Supplementing Formal Education with the Informal

Give Yourself an Informal Education that Kicks the Crap out of your Formal One

Now before we even get started with this one, I’m not saying that formal education isn’t important- it most definitely is. What I wanted to consider with this article is the importance of education outside of the school. The article makes a pretty good point too in that, though the intention of schooling is to prepare the students for the world, it’s not always succeeded. Messy in practice sort of situation, is what I would chalk this up too.

That said, to summarize this article, Srinivas Rao makes statements about books, and just how much they have impacted their informal education. They looked at their bookshelf and said, “I’ve read more books than I did in the entirety of my formal education.”

That’s the thing about education. It should give you the tools to be able to search out what you need for an informal education, hopefully promoting a passion for learning so that it’s a continuing process. At the same time, what we learn in formal education should be something lasting- yet many people, like the author, report not remembering much about high school.

What I do enjoy about the article is that it gives options on what to do for your informal education. It’s better not to get caught up in just work after school- to keep finding ways to challenge one’s self. I had a teacher that once told me the brain is like a rubber band. It must be continually stretched so that it doesn’t become so unused it is impossible to stretch at all lest it snaps.

So what I do like about the article, though it isn’t fully formal education supportive, it is promoting something I’ve always considered heavily important. It gives examples and ideas on ways to keep learning outside of school, whether you’re still in the school system or already out and in the work force. The trick is trying to figure out how to make formal education something that still helps the students, while also fostering a love of learning that will continue well after they have graduated.

Now, this falls into my content area simply in that being that I’ll be working as an educator, I need to be considering how I can try and figure out this trick. How do I help my students and give them the formal education they need, not just the one that follows the guidelines? How do I toe the line and help them with an informal education to supplement the formal?

Lastly, out of the 50 instructional methods I’d want to use Modeling Comprehension. I believe that, by leading students along with the thought process that is happening while the teacher reads is an aspect that can help with the formal education, and with the informal. By giving insight to how you tick, you give students a reason to consider how they do, as well as encourage them to consider why it is that they think that way. That’s where the change can begin, and that can make all the difference in the world.