Good educators love to keep learning and developing. Some do this by focusing on exploration, enlightenment and education. Let’s explore these themes.
Exploration
Educators are lifelong learners. They love to learn, develop and help others to succeed. They often start this process by focusing on a topic they want to explore. They sometimes ask themselves the following questions.
What do I want to learn about? What is the reasons why I want to learn about this topic? How can I learn about this topic in my own way? How can I then use this knowledge to help myself or other people?
Different people explore in different ways. They may learn by reading, doing, studying best practice or in other ways. Whatever route they take, they often start by gathering information. This can lead to the next stage.
Enlightenment
Educators like to make sense of information. They may aim to see patterns, clarify what works and recognise how they can use the information.
Enlightenment comes in different forms and has different names – such as epiphanies, realisations or ‘Aha!’ moments. Sometimes it is a moment when:
A person makes sense of information and sees how it can be applied to achieve success.
Enlightenment may come from seeing a pattern, looking at things from a different angle or from serendipity. Many people experience such moments – but then it is important to translate these into action.
Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin, for example, came about by leaving a petri dish next to an open window. This developed a mould that killed adjacent bacteria. Fleming went on to translate this discovery into developing penicillin. Many years later wrote:
“When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928, I certainly didn’t plan to revolutionize all medicine by discovering the world’s first antibiotic, or bacteria killer. But I suppose that was exactly what I did.”
Many people love to explore a topic and, at some point, have a moment of enlightenment. They may then use this information to move on to the next stage.
Education
Educators love to make sense of what they have learned. They then like to pass on this knowledge through education to help other people to develop and succeed.
Different educators do this in different ways. Bearing in mind their own strengths, they may do this by writing, teaching, coaching, mentoring, making films or in other ways.
Some educators focus on helping specific audiences. They may aim to reach children, troubled teenagers, athletes, entrepreneurs, leaders or other people.
Different educators have different reasons for passing on knowledge. Some may simply aim to raise people’s awareness. Some may encourage people to translate this into action and achieve success.
Educators sometimes give people a gift for life. As the saying goes, you never forget a good teacher. They may encourage, educate and enable individuals to reach their goals.
Some people see education as the ultimate democratic activity. It can offer people more options, more solutions and therefore more freedom to shape their futures.
Good educators continue to focus on their own development. They then aim to pass on this knowledge through education and helping people to shape their futures.
Let’s return to your own life. Can you think of a situation where you may want to follow elements of this approach? How can you do this in your own way? What may happen as a result of taking these steps?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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