Loving the learning

My childhood friend and classmate Vijay, who died almost two years ago, was better than me by a whisker in the formal academic subjects in which we earned the marks and ranks.  It didn't show really in the scores because I couldn't care much about marks and ranks.  I had plenty of other things to worry about.

But, there was no comparison between Vijay and me when it came to the arts and humanities.  I couldn't draw even an egg, whereas Vijay could easily draw portraits and animals and .... He could act. He could orate. He knew books and authors.

Thankfully, we didn't have tests and exams on those because I would have failed.  And failed miserably.

My high school academic achievements or anything later on life too doesn't immediately reflect where I might have sucked.  And boy do I suck in almost everything in life!

I grew up in that kind of a system.  A system in which we never really had a choice and were stuck into pre-defined formats.  A choke-hold from which some of us had to work hard to flee, Vijay included.

The higher education structure in which I now work is one that provides students with plenty of opportunities to learn about different aspects of life.  Now, most of us are not like Vijay who excelled in everything.  Even if we are exceptional in a few areas, chances are pretty good that we might be just about average somewhere else.  Right?

Which means, now students have an option.  They could try to minimize the chances of being in classes where they might not do well, and maximize their grades elsewhere.  Thus, a math- and science-phobic person might completely avoid even a basic introduction to chemistry because that course could ruin their GPA.  Or, the worry that learning a foreign language might be difficult leads many to turn to the other forks in the educational road.

Students, thus, end up graduating with high GPAs.  But, what exactly does that mean when it comes to learning in which choices meant always taking the easy road?

The outliers like Vijay aside, do you care about students with high GPAs that resulted from a risk-minimizing learning strategy, or students with decent GPAs who pushed themselves outside their comfort zones and earned those C and B grades?

I have my preferred answer that is quite obvious.  But it is nothing but my preferred answer.  You have your own preferences.  Is there a correct answer?

I have the luxury of the furlough to think about such important issues.  I hope you too will pay attention to what it means to be educated in the 21st century, and what teachers like me have to think about..