Humanizing Education
Aoki’s concept of school being like a factory reminds me of a documentary we watched last semester called, “Most Likely to Succeed”. The film suggested the foundation of the school curriculum – created during the Industrial Revolution – is outdated. They spoke of the importance of “soft skills” to prepare students for success in the work force and in life. Skills like collaboration, communication, critical thinking, problem solving, and resiliency.
Aoki humanizes teaching and the education system, stepping away from the “robotization of teaching” (3). He also places emphasis on the responsibility of a teacher, as the student comes “clothed in a bond of parental trust” (9). I became a mother four years ago. Aoki has made me realize how much this enormity of responsibility and love in my life has become woven into my life as an educator. When I dig into the source of this, my compassion for students is greater because I would want that for my son.
The tool Aoki has given me is self reflection and value on “human” moments. Thinking back to years of teaching, I have moments of pride seeing students improve their requisite skills and knowledge base. However, the moments that emerge most vividly for me are the moments where students have thanked me for “being there for them” and “believing in them.” The social and emotional support that we provide students allows us a window to connect with them. My mom is also an educator and she once said, “if you can’t connect with students, you can’t teach them.” I agree in providing empathy and understanding, and the shift to school being about skill development and building strengths rather than evaluating based on test scores.
Nitobe’s passion for bridging Japan and the West, and bringing people together, is a profoundly deep and rich outlook for us as educators to consider. Teachers make bridges everyday, from helping young ones to understand how to share, to facilitating awareness around perspectives and their own biases as they grow. According to the bushido and Nitobe’s writing, the code means to embody the traits of courage, rectitude, benevolence, politeness, sincerity, honour, loyalty, and self-control. Aoki has put value in building skills that will actually make students happy, well-adjusted, good people. Bridges connect people and also eliminate separation. It’s our responsibility to ensure students have knowledge about the history of our nation so that we can move forward, together.
Reference List:
Pinar, W. F., & Irwin, R. L. (1996). Imaginaries of “East and West”: Slippery curricular signifiers in education. In W. F. Pinar (Ed.), Curriculum in a new key (1st ed., pp. 7). Routledge.
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