Chats about the Educator in the Making
Self instructed student
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Q# 1. From the General Editors Desk
Chats about the Educator in the Making
Perhaps the realization that not all books are useful to the human understanding is much more important than cramming the contents in those books. For example, voluminous books are produced each year with text referring to more or less the same topics that were referred to years ago; however, not much has changed in terms of the contents. The fact that publications are commercialised make things to be much worse as publishers produce works of other people and reprints are spewed each year, making it difficult to determine the authenticity of the books. Most of the books in the markets are produced by people who are not authorities in the subjects and are likely to do anything to make money. Most of the materials are plagiarised without proper referencing. The worst case is the professional malpractices which involves changing the years of publication and the copyright details to make the books hot cakes. However, it is necessary to evaluate the value of books before starting to read the contents. For example, it is essential to look at the critical features in books such as the year of publication, the author to know if it was done by an authority. The index page to help in locating the topics required, only serous authors provide indexes for their books. Other features are also pertinent to read to know if the material is worth your time, for example, the authors preface and the foreword, which are deemed to give an introduction on the contents of the books
Q#2.
While reading books is extremely valuable as it edifies the mind and soul, it is imperative to read only relevant materials. In academics, relevancy is measured by the external features of books, such as contents, reliability of the author, age of the materials and the publishing house because of the current prevalence in the number of unscrupulous publishing houses. However, there are also cases of piracy which is crippling the writing industry. It is important to analyse the contents on the outer part of the book to evaluate the materials if it’s what you want and if it will meet your reader need and not waste time. By doing this one also learns to distinguish between the different publishers, and determine the best publishing houses. Good publishers do not just publish books without verifying the contents. It is also necessary to look at the references, the names of the author should be reliable and not fictitious and his title and qualification, this helps differentiate between the quacks and authorities.
On the other hand, education is not as dull as many people perceive it to be. The article argues that for one to realise the importance of education he has to assume the unknown, he has to start from ignorance and realise the importance of unknown. Good education must not be measured by the issuance of a sheep skin scroll for the certificate, but the sheer acquisition of knowledge. The basics of knowledge include the age old disciplines such as grammar, Rhetoric, Logic, and Mathematics. However, faint heart never won a fair lady. This makes it indispensable to learn how to accept these disciplines. However, scary they may be because they form the foundation of the art of reading writing and reckoning, just the values that makes a man
This book looks at the history determines the future of the United States. To him, the United States is a nation in progress and may not be finished in the near future. He tries to analyse all the forces responsible for creating the United States. These forces are constantly at war and their jostling leads to the current unfinished state of the US. The main cause of this state is the diversity of the country and the sheer complexity of its history. These two factors have been evolving in relations to the present events and the past setting in motion a number of events. It particularly looks at the pre-Columbian America and the current America. It also covers the current events in the country that are continuously shaping the history of America.
In the history of America, there have been a number of issues that went unresolved, however, a number of mysteries were resolved with ease, thanks to the use of technology, pictures, it also looks at the past and the present, and puts alot of memphasis on the revolution that have taken place in the past couple of years. However, the use of oral evidence, photographs, ecological data, films and television programs, church and town records, census data, and novels is given alot of prominence in the detective work
Q#3
A self instructed leaner is the kind of learner who know what he wants from the sources he is look for. Some of the key characteristics include the ability to be critical of the environment. The self instructed learner is inquisitive and always seek to look for reliable evidences on pertinent issues in has immediate environment. On the other hand, a self instructed learner is always keen to analyse the evidences for authenticity. From the articles by Lingard, (1939), a self instructed leaner need to determine if the article or the resources he is referring to have the vital information about the author, the publisher, year of publication, reprints and copyright. Most of the references materials are pirated making them lose their authenticity. On the other hand, it is imperative for the self instructed learner to use logic at all times. Being logical means the ability to think beyond the face values and subtle facts. One has to analyse and comprehend the inner meanings.
Self taught learners use their self taught skills to realise the importance of the materials in the course materials. These learners make use of oral evidence, photographs, ecological data, films and television programs, church and town records, census data, and novels to achieve their learning aims. These materials serve as evidence in their learning to back up their arguments and facts.
Nevertheless, it is also imperative for the self taught learners to understand facts and translate them into systems that they understand. This group of people to not grasp ideas easily in a group or group discussion but would rather study alone at their own pace.
The self instructed learners must be able to relate academic facts to the daily happenings of life; this relationship also helps in the coordination of the principles stresses in class rooms. Committing the phraseology taught by the lecture is essential, but only to an examination situation; this is unlike the self instructed learners who take their time to study for their benefit not just to pass exams.
Self instructed learners can study even in a situation in which there are no examinations to be done but rejoices in the sheer acquisition of knowledge and enlightenment. Some of the main ideas that are emphasised in the articles included critical thinking. The use of critical thinking is also instrumental in the analysis of arguments and peculiar difficulties. At times, it is imperative to note that, some arguments are easy to elucidate on the first reading. However, if the first reading does not offer much, second the third reading is required; this is where the self instructed learner gets to grasp the relation. Nonetheless, it is understandable if the learners have difficulties in grasping the relations due to the differences in mental capacities and some psychological reasons.
Conclusion
The articles also argues that whole learning is much better as compared to part learning because in whole learning, the student gets develops a deeper understanding of the scenario. Some of the best approaches to learning involve trial and error. In this case, trial and error supplements insight and in turn insight is co-operated with trials and error. The paper also posits an argument that if any sentence is not clear, then the learner needs to study the whole paragraph and if a paragraph is not clear, then there is the need to study the e whole articles, this offers an insight into the whole information. On the other hand, understanding the way an idea is articulated is also crucial.
Bibliography
Lingard L., (1939) : the popular educator: from the general editor’s desk, Washington, the National Educational Alliance, Inc. Dunellen, Issues 49, Volume 9
Brinkley A., (2010). The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People, Volume 1: New York. McGraw-Hill Companies
Winnifred F. (1936). The Homemaker’s Workshop’ and Its Equipment.” What’s New in home decoration Dodd, Mead & Co.
West D. & Hamilton L., (2005). After the fact: “Inside the Information Revolution.” NY Sage
Lingard L., (1939) : the popular educator: mnemonics-how to study and remember, Washington, the National Educational Alliance, Inc. Dunellen, Issues 49, Volume 9
Dam, Leni (1995) From Theory to Classroom Practice. In series Learner Autonomy, Vol. 3. Dublin: Authentik.
Carson, Joan G. & Ana Longhini (2002) Focusing on learning styles and strategies: a diary study in an immersion setting. Language Learning 52/2: 401-438
Jones, Francis R. (1998) Self-instruction and success: a learner-profile study. Applied Linguistics 19/3: 378-406.
Marshall, L., & Rowland, F. (1993). A guide to learning independently. Buckingham, England: Open University Press.
Winnifred F. (1936). The Homemaker’s Workshop’ and Its Equipment”: what’s New in home decoration Dodd, Mead & Co.
West D. &, Mark L. (2009) After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection, Volume I. McGraw-Hill
Larry M. & J. SoRelle(2010) Taking Sides: Clashing Views in United States History, Volume 1: The Colonial Period to Reconstruction. McGraw-Hill/Dushkin;
