the school curriculum and the method of imparting of new information to facilitate positive change in a changing world. What is customarily referred to as āthe system of educationā must therefore now emphasize changes in travel, technology, business and science. It must keep abreast with progress in technology and teach social and civic responsibility.
Let me be clear, an education policy for Saint Lucia must prepare its citizens for work wherever in the world they choose. In the interest of democracy and to ensure broad participation such a policy should first be discussed and its vision explained to the citizenry, before its implementation. An education policy must be comprehensive. It must reach far beyond the three āRāsā and seek to impart new and undated information, in an ever changing world.
Besides clarity and a broad national consensus, an education policy ought to also spell out the core subjects it believes will achieve its intended purpose as it attempts to instill positive social and economic change in a country.
A new education policy should therefore be about a lot more than mere academics. āRespectā ought to be at the very top of the list of non-formal subjects. Respect is the foundation on which a sounder more progressive education is built. It is at the core of the relationship between the teacher and the student. It is a shared responsibility. It is indispensable for learning and for building a strong, law abiding and God fearing holistic society and nation.
An education policy must point to at least five or six core subjects in which it aims to make learners (and citizens at large) proficient. I humbly suggest that these core subjects ought to be Math, English, Science and Technology and Languages. In this latter group I venture to propose French, Spanish, Mandarin (Chinese) and German.
There is a growing tendency in Saint Lucia and in the wider Caribbean to make computer use the centre of early education. To that end toys built with computer chips in them is a growing investment by parents – and the state. I have in the past expressed some doubts about computers in the hands of people who have not developed a love for reading, writing and basic mathematics. Computer savvy in isolation of a sound basic education plus respect, manners and civic responsibility is more likely to increase, rather than decrease, poor interpersonal skills and civic responsibility.
It should be of interest to concerned citizens and administrators that, exposing children to television viewing at an early age, can help them develop better learning and social skills, than early exposure to computers does. Reports suggest that television facilitates social intercourse which helps children act and behave socially among their peers and other people. Computers and cellular phones are proving the opposite.
Computers (and cell phones) seem to freeze and isolate the human mind and lead it into a narrow cul-se-sac of tasks which can include the spreading of false hateful information. Explicit sexual content and the power of its users to hide behind their sick minds make computer use a candidate for closer study. A mind which has not yet evolved sufficient positive traits is a potential hazard with a computer at its disposal. In the absence of parental guidance and monitoring, the computer can become a tool of mischief.
On the other hand television aims and often achieves the spreading of positive information, educating people of all ages in the process. It keeps people informed by reporting the news and relevant information and shares ideas through the use of talk shows, (dialogue), discussions and documentaries.
It bears repeating that formal education alone is not the-end-all and be-all of everything. There is evidence however, to prove that it is a key which opens many doors to a better life. It also needs to be emphasized that computers can be used for positive change and that better socialization coupled with respect and good manners are more likely to lead to such change. The end result is a superior, God- fearing citizen, and more progressive and developed country.
Behaviour which trends against the grain of civilized society is perhaps more common amongst those who missed out on school and who unfortunately also missed out on exemplary values from caring parents. Sadly, there are many on this little island who, through no fault of theirs, fall into that category. We tend to forget that no child asked to be born and that children do not choose their parents. These often overlooked facts are important to keep in mind.
It is noteworthy that wherever in the world one looks, even at the highest echelons of society, there are people who bend and break laws to suit themselves. These people often use their education for evil, and not for good. Such misguided men and women are everywhere one turns. The law is powerless to correct such evil because evil resides within ālawfulā establishment, in broad daylight.
In conclusion it bears repetition that education is both necessary and essential and that respect, good manners and civic responsibility are indispensable to creating a wholesome, well rounded law abiding citizen. (Note: Iāve just learnt that President Obama is encouraging Americans to put down their cell phones, at the dinner table). Saint Lucians should heed Obamaās advice not only at the dinner table but in church, at school and during family conversations and other social gatherings.
Wow! Except for the absence of clearly differentiating the TV vs early computer usage { a fugue state exists across early developmental proponents);
congrats to Sweet Pea on a balanced objective article- given the ad infinitum scope of education.
Your succinct take on this topic as it relates to St. Lucia was fair-in general. Additionally, you embedded the necessary global perspective.
Here, I was with verbal gatlin and sidewinders to polish of Peetar’s part 1b with coup de grace, following last weeks onslaught by notable forum bloggers-
With respect to this better piece of writing, I shall point out the good in early Tech usage and some of the bad in early TV usage- in a few days or so. The capstone of this comparison will hinge upon the differences between Passive and Constructivist learning models.
Till then, stay in the proximal zone, oui.
SUCH HYPOCRISY !
Talking of education, remember Albert Einstein’s words:
āIt is essential that the student acquire and understanding of and a lively feeling for values. He must acquire a vivid sense of the beautiful and of the morally good. Otherwise he ā with his specialized knowledge ā more closely resembles a well-trained dog than a harmoniously developed person.ā ā Albert Einstein
A well-trained dog ? How does the cap fit Peter Josie, worshiper of the Naked Caucasian nailed to a cross-post ? Consumer of the swine, and the human flesh and blood of the dead Caucasian ? How does it fit ? The fundamentals of education for anyone seeking enlightenment is to understand the poison of white supremacy and the nightmare of racism that had been and remains part of our body politic. Being educated means understanding how racism and white supremacy were ingrained in the beliefs, institutions, laws and systems of powerāespecially capitalismāthat ruled in the Americas.
We learn by example, therefore I ask, what do you teach us by way of example ? Your instructions to us by way of your actions, are to remain subservient to the poison of White supremacy while begging the Caucasian for crumbs like Lazarus at the table of the rich man. Even Rick John Wayne has begun to realize that maintaining his present trajectory is not sustainable therefore he has begun to apologize to the Lucian People while seeking forgiveness for his Crimes, but your present shenanigans verbalizing CHANGE ā cheap talk Josie.
āFREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST ! THANK GOD ALMIGHTY WE ARE FREE AT LASTā ā Martin L. King. That’s still a dream; Lucians, you’re not free because these mentally dead mis-educated Negroes keep feeding you lies about being āEducatedā; call to mind what Albert Einstein said with regard to education. I ask you, do you think self-hating Negroes like Josie, or Fedee or Linus Clovis are āeducatedā? Truth is, you are just as impoverished today, just as powerless, just as disorganized as you were in 1860 on the eve of the American civil war. You Negroes have not moved one inch towards being free, you are simply enjoying the fruits of social illusions with your iphone to know what Katlian Bruce Jenner is doing with his cork, now that he has balloons and silicone for breast.
Now come February, Black History month, you will be shown the same old pictures of Michael Jackson and told how well he could dance, and of Michael Jordan, and told how well he could bounce a basket ball; is that your āBlackā History ? Who in the world does that ? Caucasians don’t teach their children in history about Taylor Swift, or Lady Garga. You people are living in the smoke of a social illusion. With all his dancing skills, what did Jackson do to elevate the Black Community – Dr. Conrad Murray the Grenadian ended up in Jail behind this āKing of Popā
Come on you Lucian people, when will you put away these ugly pieces of stones of Caucasians that you pray to and worship, while telling your children that God is a Naked Caucasian because of mis-educated Negroes like Josie and the one who thought Carasco was not white enough, so he named himself after the homosexual John Wayne. Here’s a picture of what the Negro Josie calls “education”, but Einstein calls a trained dog:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=668252259913123&set=a.269581839780169.63030.269474423124244&type=1&theater
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In 1851 when Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote the book āUncle Tom’s Cabin, what was she saying ? In history and presently, there was always two category of Blacks; the āGoodā Black and the āBadā Black. Uncle Tom was an enslaved Black with rank on the plantation, but he Uncle Tom would help his fellow Blacks, and not punish them when the quota of cotton was short. In fact, Uncle Tom would take cotton from his own bag to make up the short falls for his Black People’s cotton quota, to avoid having to impose punishment on them.
When the Simon the Christian Slave Master found out about Uncle Tom’s practices and his kindness towards his Black people the slave master used a sell-out Negro named Sambo to beat Uncle Tom. Uncle Tom would not beat up on his black women like he was āEDUCATEDā to do, therefore he Uncle Tom was a āBad Blackā and the master used Samboe, the āGOOD WELL EDUCATED BLACKā to beat Uncle Tom to death for helping his Black People.
So insidious were Caucasians that when they got hold of the story in the 1940s they turned the story upside down and Negroes were taught that Uncle Tom was the bad Black, so today we call Negroes like Peter Josie and Rick John Wayne Uncle Toms, when in reality these Negroes are Samboes.
Caucasians classify a āGoodā Black as a compromising Negro, a passive Negro, an acquiescing Negro, a Negro moving away from his people, a non threatening Black, a Negro who loves their pale skinned women more than they love their own mothers and sisters. Blacks like a Rick John Wayne and Peter Josie who if they were truly EDUCATED, should know, that this Naked Caucasian nailed to the cross-post is Satan and not God, but they have joined the other Samboes like traitors going around telling other blacks, āI AM ROMAN CATHOLIC, AND THAT NAKED CAUCASIAN IS MY GOD LORD JESUSā. These Samboes are compensated by the white establishment with the badges of the REAL SAMBO, and allowed to kiss the toes of the Nazi Pirate Queen who heads the Anglican Church, making them āMEMBER OF THE BRITISH EMPIREā along with pirates like Francis Drake ā can you believe this kind of disgraceful behavior by individuals who sell mis-information and call it NEWS ?
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=668252259913123&set=a.269581839780169.63030.269474423124244&type=1&theater
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Cher PEETAR!
Yowssay! Now that was a photon torpedo RIP in from stern to hull of your craft-in-ness.
Sacre bleu, the halo of your craft smithereens resemble a miniature Nebula.
Ole boy, even Humpty Dump\ty would have an easy patch up -compared to your retrieving your dusty remnants.
Peetar, although you have implied a seditious character trait in your political postings, you were constantly provided the option of medivac- as in med leave of absence- to save face. Pluto is proving to be quite a treat for us lay astronomers, however, I shall remember you whenever images of the Nebula galaxies are posted.
Tally ho, monsieur brittle.
What Change will Josie Wales, and John Wayne teach you ? That God is a Naked White Man Nailed to a cross-post ? Keep praying to dead people to make you live forever ? These dead people could not save themselves from death. ENOUGH ALREADY JOSIE WALES ! Stop deceiving the people to gain a miserable prize from Michael Chastanet and the Pirate Queen and her Nazi husband whose funeral I attended in 2016 after he died from claps which the Press said was a bladder infection.
Negroes go to the States where Blacks are all treated as Niggers and murdered by the evil Caucasian Christians with impunity; these Negroes attempt to create the false impression that they are loved and respected by Caucasian Christians because they can defecate in the same toilet as the filthy Caucasian Christian. You will find the Muslims’ hygiene superior to anyone on Earth.
Unlike Muslims, Caucasian Christians never learned to clean themselves properly after answering nature’s calls. I can remember, as a Catholic Christian answering the call to defecate and when finished used dry toilet paper to smear the feces before putting on my underwear and trousers. By the time the day ended my underwear would be a canvas painted with excrement, a phenomenon you all know too well as skid-marks. When I became Muslim I was taught that after using toilet paper, it was obligatory to use soap and water to wash away any remnant of feces from the body; a condition necessary before his five obligatory prayers can be accepted by Allah.
You will find utensils in the bathroom of Muslims used for washing their behind every time one defecates or urinates, as this is a religious requirement in Islam but not practiced in Christianity. These Skid-marks must go. Now some of you may practice this proper hygiene learned from the practices of Grand parents influenced by the enslaved Africans brought to Lucia who were Muslim. Now that is being āEDUCATEDā. WILL JOSIE OR JOHN WAYNE āEDUCATEā YOU ABOUT ELIMINATING SKID-MARKS ? NO! NO! NO!
Josie gives lip service advocating Respect yet shows no respect towards himself, while he begs a Naked White Man, the Naked Caucasian to Make Allen Chastanet his leader, and my reply to Josie is, HAVE SOME SELF RESPECT !
https://www.facebook.com/122183891285488/videos/vb.122183891285488/222917787878764/?type=3&theater
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Josie learn something about that black woman you hate so much.
The notion that ancient African education was oral and not written is only a myth. In his book, āReversing Sail: A History of the African Diaspora,ā Dr. Michael Gomez, an author and professor of history and Middle Eastern and Islamic studies at New York University, declares that, from 300 B.C. to A.D. 350, the MeroĆ« civilization had developed a writing system of its own.
Gomez states that while the Western perspective dates intellect and education back to the era of Socrates and Plato, the individuals of Egypt and Nubia developed āliterate, urban-based, technologically advanced civilizationsā centuries before the mere establishment of Rome, let alone Athens. In fact, in his book āEchoes of Ancient African Values,ā Dr. Joseph Bailey, a retired orthopedic surgeon who has become an expert in the subjects of Ancient African history and African-American experiences, states that āmodifications of Egyptian writing served as the basis for the ānewā writings developed for many Western Semitic languages ā Phoenician, Hebrew, Aramaic, etc.ā
Founded in A.D. 989 by the erudite chief judge of Timbuktu, Al-Qadi Aqib ibn Mahmud ibn Umar, the The Sankore Mosque, or Sankore University, is one of the oldest schools of higher learning in the world. A wealthy Mandika woman financed Sankore, making it a leading center of education, according to Muslimheritage.com. K.C. MacDonald, a lecturer of African Archaeology at the University College of Londonās Institute of Archaeology, writes that the school āhad no central administration, student registers, or prescribed courses of study; rather, it was composed of several entirely independent schools or colleges, each run by a single master or imam.ā This university reportedly produced over 700,000 manuscripts.
Individuals traveled from all over to be taught by Africans.
According to Gomez, in the 1100s, the Africans of al-Andalus, a medieval Muslim state, significantly contributed to the āintense period of intellectual and cultural productionā that lasted for 800 years. The African intellect of Iberia served as the foundation for the European Renaissance that began in the 1500s and lasted until the 1800s. Also, individuals traveled from all around the globe to study at the universities at Timbuktu in both the Mali and Songhai empires. In fact, revered European scholars, such as Herodotus, journeyed to Africa to obtain knowledge and information.
The late George Granville Monah James was an author and historian of South America. In his book, āStolen Legacy,ā he expounds upon the educational Egyptian Mystery System of Ancient Egypt. At the universities of Egypt, grammar, rhetoric and logic eliminated irrationality. Geometry and arithmetic harbored the theories and techniques in which individuals eliminated problems, both internally and physically. And, astronomy gave individuals the ability to obtain knowledge and examine destiny. Lastly, music served as the āliving practice of philosophy.ā
When will these insane Negroes like Josie and Rick John Wayne stop mis-educating the people of this little island, and stop telling them that the Bible is God’s word ? These mad Romans talk of change but do the same thing until death when they will enter that which breaks to pieces.
I was taught that if a person had “Faith” the size of a mustard seed they could ask the pitons to go to Vigie and the mountains will obey. Are you telling that after all this time NOT ONE of you mad people can move Morne Du Don ? But Josie will NEVER “educate you that this Bible is a Satanic Fabrication. I found one man who had faith the size of a mango seed; here’s his story:
A 60-year-old member of a Pentecostal snake-handling church was bitten on Sunday during a service. He refused medical treatment and soon died as a result of the venomous bite.
John David Brock was bitten while handling a rattlesnake during services at the Mossy Simpson Pentecostal Church in Jenson, Kentucky. Four hours later, at his brotherās house, he passed away, which is often the result when you are bitten by a dangerous snake and rely on faith to heal you.
County Coroner Jay Steele said that Brockās death is being investigated, and that the deceased also had other health issues which may have complicated his bodyās reaction to the bite.
According to his family, Mr. Brock worked as a miner for 36 years and was an adherent to the Holiness faith. Some Holiness congregations handle snakes as part of their worship, and they do so by quoting a passage from the Bibleās Book of Mark.
Mark 16:18 states:
ā(Believers) will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.ā
Josie and the love of his life, John Wayne Ricky, please demonstrate your unwavering Faith by drinking some Arsenic as instructed in your Bible, and your Faith will prove you Guys are con artist or, the Bible is the “WORD OF GOD”. Well what’s it going to be ? I am ready for CHANGE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95B3WnKwnt8