Personal Responsibility and Education

Educating Students What gives me hope for the future as an educator committed to helping students grow, develop and achieve in all areas of the whole child is the knowledge that I have a deep interest and love for the idea of developing the whole child, which is founded on my own philosophical basis on what I have learned over the years -- namely, the classics and ideas of classical philosophy.

In short, the ideas of and access that I have to the works of Aristotle give me confidence and hope in the knowledge that I can share these great character formation gifts to the next generation; in other words, I am not lacking a direction in this respect because the research shows that these ideas still have legs (Kristjansson, 2014).

My hope is thus based on what I know and understand about the relationship between education and character -- which is what I view as the essential element in providing real education. It is not enough that educators simply give students the facts or the information or the tools -- they must also give them the example of how to grow and why to grow; they must cultivate a desire to learn and grow within the student by fostering character formation and good character education (Haynes, 2009).

It is this character, ultimately, that will make all the difference in whether the student progresses towards success or falls away from education into a rut of some kind. Developing the whole child is based on the idea that a whole philosophy is needed -- one that can explain in a reasonable way why we live, what will make us happy, and how we can achieve that goal (Kristjansson, 2014).

This hope is further supported by the belief that parents will begin to be more involved in the lives of their students and that more families will be staying together and supporting one another in the future (Vera, Israel, 2012). I think the past few decades in which we have seen the rise of broken families in the country will begin to turn over a new leaf: more people will see through their own experience how important it is for families to stay together and to be there for one another.

So a great deal of my hope as an educator in the future is that society and communities in general will have developed a deeper appreciation for their role in the overall education of the next generation: everyone has to do his or her part, and it does not start or stop with the teacher; parents play a huge role -- so with this in mind, I feel less stress about how vital my role is: we are all in the same boat together and hopefully will be working towards the same goal.

Thus, my vision of what education will become in the future looks like more of a community-based workshop than the traditional environment that we are used to seeing in the classic image of the little red school house. I see education being freer, open, more inviting, more inclusive, less stringent in terms of man hours and set schedules. I see technology being used for the virtual classroom, with lessons being administered online and students learning in the home and participating in class work via the Internet.

I see students taking on more personal responsibility, especially as threats of violence and risks associated with gathering so many students in one location begin to be more seriously and practically addressed. I see educators lobbying to take advantage of the tools that the Digital Age have given.