What to teach and how has become what I do. I don't really know when it became the only thing I think about and engage with. If I were to think about what gives me joy, I cannot count my concerns about education and the work I do towards resolving those concerns as joyous. Like a writer trapped by his own need to pen his thoughts, I feel compelled by the imperative.
More often than I would like, I am reminded that I have chosen the right profession. I would rather not think so. I wish it were unnecessary and irrelevant. It would mean that there weren't problems that needed fixing. Unfortunately, much more severe, that many other seemingly unrelated social challenges could not be traced back to a poor education system.
I started out wanting to be a psychologist, then needed to get a perspective on the social dimension, thus studied development, then got interested in education as a possible key intervention, then assessment and counseling, finally scaling quality and the question of what is context free and what is context specific. In all honesty, the journey fueled by the vain and adolescent need for approval, and then somewhere became about being able to earn money to survive, then the only skill I had to offer. Unwittingly, because of the sheer breadth of experience - as much as my self confidence would allow - what needs to be done and how began to become clear. It would have become clearer sooner if I had the nerve to allow more experience and to let what I did experience seep in. Alas so little was learnt because I had not learnt to breathe in the life I witnessed. My work has suffered immeasurably because of this.
Setting up a company and an NGO brought on many more decision points where there was but a thin red line between the interests of business and what needed to be done - my financial interests, that of my client and my own. It has become harder as it became clearer that there is always a modicum of choice and therefore cannot be as much place for regret. It has also meant the realisation that the rate at which I am able to implement my skills and experience is limited by the understanding of the variables of impact by the client. Difficult, because the client by virtue of the fact that they need to hire us, is not a position to make an informed choice.
More often than I would like, I am reminded that I have chosen the right profession. I would rather not think so. I wish it were unnecessary and irrelevant. It would mean that there weren't problems that needed fixing. Unfortunately, much more severe, that many other seemingly unrelated social challenges could not be traced back to a poor education system.
I started out wanting to be a psychologist, then needed to get a perspective on the social dimension, thus studied development, then got interested in education as a possible key intervention, then assessment and counseling, finally scaling quality and the question of what is context free and what is context specific. In all honesty, the journey fueled by the vain and adolescent need for approval, and then somewhere became about being able to earn money to survive, then the only skill I had to offer. Unwittingly, because of the sheer breadth of experience - as much as my self confidence would allow - what needs to be done and how began to become clear. It would have become clearer sooner if I had the nerve to allow more experience and to let what I did experience seep in. Alas so little was learnt because I had not learnt to breathe in the life I witnessed. My work has suffered immeasurably because of this.
Setting up a company and an NGO brought on many more decision points where there was but a thin red line between the interests of business and what needed to be done - my financial interests, that of my client and my own. It has become harder as it became clearer that there is always a modicum of choice and therefore cannot be as much place for regret. It has also meant the realisation that the rate at which I am able to implement my skills and experience is limited by the understanding of the variables of impact by the client. Difficult, because the client by virtue of the fact that they need to hire us, is not a position to make an informed choice.
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