Saturday, March 14, 2015

The Scientific Ghana Series 2: Higher Order Purpose Ought To Be The Sense and The Seed Of Higher Education

The Scientific Ghana Series 2:

Higher Order Purpose Ought To Be The Sense and The Seed Of Higher Education





Higher education must be distinguished from tertiary education. Tertiary education is the one that comes after secondary education. Where the many students just memorise idle facts anyhow. Higher Education must be in pursuit of a higher order purpose. Students must identify their higher purpose to match the courses they take. Otherwise the youth unemployment and underdevelopment in Africa and Ghana will just continue.

Many such idle students at some point wake up to finally identify their gifts and talents and that is where it gets interesting. However, the sad trend is that once these students begin to light up their path, they quickly begin the futile effort of blaming the schools they have been to for not showing them the genius they really are.

Some even say “everyone is a genius but school makes them think otherwise? Really?? How about family and friends? It’s important we do not misdiagnose our problems. A school in the end is just a sterile device. You get there and take what you need and move on. Only that many young people do not know what they want to do with their lives. Their parents made no effort and they themselves did nothing either. So do not blame school.

The fact that you picked the wrong course and as a results did not see how good you are does not mean school did anything wrong. If you are a 5000 m runner and you chose sprint 100m and you get no medal, is it the is it the competition that is unfair or you need to pick what suits you best?

The chicken-and-egg scenerio comes into play in this situation. Which comes of the decisions comes first? The student finding him/herself at the right place and time for training or the training programme being made to work some magic to force-train and clearly misplaced talent?

Everyone is a teacher and everyone is a student. And then there is resonance. By picking the wrong course you choose not to be in sync with the trainer!!! Parents, family and friends are the best coaches not teachers. The scope of operation is just too limited for every need of the young person to get all the needed assistance to turn out right. They’re just too many variables that all have to come into place at the right time for the needed impact.

Unfortunately the vast majority of students do not care and their parents and friends do not care either. So they come to school and spend all your time leading church groups and failing every course on offer. What can a teacher do about that? It’s the parent, family and the church group who need to point out the situation and insist they do not waste the teacher's time by being inattentive and unserious. Schools are not miracle working establishments; they ought to be viewed as a connecting hub for talent development. Everyone must play their role well.


6 comments:

  1. Some students come from backgrounds devoid of the needed know how to push them forward. How do they escape being trapped in fields that could restrict their inner genius from being expressed?

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    1. A very good question: I always prescribe self-reliance and always being willing to take the initiative. The brain that scored you the grade to the University should be strong enough to strike you to ask questions continuously. It is only in asking that we can find. I personally took to reading biographies from all sources to see what is out there. I also went looking for seniors who could explain the course to me. And I am happy I did.

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    2. So true. Your ability to keep striving makes a difference. I suppose those who are enlightened should take it upon themselves to "open the eyes" of the rest.

      Very powerful read.

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  3. student's success..school (in Ghana) stopped testing students intelligence long time ago. . The focus is now on one's ability to remember. .Secondly, giving a student a course which he or she did not select is likely to result in the student's failure. .The desire to achieve something through a particular field die out completely when u realize you've been diverted. .not by yourself but by the school authorities. .These are some of the problems that really need much attention

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  4. Books (biographies, autobiographies, textbooks,novels) give avenues to worlds in ways that movies simply cannot. I believe true ingenuity stems from the ability to read and appreciate books for the knowledge and experiences that they provide rather than to satisfy the requirements of some 3 credit course. It is saddening how under-appreciated books are in Ghana. It is about time we started exploring what is really out there, asking the tough questions and making an impact as students in a rapidly developing scientific world.

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Thanks for the comments: