Have you ever thought of how funny we were used to explicit rights and wrongs at school? Where all answers had to be either correct or false, and there was no room for any answer in between, even questions that accept multiple answers were not allowed. Why were our options at school limited whereas life’s real options are infinite? Why waste our time memorize words we could’ve opened our books to get, to be forgotten, when we could’ve created or built something of benefit! Why weren’t we involved more in the teaching process instead of being only listeners, so we can really understand what was being taught? Why were we taught that 1+1=2 whereas nothing such as 2 exists in the real world?! Why the unnecessary borders? Why assess a student based on how her/his memory can hold of information? Why relate intellect and creativity to grades? Why plant the idea that grades are the arbitrators of how good we really are?! Can it get more falsifiable than it already is?!
Recalling how I used to think of myself, I really find it funny and somehow disappointing of how smart I thought I was after writing down what I’ve already memorized beforehand. Life doesn’t work by memorization, it works by precise realization and common sense!
Wondering the reason behind all this has never reached an end with me. Is it because they didn’t want to confuse us, the kids whom are now the ladies & gentlemen of the present? For how describing our living rules is nothing near clarity. Or did they want to enclose our innocence and sheer optimism for as long as they could, believing they’ll remain glossy, only to be devoured later by life? I couldn’t really find a legit answer.
If we were growing up to act exactly upon how we were taught, then I wouldn’t accept any other opinion that doesn’t match mine! We would be creatures of only one truth, and that is ours! We would act based on what “We” think is right, neglecting all other sides of any story. Unfortunately, there are people who still adopt this way of thinking, and they are some of those who were taught by the same old school.
Comes next what I believe is one of the most needed skills to build up strong characters, but wasn’t at all included in our curriculum; Negotiation skills. We should’ve learned how to negotiate from early ages. So what if I didn’t agree with what’s being taught? Don’t I have the right to discuss whatever I find unconvincing?
I had a course at university about The Fundamentals of the Islamic Political system two years ago, and it contained really hot topics specially that we were witnessing huge changes in the Arab world, aka the Arabic Spring. I remember having many questions that weren’t answered properly. The instructor either tried to convince me that my question is out of what she was supposed to cover from our curriculum, or simply denied me the right to ask such questions! That was the perfect time for me to get the answers I needed! But instead, unqualified people and passive curriculum ruined the chance for some clarity to surface, limiting ourselves again within imaginary boundaries, ones I wish to be destroyed from early ages.
Those who had stated these old rules and built these teaching schools, what were they trying to reach? What were they trying to deliver? Did they have a dream of a perfect world, one that has no struggles, no villains, no shadows of injustice and oppression? A dream they couldn’t comprehend themselves, but though they might alter our beliefs and way of thinking so we can reach it. Did they really thought of us as tools? Covering us with false blindness to turn the world into a better place? To find what they had lost and want to retrieve through our eyes, their students’?
As I’ve mention previously, certainty is nothing but a myth, and I wonder why do we still teach our children at school the opposite.
We don’t have the right to shape life for any one. And each child has to create his/her own perception of life and keep on reshaping it till the last breath.
Framed Glimpses 