Education is the cornerstone of our society – if we all rested on our laurels and never attempted to improve our knowledge and skills the world we have come to know and love would hit a permanent snag. The ability to explore new avenues, share our thoughts and experiences with like-minded individuals, to challenge our beliefs and enrich our lives are some of the reasons that people continue to welcome education’s embrace throughout their lives.
Education comes in many forms – the structured form such as academic study through tertiary education providers or office based training, practical trade related education, through to conversations had over a cup of coffee or a good meal – the key is that through this education we are improving our knowledge, challenging our beliefs and are then able to pass this knowledge onto others, continuing the education process.
I have recently returned to tertiary study and it was a challenging undertaking full of adjustment, doubt, worry and wide-eyed optimism. After one semester I am a transformed pupil; gone is the doubt and worry, replaced by a heightened inquisitiveness, a thirst for knowledge and a need to explore.
I have also just completed my first foray into the labyrinth of tertiary tutoring – a world of questions, responsibility, instruction and challenges – and overall it was a rewarding and enriching experience. I’ll be upfront and say that a lot of the time I was barely keeping my head above water, and drowning was, at times, an acceptable option but it was an experience that has moulded my personality and provided me with skills and knowledge I can transfer to other areas of my life. Surprisingly it was not like Dead Poets Society, my life was not threatened like Michelle Phiffer’s was – it was very much like a University class presentation for 5 hours every week. Like a talk show host, professional sportsperson, public speaker or husband returning from a night on the beers I had to get my gameface on, take a deep breath and enter the arena.
To capture, sustain and entertain an audience consistently is very difficult and I drew on my repertoire of poor jokes, poor impersonations and party noises to compliment the educative experience, often to a mixed or non-existent response. 12-15 years difference in age does not sound a lot, but in the classroom it can really make a difference when communicating. A number of my 120 students have not known a world without mobile phones, internet and computers – when I first studied at University we barely had email addresses, the internet was a black screen with white font and the only phone I had was a landline. Teaching in 2010 is an electronic smorgasbord, where navigation and adoption is noticeably easier for the students than the teachers. The generational difference makes it a challenging environment.
Shaping minds is an enormous responsibility and luckily I was well supported by a content expert – my role was to reinforce and provide real-life examples – to mould the information into easily accessible chunks. The lightbulb moments, those times when you sense a concept taking hold and being absorbed, made the job rewarding.
The semester went well and by the end I was confident that I had represented myself adequately, the students were mostly pleased with the outcomes of the tutoring and I could walk out of the University grounds with my head held high. My student feedback arrived today and I must admit I was a little hesitant about opening the envelope – half expecting the puff of anthrax powder or the telltale click of a trigger mechanism. All I found though was a pile of response papers.
The results were in. How did I fare?
Pretty well, actually. There were a few negative comments; one especially low blow about the one thing I could improve was ‘my jokes’ – I mean, where do these people get off? It did show that personality, confidence and humour can get you a long way – that people can take on a unique challenge and do well; or, at least, create the impression of doing well.
I have experienced both sides of the education fence in recent times and both have been rewarding and enriching experiences. To extricate yourself from the workforce, relocate your life and enter an unfamiliar territory is not easy but it can be done. If you are not happy, if you crave a challenge, if you need to improve your life or prospects or if you just want a change then go ahead and do it. You’ll never regret taking a chance, only not taking a chance.
Do it, and let me know how it goes.
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