Nobody is born knowing how to instruct / teach others.
I suppose that's why there are teachers' colleges and institutes. And, doubtlessly, they produce some excellent educators.
At the same time, most of us won't need to know education history, theory, or philosophy in order to share our know-how with others.
These things certainly have their place and purpose, but they aren't very useful if all I want is to show someone how to do something that I happen to be good at.
The Woes of Experts. Who Sometimes Forget That They Are Experts.
The thing about being an expert in an area is that you tend to forget that other people aren't as well-versed as you are.
This can lead you to start at too high a level when showing others what to do, either because you think they already know "the basics" or it just doesn't occur to you that they don't have the foundational knowledge that you do.
Whichever tends to be the case for you, there are people who want to learn what you know.
From "the basics" up.
I Had Childhood Ambitions. I Didn't Become Any of Them.
When I was a kid, at different points in time, I wanted to be a Cook (I didn't know the word Chef), a Librarian, and a Scientist (specifically, an Entomologist, one who studies insects).
Perhaps as a way of fulfilling at least one of them, I would stay in the kitchen to watch my mum cook. Though I didn't take notes or ask a lot of questions, I still remember and use a lot of the techniques she used.
Being a Librarian is still somewhat appealing to me, though I can't say I'm going to be great with putting books back on the shelves. I've always been a messy reader, with my books all over the place.
I almost never put them back in my book cabinets (yes, plural) until I'm sure I won't be reading them for a while, or forced to do so. I suspect I'll have trouble maintaining a neat library.
And, although I liked observing insects, especially praying mantises, I didn't want to touch them. I've recently learned that it's because I've always had sensory issues.
So, a career of studying something I cannot touch is a bit... Difficult.
Oh, the picture attached is of one individual of a couple of colonies of mantises I found in East Coast Park, where I go on Photo Hunts. I go back and check on them about once a week or so. This one is about 2 months old.
Today, I'm an Educator, Consultant, and Workshop Wrangler.
I would never have imagined as a kid that I'd be here. And yet, this has been my work for over 15 years.
Funny, isn't it, where life takes you?
China Clamps Down on Tutoring Industry. My Thoughts on This:
A question worth asking is, "Why did the Chinese government clamp down on the Education Sector?"
Depending on my vantage point, I may see one or more of the following:
1) The government there wants higher control of state education.
Let's be honest here. State and state-sponsored education exists to serve the state, not the individual. Controlling what the upcoming generation learns means that they are more likely to be loyal to the present government.
Notice that it's the private companies that are most affected by this move.
By forcing these companies into non-profit, they likely calculated that many will either go out of business or bow out. Those who stay, because they are now non-profit, will be returning what they make back to the country (and by extension, the government).
Think of this as a "If you stay, you have to support what we want. If you don't want to support what we want, you have to leave."
It's no secret that the government there relies on heavy-handed tactics to get what they want. It certainly gets things done, but it also causes a lot of problems and unrest.
2) There is an aspect of face-saving here
We all know that the concept of "face" is very important in Asia, especially East Asia.
Allowing rampant tutoring is like admitting that the state-sponsored education system is not "good enough", that it's insufficient or ill-equipped to educate the upcoming generation.
That isn't something they'll want to admit.
3) Their official reason has to do with money and birth rates
Instead of having the money go into the private companies' coffers, wouldn't it stimulate the economy more if more people bought the tonnes of products that China produces?
And, if there are more babies, there'll be more future consumers of these products.
Redirecting funds is a high priority in any organisation that leads. This may simply be their solution of shortest pain.
I don’t claim to be an insider or expert in Chinese politics or state systems, but these things aren’t that difficult to see.
I can’t be sure of what the future holds for EdTech companies in China, but I hope that they’ll be able to recover, even if not to 100%.
