Pedagogy: The activities of educating, teaching or instructing
For most of us, the typical paradigm of content-loaded, objective-driven, deterministic schooling was our societal burden to carry from early on. Many of our traditional school systems delivered content to us for the single goal of yearly optimal assessment outcomes with little regard for retention, comprehension, or application. Even through higher education, we were told the most important key component is information, chosen and delivered by subject matter experts without counsel or infusion from us.
As we matured, workplace pedagogy tended to be subject-matter driven. Decisions were made regarding what information we were to be taught for the solitary purpose of moving the company forward. During these years, there was little room for individualistic pursuits of knowledge or queried curiosity. But once finished with the obligatory workforce training and professional development, we were released from cultural expectations of further learning.
Woe to those that misconstrue the meaning of the words “retirement” or “older adults” and believe they signify “a required rapid deterioration of all mental faculties,” because this is typically not the case. Frankly, different types of learning continue throughout the rest of our lives.
Whether pursuing answers because of simple inquisitiveness, or because of forced navigation through cutting-edge technology, we are always still learning.
In fact, for the first time in our lives, many of us are continuing to pursue learning using a holistic, individually controlled approach that offers the empowering freedom to choose what we want to learn. We find that stretching our minds to new learning in positive interactive social environments help move us from our current patterns of thinking into synergistic wonderment of the vast amount there is still to learn.
Federal judges in the U.S. serve our country until they resign, die, or are removed from office. Regardless of societal constructs, we should be so bold to follow in their footsteps with continued scholarship.
Because, from this day forward, we are now in control of what we learn.
