Education Through Experience

Education Through Experience How does one learn? Is learning part of the modern day media induced generation? Do we learn by flipping through television channels and reading magazine articles? Or does learning run deeper than that? In today’s world we would like to believe that by turning on the Discovery channel or actually finishing a Harry Potter novel we have learned it all. We justify our media obsession by saying how much we are learning when we stay “glued to the tube” or nose deep in the latest fashion magazine. It is quite agreeable to say that we do collect many facts and details from reading books, magazines, and from watching television. But after all is said and done, what have you committed to memory? Do you find yourself more interested in the facts or the dramatic plot of the movie you were watching? Television is not a sin. We all watch it from time to time. But when people rush home so that they don’t jeopardize their TV time, it seems as if it really has become a problem. How can you expect your children to efficiently learn when they are plopped down in front of the TV or are obsessing over what they are reading in their magazines? Education is not gained by becoming obsessed with the media. It is gained through experience. By seeing and doing things, the people of the world can come to know and understand what education is all about. Not about how “hot” people are, or about how much money you can make from winning a game show, but about how the way things of this world truly work. By being open to new experiences, and new opinions we are able to step outside of our comfort zones and see things through another perspective. As Plato rightly states in The Allegory of the Cave, an educated person is said to be someone that strives to learn more, and that is open to a variety of beliefs and notions from other people. Another important factor in gaining education through experience is being able to communicate what you have learned to

Cited: William C. Symonds.”America The Uneducated.”November 21, 2005.Businessweek.com Plato. “Book VII: The Allegory of the Cave.”Human Experience 1: Who Am I?. Ed. Alice Burmeister and Kathy Lyon.6th ed. Littleton, MA:Tapestry, 2009. 3-6 Bohm, David.”On Communication.” Human Experience 1: Who Am I?. Ed. Alice Burmeister and Kathy Lyon. 6th ed. Littleton, MA: Tapestry, 2009. 12-14