“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to save the world.” – Nelson Mandela
To me, this quote encompasses what education should be moving forward. To quote Sir David Attenborough, “No one will protect what they don’t care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced.” To me, the purpose of education is to give students the access, the tools, and more importantly, the desire, to pursue interests that will benefit the world. Proper education breaks down traditional barriers that limit growth. Ignorance, the lack of education, is where harm flourishes and those with greedy interests manipulate others.
As a teacher, I will empower my students by both giving them a voice in the classroom, while also building my lessons around vulnerable aspects of our world, including human rights, climate change, and how to treat all living beings with respect and kindness. I will foster their appreciation for our planet through these lessons, while also teaching them essential skills that will help them continue their education. My goal is to have every student leave my classroom feeling more empowered than when they entered. As I wish to teach respect to my students for all living creatures, I will do this by giving them my respect and meet each student where they are at. I will give my students the option to make choices in the class, where they can not only learn how to make decisions for themselves, but that their decisions have consequences. To bring it back to Mandela, education is a necessity for every student so they can be empowered to make changes in the world that they need.