Awakening presence of mind

Praseedha, Contributor, Jakarta , 

Bernard Haldane, a renowned philosopher of the last century, said about achievement: "An achievement is simply something that one feels that he or she did well and enjoyed doing." The term achievement is often used as a synonym of "acceptance" by others.   |  Sun, 01/27/2008 4:00 AM  |  Supplement

The conventional education system was aimed at producing a generation that satisfied the economic demands of a society but failed to develop certain facets of the personality. Students were enriched with tolerance and patience so that they could cater to social demands. Students hardly sought the essence of discretion and waited anxiously for big opportunities rather than applying their mind to small ones.

On their way for the grab they missed the precious dew drops. They failed to realize the fact that starting out to make money was the biggest mistake of their lives. On the contrary to the definition of achievement, they tried to satisfy social demands first and thus craved acceptance rather than self-fulfillment.

Fortunately, the educational scenario has taken a right turn. It has recently undergone a series of positive changes. It's now an arena where a generation is inspired to dedicate their energies not to satisfying an external demand but to their own self expansion.

Present day education aims at creating awareness in students who all possess a high degree of capacity and once they become motivated their application to studies is greatly improved. Innovative educational structure is successful in instilling constructive and positive ideas in students. They no longer wait for the lucky break, but they make up their mind to work on every small opportunity they come across. They do not procrastinate and realize that life is too short to be wasted in futile thinking. They acquire true leadership traits to act when they see need rather than wait for prompting or approval. They believe in "do or die" rather than "show or try", that is the end of a human who burns his midnight oil counting his money and sighing over his misfortunes.

There arises a "self" stuffed with enthusiasm, grabbing "luck in his own way". In this educational scenario the "subjects" transform their objectives into adventures.

These novel "Global Citizens" operate on a trial and error method, training themselves to make decisions frequently on petty matters where a mistake would have no serious consequences, and this make their fruitful journey to quick decisions on relevant matters. The educational experiences to which they are exposed train them and make them fit for problem solving and decision-making which where lacking earlier.

Once this "presence of mind" is awakened, the student will no longer be a mere spectator to life events.

A person of the present day generation is no longer an employee for social infrastructure. On the contrary, he is "the architect" of his own life. Here is the true meaning of the latest version of the word achievement.

Fortunately, the education system is successful in demonstrating the difference between wish and ambition. The present day generation no longer wish or "day dream" but spend sleepless nights in pursuit of a strong purpose, bouncing out from an ambition.

This system aims at the "all-round-development" of an individual.

The writer is a teacher at GMIS.

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