This post picks up on the themes I introduced yesterday. Let's jump right in!
Especially in small communities of "developing" countries, many people feel very helpless. I think this is often because they are being forced into a world that they do not understand; a world for which they are ill prepared by the education they received from parents and grandparents. Many individuals, frustrated by their lack of success in the modern world, fault their education. They feel that the traditions and knowledge they were taught by their elders is wrong because it didn't allow them to prosper in the world they find themselves in.
Frustrated by the mismatch between the education they received from their elders, parents abandon this traditional system of education in raising their children. Unfortunately, the national educational system in Ecuador is still struggling, and falls short in many ways. There is no intact "developed" educational system to replace a traditional system. The result is a generation - the generation Kirstie and I work most closely with - of children and teenagers who have been exposed to pieces of traditional education systems and have passed through the system of "developed" schooling, but have very little to show for it. They are poorly equipped for any world. As a result, they feel frustrated and powerless, and are worried they will not be successful in life.
Until this point in my life, my education has been excellently matched to my world. From elementary school through university, I have always been at the top of my class. In every job I've had, my supervisors, coworkers, customers, and the people I supervised have all appreciated my work.
Especially in small communities of "developing" countries, many people feel very helpless. I think this is often because they are being forced into a world that they do not understand; a world for which they are ill prepared by the education they received from parents and grandparents. Many individuals, frustrated by their lack of success in the modern world, fault their education. They feel that the traditions and knowledge they were taught by their elders is wrong because it didn't allow them to prosper in the world they find themselves in.
Frustrated by the mismatch between the education they received from their elders, parents abandon this traditional system of education in raising their children. Unfortunately, the national educational system in Ecuador is still struggling, and falls short in many ways. There is no intact "developed" educational system to replace a traditional system. The result is a generation - the generation Kirstie and I work most closely with - of children and teenagers who have been exposed to pieces of traditional education systems and have passed through the system of "developed" schooling, but have very little to show for it. They are poorly equipped for any world. As a result, they feel frustrated and powerless, and are worried they will not be successful in life.
Until this point in my life, my education has been excellently matched to my world. From elementary school through university, I have always been at the top of my class. In every job I've had, my supervisors, coworkers, customers, and the people I supervised have all appreciated my work.
But
my service as a Peace Corps volunteer has placed me in a different
world. I have almost no agricultural experience and would probably die
on my own in the jungle. I struggle to express myself in Spanish, and
can't even follow a conversation in Kichwa. People often treat me like a
child or an idiot. And for this world, that's what I am. As a result, I struggle and become frustrated, just like the young people I work with. Is it because the education I received is wrong? Is it
because the world where I live is bad? No, and no! It's because my
education doesn't match my world. I, and the kids I work with, need a resizing. Because our world doesn't fit.
Check out tomorrow's blog for my thoughts on how education, development, and prosperity are linked.
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