International Education Day

But I'm Not in Education

Okay, so if you've left school behind as a distant memory, and you're working currently, don't you think you're still learning?

We go through life learning constantly. It can be little things, like how to do house chores (washing, ironing, cleaning your room?), but not only that, we all learn skills as we grow in our jobs, or even while in higher education. That means college or university.

But, who teaches you?

A professional that has spent their lives learning to teach you. They can be a teacher of a single subject, or someone that has a full variety of skills that can teach you anything and everything. Let's face it, we all have a favourite teacher at school, or one that sticks out and remains in our memory (I have a few I could name, but I won't).

For me, personally, I had a fairly good education; I was in the higher tier for most of my subjects, and I got a good knowledge of everything, but the one thing I really sucked at, was exams. Still, to this day, I don't like tests, and I don't think they're a true reflection of someone's intelligence. They just measure how much you've learnt over a period of time, and retained.

Interesting fact: the longest running, and oldest school in the UK is the King's School in Canterbury. It has been running since 597AD.

Education Day

So, back to the Education Day. Why celebrate it? Well, because without a teacher, we would not learn anything. Without learning anything, we would not have any progress as a society. We all learn differently, and this fact is highlighted by the difference in a mainstream school to a SEN environment. In a mainstream school, you can be pushed to excel for exams. The work is laid out for you, but you have to do most of the leg work yourself. Worksheets, written assignments, and tests galore could happen there.

A SEN environment is different. Perhaps a more therapeutic way of doing things. Like, finding out how a student learns. They can have tests to see which of the three main different styles of learning they use (visual, audio or kinaestheticTo learn by doing something, rather than watching or listening.). They can then have special plans made bespoke for them to learn off of, and actually achieve something, rather than being in mainstream and unable to express how they feel; this can then lead to a poor education.

Your Choice of Media

Again, you can choose the way you learn now. There are thousands upon thousands of online resources. Just last year, I learnt from a course that was purely online in the form of YouTube-style videos about Microsoft Teams. Purely for my job role at work.

Not only that, there are other ways to learn, including:

• books - the obvious choice, and you can still learn a lot from the right one
• one the job training - while you do the job, you can learn
• apprenticeships - join an apprenticeship programme, and you can learn a trade
• college/university - once you've finished school, this is the next option
• and more...

Here's a video on YouTube from last year's Education Day in 2022:

International Education Day Theme

Every year, there is a theme added to the Education Day. This year, being the fifth year of involvement, the theme is "to invest in people, prioritise education". If you work somewhere, and feel undervalued, ask them to retrain you somewhere else - another role, or even the role you're currently in. If they're not invested, find another job where you can grow, and evolve as a person, not just as an employee.

If you're a full-time student, you can choose your own direction from here, and find your muse. Education is key to that muse.