Looking back, I realize that nurturing curiosity and the instinct to seek solutions are perhaps the most important contributions education can make. – Paul Berg
Curiosity is something that we all humans are born with. It is a drive that motivates us to lead our life. It is an inquisitiveness that initiates the process of being a lifelong learner. Whether it is a child or an adult it gives scope to everyone. Everyone is a born learner, only the way to explore the hidden facts of this world & its existence differs. In short we can say that it is an enthusiasm to explore, discover and figure things out. Paul Berg has very beautifully quoted the nurturing of curiosity and instinct to seek solution and its importance in education. Before understanding this quote it is significant to understand the actual meaning of education.
Many a times education and literacy are overlapped i.e. they are synonymously used by many of us, which needs to be rectified. Education is an enlightening Experience. Any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts may be considered educational. Literacy mainly revolves around acquiring the ability to read and write whereas education is about overall development of a person making it a complete human who not only read or write but also has the ability to think in broader terms and examine the things rationally. Literacy and education are termed as same thing but literacy has got indirect relation with education. Literacy is about acquiring the skills and learning, while education is about applying these skills and learning for benefit of other people, society or country. Every literate person cannot be called an educated person. Education is a much broader concept than literacy. The learning received while becoming a literate can be forgotten but education lives when even the learning 0= is forgotten. Literacy might make people feel superior to others, but only educated people are superior who know how to respect others and pay due importance to their colleagues work. Literate people working at higher positions and misusing their positions and degrading others are the biggest example of uneducated people.The people who can read and write, but use abusive and foul language are literate but definitely not educated.
We are here to educate our young explorers. In this process of education they will surely acquire specific skills. We can’t make kids educated forcefully. The desire to learn needs to be aroused. The desire will arouse only when the kids will have a strong curiosity. Being parent or educators developing curiosity should be our prime purpose not compelling kids to study. Curiosity makes mind active, observant of new ideas and brings excitement in life.Children learn more and remember it for a longer period of time when they are charged with curiosity.They start seeking solution for their queries on their own this develops the instinct to seek solution. Children are not blank slates or lumps of clay.They come with talents and driven, with strengths and weaknesses. Our job is to help them to finely tune their qualities, to give them focus, to assist them in making their strengths and channel their weaknesses in a positive direction. Hence, we try our best to chalk out the activities in the interest of our children be it in curricular or co-curricular activities. In providing them ample of activities, we help the child in choosing from varied options that suits him/her the best. This way they can discover their true potential and push themselves to achieve exceptional levels.
As parents, your most important responsibility is to recognize their strengths and help them use these strengths in the right spirit as the little ignorance towards their interests and strengths may lead them to the destructive path.To see your child perform well in every field, be it academics, music or sports we have to give them the gift of confidence first. Confidence is a gift because parents can do best in building confidence in children. It should be taught to them that topping only in class tests and end-term exams does not bring pride but honing other skills can also fetch good results. You need to be sensitive enough to identify their potential and act as a guiding light for them.
We believe that there is a star in every child hence for us everyone counts. Let us nurture this wonderful gift of God and join our hands to bring out the best in every juvenile.