Featured Bloggers
- Elizabeth – TEA AND PAPER
- KL – NEW-2-WRITING
- Kirstin TROYERS LOVING LIFE
- Lady Lee LADY LEE MANILLA
- LianaB LIGHT WRITE LIFE
- Sadje LIFE AFTER 50 FOR WOMEN
- Terri SECOND WIND LEAISURE
IT’S EASY TO PLAY ALONG WITH #WQWWC
This weekly writing challenge runs from Wednesday through Tuesday. The only rule is to use a quote.
If you want to participate, create a pingback to link your post. Not sure how to do that? See how to create pingbacks here.
“A quotation in a speech, article or book is like a rifle in the hands of an infantryman. It speaks with authority.”
Brendan Behan
Education, Learning, Schools
Today’s topic covers you from birth to death. There is never a time during that timeline in which you are not learning. Education can be formal or informal. As a retired teacher and instructional consultant, my career was formal education. Most of us spend at least 13 years acquiring a formal education. Add pre-school and graduate studies, the span of formal education may reach from age 2 to nearly 30 – a bulk of our lives.
So why do we expend this kind of energy educating ourselves and our children?
“Change is the end result of all true learning.”
Leo Buscaglia
Yes, we want change even though sometimes we hate it. We want what we lacked for our children. We want the world to be a better place. Often we fight change. We get mad at educators as they carve a path through today’s culture to create tomorrow’s. We rail that they don’t have it right.
In 2020 most parents worldwide had the opportunity to take their shots at providing full-time education for their children or grandchildren. It was a learning experience for all. For some it worked out beautifully, others felt their children lost a whole year of schooling.
“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”
Malcolm X
We could dispense with schools, but we don’t in spite of the improvements in technology. Schools are more than an institution, a definition of culture. We know what happens in societies where education is non-existent. We can trace back to a time in our own countries, where education was limited to the rich and poor youths found their own way.
What was life like? What happened to all the energy and the impressionability of youth? Were they guided by rational thoughts or led astray by adults with a bent towards violent solutions?
Even royalty or political leaders often found education limited. I love to watch shows like The Crown or reading biographies about Catherine the Great and other leaders. Their education or lack thereof, sometimes shocked me.
“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school”.
Albert Einstein
Baby Boomers past the age of formal education still go back to college to learn or refine skills they missed growing up: art, music, photography and even to get new careers. Others learn from the internet or from making connections.
I’ve spent the last nine years since my retirement learning how to become a better writer and photographer. I’ve had face-to-face classes to learn how to paint, quilt, make gift boxes and fancy eggs. I learn from the internet how to cook better meals, keep my house better organized, win at pickleball, understand cats, and stay healthy.
What’s your take on education?
What’s UP
- Check out what’s going on with Story Chat this month.
- PPAC 10 will be here on Friday rather than on Cee’s Blog. Even Cee needs a little break.
- Sunday Stills will be on Natalie the Explorer’s blog for three weeks in part because Terri will be visiting me (and lots of others) I’m so excited.
- Ju-Lyn TOURING MY BACKYARD included one of my links on her blog post. That was serendipitous. Thanks Ju-Lyn
- What’s coming up on your blog? I look forward to hearing from you this week about education.
Marsha Ingrao - Always Write 
I do enjoy your in-depth writing about education and learning here.
Mine is a little less in-depth (and a day late- sorry)
https://lightwritelife.wordpress.com/2021/08/26/wqwwc-38-education-schools-or-learning-for-life/
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Education is such an interesting prompt. I taught for many years but now I’m involved with research, no much of teaching these days. I miss it, but not sure if I’d like to take a full load of classes again. Here is one of my favourite quotes about teaching, and I always keep it in my mind.
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire” Yeats
I’m taking a little break from the challenges, recharging for September.
Have a lovely weekend!
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Thanks, Elizabeth. That’s a lovely response. A great quote. I hope you come back rested and recharged. Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
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Life-long learning is a conversation that has come around several times with several people in the past few days. I hope we never stop.
Thanks so much for mentioning me in your post. I was very excited to get a pingback this morning – it really made my day.
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Very nice… And like you I often wonder how people from before us ( I am rewatching The Crown) could learn.
As for myself, I too have been back to school a few times. I think as we get a little older we realize we want more information about what we really love.
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That is so true. What are you learning? I learned about making a video yesterday. Today, I’ve just played.
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Right now, I am learning to let go. lol. I returned to school before I came to Arizona to study horticulture. When I arrived in the desert it was a game changer. I knew nothing. Luckly the Botanical Garden has a plant a landscape certification course. I loved and and even planted and tended to gardens on the grounds. I just love learning. When we travel. I read everything I can to make sure I am seeing everything I can.
What was your video? Is it for a YouTube channel?
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Learning to let go is hard! You sound like a super interesting person. I love that you got a landscape certification. What fun. You remind me of a brilliant consultant that I worked with. She apprenticed herself to a man who raised irises and had an iris farm in Porterville. He ended up giving her tons and tons of prize bulbs. She planted them, and when they bloomed brought 10-15 beautiful bouquets of flowers to work every so often.
The video I did for Sunday Stills and FOTD two days ago. I haven’t put it on my youtube channel. That channel has only my narrated and unedited videos.
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I’m not sure how interesting I am, and yet I do love life, and use my time on the planet wisely. lol. I think my comparable work with your friend was when I volunteered to tend the gardens at the National Cemetary in Phoenix. I loved my time there, and what I never expected what the amount of people who found ME to share their stories. I wish I kept a journal. It was humbling, and enlightening at the same time.
Neck surgery took that away…but I always find my way… Thank you for your kindness and friendship.
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I hope your neck surgery went well. It looks like you are doing great if you are doing 26 mile bike rides. I’m looking forward to those again soon.
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I was a long battle. I think I am a warrior. lol.
I think it was harder on my poor husband. I am not very good at sitting and doing nothing. Not much for TV either. PT was a Godsend.
Hoping your surgery is quick and you are back to yourself in no time.
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There are many different ways to learn, but learning is what we do – naturally.
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Hi Norah. Thanks for chiming in. This post should have been easy to write, and it was. But my mind went a million different directions before I finally put fingers to keyboard. Sometimes it is harder to write about what you know best because you assume that everyone knows that already and are going to be bored stiff. 🙂
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I know what you mean, Marsha. We take our own knowledge and expertise for granted. Well, some do. I’m not sure I have any. 😉😂
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Of course you do. Silly girl, you need no affirmation of that!!!
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😂😉💖
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Great Post Marsha. I love learning, from little things like language when visiting somewhere new (I always try to learn the basics; hello, goodbye, please, thank you and WC – haha) to proper courses. Since my LB has come along, time for formal education has been limited but I’ve learned so many other skills (yesterdays was assembling a toy train track lightning-quick after being caught in the act of trying to tidy it away – haha). Hope you like my entry for this week:
https://new2writing.wordpress.com/2021/08/18/who-will-you-discover-a-poem/
Take care.
KL ❤
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Fabulous post, KL. Thanks for joining in. 🙂
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You’re most welcome, Marsha. Thank you for the great prompt! KL ❤
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My pleasure!
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love learning new things, great post, Marsha 🙂
https://ladyleemanilablog.wordpress.com/2021/08/19/wqwwc-38-learning-education-or-schools/
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Thanks, Lady Lee. I’m off to check out your wonderful words of wisdom.
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Thanks Lady Lee
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Your post is full of positive energy and shows why most of us get up in the morning…to learn something new, Marsha! You are so right about boomers and (Our) their zest for life-long learning. I mean, who could just sit around all day and watch TV? Some do, and that is sad. I miss my educator role at the university but I now embrace my leisure time to try new things, like cooking and experimenting in the kitchen and just being more domestic. I never had much time for these endeavors, even when just teaching, and I didn’t have a new home with room and storage. When your kitchen is tiny, the last thing you want to do is mess around in the kitchen! Sorry to miss this prompt. but it will be worth it to hang out with you in a few days!
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Definitely! There are so many rabbit holes to go down with this subject. I wanted to keep it universal, something to which we can all relate. 🙂 See you soon! 🙂
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Great post marsha! Loved your quotes and thoughts. We never quit learning. When my mom was in her 40’s I remember her taking tennis lessons and tap lessons and she took some painting classes as well.
Here’s my link:
https://troyerslovinglife.blogspot.com/2021/08/wqwwcaugust-18-theme-learning-education.html
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You have many educational goals, my friend. It makes life so much fun!
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Love this post of doing and living to the full 🙂 🙂
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Thanks, Brian. We all learn or die, right? Today I learned how to make a video using the free software that comes with Windows 10. That was so cool.
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I didn’t know there was a video program in Windows 10. I have a program with my Corel PaintShop Pro 🙂
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I just learned it today, and made my first video for Sunday Stills. Can’t wait to show it off. I didn’t do anything fancy, but it was still fun to create it. 🙂
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Can’t wait to see it Marsha 🙂
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Sunday! Don’t get your expectations too high! It’s less than a minute long!
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Short and sweet 👍😀
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