Educated mind but uneducated heart without right values
Many of us, who are teachers, feel great whenever our students do great in their examinations.
We also feel that we are successful in educating our students when our students manage to graduate from universities.
The fact that they are degree holders do not necessarily mean they have the right values in life.
In my short article, I intend to discuss the brutal facts of the social discrimination of some graduates have due to their educational level.
Below is a short videoclip about a business graduate who learnt a valuable lesson about her social discrimination as a result of her pride in her educational level.
Pride of a graduate
We may be proud of our achievements but having pride in our achievements can be a totally different story.
Some graduates feel that being educated make them in a higher status than others who are not degree holders.
They may even look down on people around them who earn through manual work.
Have we educated our students wrongly in certain ways?
I believe we may have especially the way we have tried to get our students to work harder or put in more effort in their studies.
Many teachers may have also told their students that getting a good education is the way to achieve success in life.
I believe our main intention is to get our students to be serious with their studies and maximise their potential in learning.
Teachers of different levels may have repeated the similar words to our students leading to a subconsciousness that success is based on the amount of education that they are able to achieve.
These students, who manage to become graduates, may just develop pride for their academic achievements.
Importance of education
I have changed the way how I share about the importance of working hard in studies with my graduating students for many years after I realised my mistake.
Nowadays, I would tell my students that education is not the only way to become successful but education can provide more opportunities for them in future.
There are plenty of stories of successful people who are not degree holders and they achieve a lot more than the educated ones.
The fact that many of the degree holders may be working for bosses who are not highly educated at all.
Education is an important foundation to open their path to many future opportunities but we cannot treat education as the only way for success.
Through the change of how I share about the importance of learning and getting educated, I aim to install the right attitude and understanding from young.
Many highly educated people may not want to take risk especially in business since they know that they can get a stable income with their qualifications.
Without high education, there are many who dare to take calculated risk for greater achievements since they may not earn as much if they work for the rest of their lives as manual labourers.
Social discrimination
This is indeed a sensitive topic to discuss and everyone may have their own opinions.
From the videoclip that I shared, the business graduate, Jiamin, was left to look after an old shop for her grandfather.
She met many manual workers and we can see from her facial expressions that she despised them as she had the pride of being a graduate.
She was rude to the customers due to her status discrimination.
She felt ashamed when her university friend was at the shop to buy a drink as she may have felt that working at the old shop was a lowly job.
The impact came when an old man tried to buy a packet of cigarette with a one-thousand dollar note.
Her pride was shaken as she was not able to believe that an old man, that she probably assumed as lowly educated, could have such money.
Near the end of the video, she confronted the old man and caused him to fall.
The money fell to the ground and she thought that the people around her were trying to take the money but they were picking up for her.
At the end, she understood what her grandfather said before he left the shop. The people around the neighbourhood can be very nice especially when one is nice to them.
I believe that she has learnt not to judge a book by its cover as well as values beyond academic achievements.
In conclusion
It is important that we teach our students that it is important to be educated but education does not make them a different class from others who are not educated.
We must teach them to appreciate others around them who may work as manual workers.
Without cooks, many of us cannot get a good meal in a restaurant when we need one.
Without construction workers, we would not have houses to stay.
Every occupation is important in our society so we should never allow our students to have social discrimination as well as looking down on others.
A successful education should not just educate the mind but we should educate their hearts with the right values.
Disclaimer: This is my personal reflection and I am not in any position to instruct anyone what they should do. I am not responsible for any action taken as a result of this post. My post can only be a reference for your further research and growth. By reading this post, you acknowledge and accept that. All images and pictures were taken from google images that are free from copyright under labelled for reuse.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://fun2learn.vornix.blog/2018/11/06/educated-mind-but-uneducated-heart-without-right-values/