Learning is Contagious

This post was adapted from something that I had previously written.

The ideal teacher performs two tasks. The first is to provide resources that enable their students to educate themselves. The other is to motivate children. I’m not going to go into detail today about all things motivational. Instead, I’m going to focus on the motivation that a healthy educational environment would provide. I’m going to talk about putting children in an environment where the educational desires of others add to the students’ own educational desires.

Every time I have people ask me questions that I don’t know the answers to, my curiosity is piqued. They have a desire to learn something, and that makes me want to learn the same thing. I know that I’m not alone in this regard. If I’m trying to learn something new, others may be curious enough to try to find the answers for themselves.

The more that learning occurs in an environment, the more desire there is for others to learn. Any healthy educational environment guarantees that children want to learn. Since learning is restricted in traditional schools, the children show a lack of interest. Since the children show a lack of interest, schooling should not be considered a healthy learning environment.

Those who lack the mental strength to form their own opinions tend to base their beliefs off of what’s popular. If we open society up to the same education that the schools are actively fighting, the stronger learners will have no problems adjusting to the changes. The weaker learners will see an increase in the popularity of the process and will likely show a stronger interest in the educational process than they do when pushed through the anti-educational schooling system that we have today.

If we can increase the desire to learn in one child, there will be a rippling effect. Those around this one person will show an increased desire to learn. This additional interest will generate a further increase in interest from others. As long as we could maintain the accessibility of educational resources, the desire to learn from one student could lead to more learning than the schools can possibly handle.

The transmission of educational desires and actions could be viewed as contagious. The schools view it as a disease. They act as though they are the cure and that education must be strictly controlled. They have managed to suppress education in America. Some people may be fine with this unfortunate reality, but I can honestly say that I don’t approve.