All Modules 1-Module 1 - Philosophy | Page 32

32 1. Education is a fundamental right of every individual In Edu1st’s VESS model, we believe that education is a fundamental right of every individual. Education is a social and dynamic process that has the main purpose of developing socially, intellectually, and morally autonomous learners. Given that fact, it is important to understand that both the child and the teacher are learners, and that we are all part of everyone else’s educational process as well as our own. School education has traditionally focused on strictly seeing children as the learners in the educational process. However, In Edu1st we have a different perspective. The old philosophy of regarding the instructor as the sole teacher and the student as the sole learner is not appropriate any more. The constantly changing dynamic of the 21st century requires everyone to be a permanent learner, and to be willing to learn from those who are regarded as his students. This is the reason why Edu1st philosophy manifests that students, parents, staff, and the school community are all learners and should have an active autonomous participation in their own educational process as much as in everyone else’s. Fomenting this line of thought in a child makes him understand that he is responsible for his own learning, and that learning is something that continues throughout a lifetime. Similarly, the relationships between adults acquire a different dimension when it is understood that the other person is also experimenting a growth process, and that we are all constantly contributing and learning with and from each other. 2. Human beings develop knowledge actively. We are convinced that as human beings we build knowledge through experiences and not through repetitive memorization of data and dates. Taking this into account, as well as the recent findings from investigations about the brain processes that involve human thinking, our role as educators has reached a completely different and fascinating perspective. Initially, the Swiss epistemologist, psychologist, biologist and development philosopher, Dr. Jean Piaget, suggested that we build and construct concepts through our own experiences.