Versatility in Education

It has always seemed strange to me that in our endless discussions about education so little stress is laid on the pleasure of becoming an educated person, the enormous interest it adds to life. To be able to be caught up into the world of thought - that is to be educated. – Edith Hamilton.

There is conceivably no greater transgression than to stand between a person and his development. The thoughts that govern your action, values and your inherent success in life are those that we have derived from education. Education is not only about learning but also about un-learning and re-learning to adapt our ways to the transient moments which as a collection make up our lives in its magnificent entirety.

To surround this level of importance in a brick and mortar school and adding the burden of fixed time, fixed schedule and fixed dates is perhaps akin to expecting absolute freedom flourish in the rigid realms of dictatorship. This though has been thought over innumerable number of times by the great leaders of the past who evolved the concept of distance education (a.k.a.) Correspondence education in the Asian context with the limitations that were then in force. The critical link between correspondence learning and the inherent amount of knowledge grasped is the mentor.

We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give. When Sir Winston Churchill said this he more than likely meant the incredible amount of knowledge which is passed on by virtue of living life itself aptly encapsulated in the word ‘Experience’. Instruction ends in the class, but education ends only with life and mentoring shows us what is between the lines of text, hidden between the words, the inexplicable formula for success.

Having said all that has been said is there a process where the learner can actually learn at ones own pace, at the time when the person deems fit, maybe after work , maybe before or for all the reasons in the whole wide world even during work. And more importantly can there be a mentor to guide the person when the person wants to learn?