One of the most fascinating things about our human mind, is that it is almost like a sponge. It keeps absorbing knowledge and information from the world around us, that we collect with the help of all our wonderful senses, and then it just stores it in our brain forever and ever. We don't even realise how much limitless material, is constantly stored in that amazing memory-bank, every single minute, day after day and year after year.
What is equally fascinating, is the multiple ways in which we keep learning, right through our lives, however long or short it may be. Of course, I learned a lot through the 'Formal Education System', right from the Nursery to Post-Grad, and then B.Ed. too. So, for me that was a whole 22 years of studying 'Subjects and Prescribed Curriculum'. That's one way to learn, I guess. At least, that is the mandatory way for everyone, which cannot really be avoided. But that's not the only way, and learning most definitely doesn't stop, once we're out of School, College or University.
Since I chose to become a Teacher, I found myself studying, every single day for the next 18 years, after I had finished my 22 years of Formal Education, because you can't just reproduce things that are written in text-books, to kids these days. They are exposed to so much information all around them, that they often had more to share and contribute to a lesson, than a teacher could ever tell them. So, we had to constantly be one step ahead of them, to challenge their extremely eager, enthusiastic and very curious minds. In order to do that, I found myself reading and researching more and more every day, right through my journey as a Teacher. In fact, even if I was teaching the same topic or chapter, for two consecutive years, I always added, just a little bit more to what I'd taught the children, in the previous year. Thankfully, the boundless information that is now available at our fingertips, is an awesome tool in our hands.
But that was one of the reasons why, I forever struggled to finish my portion, within the stipulated number of classes, and I was constantly running out of time. Invariably, I would end up borrowing extra periods from my colleagues at work, and most of my co-workers would never be able to understand, why I was always lagging behind. Those in authority never understood it too, but the children loved it. I think, that's what made it so worthwhile to me. I never really cared that I earned a reputation for finishing late or last, because I knew that the kids would never forget, what they've learned in my classroom, due to that little 'extra' which I shared with them, in very unique and creative ways too.
Having varied interests in music, writing, media, journalism, films, literature, theatre, popular culture, travelling, nature and environment and so much more, ensured that I chose interesting ways in which to share that knowledge with them too. From newspaper clips to music videos, from movies to cartoon strips, from interviews to novels, from quizzes to games, from travelogues to even TV ads, just about anything and everything found a way into my lessons; and I will always remember the joy it brought to the children, every single time. They loved that 'out of the box' way, of making sense of the sometimes boring words that were written in their text books; and seeing that they did, made me happy. 😊
After spending close to 4 decades of my life in classrooms, first as a student and later, as a teacher; one would imagine, that I've learned more than enough for one lifetime...But in reality, the 'Learning Never Stops'. Even though it's not for academic purposes anymore, I still find myself learning something new every single day, through books and the cartloads of information available on the internet, through the travel experiences of friends, through songs I listen to and movies I watch, through interesting things that people share in online content, about things as varied as health and lifestyle habits, to food, nutrition and diet, to natural alternatives to medicine, to places and cultures in different parts of the world, to the stories behind a song and the lives of the people who made them, and so much more.
The difference now, is that the topics I am interested in learning about, are not merely subject and curriculum related information. So, it's more broad-based learning, about just about anything and everything, that may catch my attention or interest me.
Among the other positives of having more time to explore and discover things I enjoy, are not having to bother about waking up before the sun every morning, or having to meet irrational and back-breaking deadlines, not being stressed out 24/7, or catching colds and having headaches from the constant lack of sleep, not having a strained voice and falling sick all year round because of work. The best of all though, is having all the time in the world, to use just as I please. That can really be so conducive to learning a lot more, than I ever could before.
Doing absolutely nothing for a while, can often be more useful and beneficial, than constantly doing something and being busy, all the time. If only more people realised the value in it, I think the world would be a more relaxed, stress-free and consequently, healthier and happier place. ✨️✍️
