Education Is Fire Lighting - Essay Example

Education Is Fire Lighting It is true according to scholar William Butler Yeats that education is not just the filling of a pail, but actually firelighting. For education to sink into someone’s mind, one needs to first have a passion for it. Many people who succeed in education are those who have a desire for education and are inspired by educated scholars who have made it in their lives through education. Based on my own education experience, very rare times have I merely absorbed information (filling a pail), may be when watching or listening to news or watching a movie, a documentary or an educational program on television or listening to it in a radio.

Personally, most of the things I learn and get information on are the things which I have passion for, or the things which inspire me personally. For example, I like reading books on many subjects because I usually aspire to be an all-round character, who is informed in diverse subjects, and this aspiration, desire and passion has really helped me in being a very knowledgeable person in diverse fields. I indeed agree that “education is not just the filling of a pail, but actually fire lighting.

” I have often found myself remembering most of the interesting things I have encountered in life. For the last few years I have been in school, I have found myself being attracted to some subjects in class. In the most interesting classes, my performance has always been excellent as opposed to those classes that were less interesting. Interesting subjects have always lighted a desire to know more. Instead of just stuffing my brain with loads of information, I try to focus on the more important aspects of life that are more meaningful.

This way, I am able to live an interesting personal life as well as in the academic arena. Most of the things which I learn are as a result of me being inspired to learn new ideas or activities (lighting a fire), and I usually encourage people determined to succeed in education to first have the passion and desire to learn what they want to learn. Some learning experiences are more inspiring than others because first, it depends with the mentality of the learner and second, the nature of the learning experience.

If a learning experience is being done out of desire and inspiration, and it’s done in an interesting way, definitely that learning experience will be inspiring than the one which is not done based on passion and desire, and done in a way not interesting to the learner (Smokler 12). Personally, if I have a passion to learn something and the learning of that thing/concept is done in an interesting way, the learning experience becomes more inspiring to me and the vice versa. A more important fact is that when learning is acquired through desire and passion, it is possible to retain information for a long time.

This has many positive implications one being that the information learned can be of help for a lifetime. Secondly, one can become a knowledgeable person and therefore be of much use to the society. For instance, I have used the interesting knowledge I have acquired throughout the education system as well as in personal life to assist my younger siblings in their academics. I have become a mentor to my young cousins and friends as well. Therefore, it is important to consider education as a fire lighting endeavor in the efforts to make each individual in the global society a more useful person to the community.

Actually, it does not come by surprise that some of the most accomplished scientists in the world are the personalities who had heightened interest in education and knowledge. For example, Albert Einstein changed the world of science because he was interested in what other scientists had done and went ahead to improve on their theories and postulates. Works Cited Smokler, David. Interactive Learning Experiences, Grades 6-12: Increasing Student Engagement and Learning. California: Corwin Press, 2008. Print.