Schools of the Future: "We are more than we suspect, but we are taught to see less in ourselves"

After reading this article I had to perform a mental recounting of all the Universities I have attended.
Culinary Academy of Long Island: NY (2 yrs)
Union County College: NJ (in and out 2 yrs)
Brookdale Community College: NJ 1 1/2 yrs.)
Miami Dade College: FL (2 yrs)
Kean University: NJ (almost 2 yrs)

All these schools have one thing in common, paperwork, $$$$ and some more paperwork~ When my husband attended Rutgers he referred to it as the "RU Screw". It is evident to ALL students no matter what school you attend or are about to attend, Money is the main issue. Kean unfortunately has me on a delayed notification system in regards to events, seminars and opportunities but when it comes time to pay tuition I get that bill SUPER QUICK!

This article discusses what is important in schools and what is lacking in today's educational system. After we have finished stressing about which form is due on what day and which copy of the praxis score is the schools, we can get down to business and crack our books open. One of my favorite quotes in this article is "They leave universities with skills for the workplace, but with no knowledge of how to live, or what living is for." I think this is a factual statement in all facets of our collegiate education. Instead of doing countless lesson plans that no one sees us accomplish why can't we have a class on the reality of the classroom? What should I do when a child pees himself or throws up in the classroom? What should I do when a child calls another child a derogative name in front of the whole class? These questions have passed through my mind countess times. We are learning theory right now but why can't we learn to put theory into play in the classroom.

All of our books/tests/scantrons guide us on a path to academic & career success but do we really know what to do with this knowledge once we have graduated? It is not until we are standing in front of our perspective students that we will realize how much we DON'T know. How can we teach morals and ethics if we are not sure what our own are to begin with. This article seems to shift the responsibility on the schools but I think it is our(the students) responsibility as well. " We need to widen, at base, and invisibly, the inevitable necessity of teaching students the need for self-discovery. Consciousness studies ought to be a fundamental part of liberal or scientific education". We must take stock in ourselves and realize what we are capable of. We should take daily inventory of our thoughts and ideas. We should know our limits and what it takes for students to push our buttons. We should know what riles us up and what calms us down.

I am a fan of yoga and a huge part of this lifestyle is being aware of your own consciousness. In yoga you are taught/instructed how to "zone in and out" through meditation and it really has a healthy impact on my physical & emotional well-being. You become more mentally focused and aware.

We must know ourselves in order to teach future generations.