Education 02 (Sep 09 - Jul 10)

[LenaHuat]

Bill&Melinda Gates' initiative launches 2day:-
Get Schooled

[winston]

Wisdom cannot be replaced by knowledge

In our search for knowledge, in our acquisitive desires, we are losing love, we are blunting the feeling for beauty, the sensitivity to cruelty; we are becoming more and more specialized and less and less integrated.

Wisdom cannot be replaced by knowledge, and no amount of explanation, no accumulation of facts will free man from suffering. Knowledge is necessary, science has its place; but if the mind and heart are suffocated by knowledge, and if the cause of suffering is explained away, life becomes vain and meaningless.

And is this not what is happening to most of us? Our education is making us more and more shallow; it is not helping us to uncover the deeper layers of our being, and our lives are increasingly disharmonious and empty.

Information, the knowledge of facts, though ever increasing, is by its very nature limited. Wisdom is infinite, it includes knowledge and the way of action; but we take hold of a branch and think it is the whole tree.

Through the knowledge of the part, we can never realize the joy of the whole. Intellect can never lead to the whole, for it is only a segment, a part.

Education and the Significance of Life, p 66

Source: jkrishnamurthi.com

[millionairemind]

The Heart of a Teacher
by Paula Fox
The child arrives like a mystery box...
with puzzle pieces inside
some of the pieces are broken or missing...
and others just seem to hide

But the HEART of a teacher can sort them out...
and help the child to see
the potential for greatness he has within...
a picture of what he can be

Her goal isn't just to teach knowledge...
by filling the box with more parts
it's putting the pieces together...
and creating a work of art

The process is painfully slow at times...
some need more help than others
each child is a work in progress...
with assorted shapes and colors

First she creates a classroom...
where the child can feel safe in school
where he never feels threatened or afraid to try...
and kindness is always the rule

She knows that a child
can achieve much more
when he feels secure inside
when he's valued and loved...
and believes in himself
...and he has a sense of pride

She models and teaches good character...
and respect for one another
how to focus on strengths...not weaknesses
and how to encourage each other

She gives the child the freedom he needs...
to make choices on his own
so he learns to become more responsible...
and is able to stand alone

He's taught to be strong and think for himself...
as his soul and spirit heal
and the puzzle that's taking shape inside...
has a much more positive feel

The child discovers the joy that comes...
from learning something new...
and his vision grows as he begins
to see all the things that he can do

A picture is formed as more pieces fit...
an image of the child within
with greater strength and confidence...
and a belief that he can win!

All because a hero was there...
in the HEART of a teacher who cared
enabling the child to become much more...
than he ever imagined...or dared

A teacher with a HEART for her children...
knows what teaching is all about
she may not have all the answers...
but on this...she has no doubt

When asked which subjects she loved to teach,
she answered this way and smiled...
"It's not the subjects that matter...
It's all about teaching the CHILD."

[winston]

Degree of shame for don in graft probe

The president of a French university has been suspended for obstructing a probe into claims it handed out degrees to hundreds of Chinese students in exchange for cash.

A probe was ordered into reports that Sud Toulon Var university enrolled Chinese students with inadequate French and gave out diplomas for money.

President Laroussi Oueslati and two deputies are also accused of harassing staff willing to help the probe.

Source: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

[kennynah]

duno what kind of university this is... maybe same category as degree courses by TMC in singapore...

[winston]

Doug Casey: Why getting an MBA is a stupid move
From Conversations With Casey:

Another degree I would strongly advise anyone against getting is an MBA, which has, regrettably, become a very fashionable degree. In our shop, if anyone applies for a job, an MBA is an active strike against them. They’d have to come up with a really good explanation for why they spent all that money and two years of extra time to get something that serves no useful purpose whatsoever.

It’s amazing, when you stop and think about it. The professors who teach MBA courses are not successful business people out making millions in the economy – they’re academics! Successful business people with proven track records wouldn’t work for their wages. These academics have no hands-on experience and are teaching theories, most of which are based on completely phony and fallacious economics.

Don’t get conned into this gross misallocation of time and money. An MBA is worse than useless. Only a fool would rather have one than the $100,000, the lost income, and the two years of lost time and experience it costs.

[iam802]

This is the same as the SG government trying to teach 'Entrepreneurship' within the Academic system.

Incredible, isn't it?

I wonder what will happen if a student fail the 'Entrepreneurship' module?

Entrepreneurs are worth much more if they have fail before, right?

[LenaHuat]

When I read 2day's hardcopy, I was taken back.
Find out abt Americans who go to community colleges in the graveyard hours between 11:45pm to 2:00am.:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/education/28community.html?_r=1&em

[winston]

What Are MBA's Good For? By Michael Masterson

It's a common story. Entrepreneur starts company. Company gets too big for one man to handle. Professional managers take over. Business tanks. Original (or new) entrepreneur takes over. Business is saved.

I've seen it from afar and have experienced it firsthand.

Here's what you need to remember. At some point in the growth of your business, running it yourself will be "beyond" you. (That point usually comes when you have about $10 million in annual sales or more than 50 employees.)

Your overwhelmed operational people will fall behind, your overburdened marketers will start making costly mistakes, and your customers will complain more and respond less. Refunds will rise. Sales will slip. Profits will dip.

You'll be swamped with problems, complicated problems, and you won't have time to solve them all.

You will feel the need to bring in a strong administrator -- an MBA or experienced accountant -- who can bring order out of chaos and rescue you from the stuff you hate to do (and don't do well).

This is a good instinct. But don't make the mistake of putting that person in the CEO position. An MBA can do a great job of managing the business for you -- but make him or her CFO or COO, not CEO.

You are the person who best understands your business and your market. So the CEO position must be yours.

A business manager's job is to create efficiency. A CEO's job is to keep the business profitable.

Source: ETR

[winston]

How Doug Casey learns these days
From Conversations With Casey:

I would suggest that a parent thinking of allocating $40,000 to $50,000 per year for four years of college education instead grubstake their kid with that same money. You could even make it a fraction of that, to be put into actually doing something, like starting a business or trying out different investment strategies, and get a lot more experience and knowledge for your kid as a result.

You certainly don't need a college to gain knowledge. For example, there's an outfit called The Teaching Company that hires the very best professors in the world in all sorts of subjects to deliver superb audio courses. I listen to these things all the time in the car. I watch the ones that have important visual components on my computer, and I can go back and repeat anything I don't understand clearly - when my mind is receptive to it. It's much more effective than going to college would be, and it's vastly cheaper. Superior in every possible respect.

Another thing I'd do if I had a college-age kid is plan out a travel schedule. He'd have to spend at least a month in a dozen countries and report on what he does there.

Travel may be the single best type of education, at least if done with a method and an objective.