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 ISSUES IN EDUCATION - COMMENTARY


√ Communication

√ Critical thinking

√ Education

√ Leadership

√ Professionalism





The Teacher's Gift




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Effective communication (writing): building bridges to understanding (Part 3)

Writing is one of the main requirements of students in the education system. Teachers require that their students write compositions/essays, responses to questions among other writing tasks. They are asking students to communicate ideas through writing. Teachers then give students grades based on how “well” they communicate their ideas on a given topic/issue/assignment. This grade is a measure of the students’ competence on this given topic/issue/assignment. However, many students find it difficult to communicate their ideas through writing. From my experience as a teacher, I have realised that many students are reluctant to do any extended piece of writing. And I have determined a number of reasons for this reluctance. One of these reasons is that many students do not have the content or the creativity to accomplish the writings tasks which teachers assign them. That is, they lack the life experiences which they can get through reading, listening to “experts” as they share their
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Effective communication (reading): building bridges to understanding (Part 2)

We all know the adage, “reading maketh a man” or [woman]. Many of us have never stopped to figure out what this adage really means. But, some of us assume that if we are able to read we will possess knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge here means information, while wisdom is our ability to act on the knowledge which we possess. That is, to manipulate it for our ends. Reading is an important part of communication. There is much information which is hidden in books and in other media. But many of us do not bother to seek it out. We are content with what we already know. Or, we say that the written or other texts are of not much use to us since “life” is a great teacher, which it is. But, the perspectives of others from all fields of knowledge which have been published in books and in other media have, for a long time, been shaping/impacting the way we see and interact with our world. We owe it to ourselves to acquaint ourselves with some of these perspectives. When we read we must reali
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Teachers: 3 Powerful Lessons That You Learn From Teaching

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Teachers, I know that sometimes people who do not work in the education system make you feel unappreciated after you put so much time and effort into helping your students learn as much as they can from their schooling, while you, in turn, learn much from the experience, developing your skills set. As a teacher with more than 25 years in the classroom, I understand exactly how you feel. Dr. Paul Semendinger, an educator, understands the need that teachers have to be appreciated and he shares this understanding in an article on Edutopia titled, What makes a teacher special?   Dr. Semendinger in a previous role as principal of a school asked students and other stakeholders of his school to nominate a teacher for the award of teacher of the week , citing a reason for nominating the teacher. The students' responses clearly show the central place that teachers have in their lives. Here are some of the reasons the students gave for nominating a teacher: the teacher is '
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