I believe the goal of education is to aid each individual in attaining his highest potential. It is to lay the groundwork so that each student has the skills and understanding to follow his or her personal dreams for the fulfillment of life s purpose in keeping with desire of the student s family and community. On the other hand, I am well aware that children and adolescents might curtail their own aspirations and make choices in their school years that would limit their opportunities later as adults. One role of education is to insure that doors of opportunity are not closed early and that students are challenged to dream and set high goals for themselves.
Meaning is something people create for themselves.
Teachers are not the holders of all knowledge that they impart to students who come as empty vessels to be filled. As teachers, we can bring information to the classroom, but what students do with that information is both an individual choice and a cooperative process. Children make meaning with their peers, their families, and their world. The best teaching comes when educators realize that it is a shared endeavor. We can know what meaning is being made only as we listen to our students and get to know them in the context of their lives.