Are schools turning out mediocre adults?

1. Volksrust Recorder - Column / Rubrieke8 Recorder 23 June 2017
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YourStory
With Jacques de Villiers
The seeds of Mediocrity
Mr John Oscar Kubeka, Motivational
Speaker. For bookings call: 072 0796
796. Facebook: JOK Inspirational (Pty)
Ltd. Fax:086 544 7844
Email: jokubeka@yahoo.com
JOK Inspirational
Never stop trying
Never stop trying, don’t feel threatened
by circumstances, rise against it and be
ready to shine your way to the top.
Remember God's timing is the most
perfect time. People will laugh at you
when you are facing challenges but just
focus on your future, leave them to talk
behind your back, say whatever they
want to but promise yourself that you
will accomplish. When you get stuck
motivate yourself and change your
strategy in order for you to win the race.
At times we tend to give up earlier than
to give in. It has taken many difficult
years to try and make things right but up
until today you still have not given up.
Don’t quite until the door is open. You
must brush your shoulders off and tell
youself that you were not born to suffer
but to conquer. If you haven’t gone
through difficult times in your life you
can’t give advise to anyone. Patience,
consistency and passion leads to success.
In a few years to come, you will be counted
amongst the greatest in the world but don’t
stop trying until you reach your goal. It
does not matter how small you start but
what does matter the most is how big you
end. In life we never forget our challenges.
They make us strong and powerful beyond
limitation. Its simple yet an interesting
difficult task to achieve your dreams. Now I
believe you will not stop trying until you
cross the finish line.
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Ideal pensioners’ house or family with children. Partly furnished
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the second bedroom and study / third bedroom.Aspacious second
room with doors opening into the sunroom with views looking
into the back-yard with vegetable garden and animal pen/chicken
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as an art studio or kids playroom. Wardrobes of solid wood were
designed to fit the high ceilings in each bedroom. An electronic
irrigation system connected to the second strongest borehole in
town. The back-yard has several fruit trees providing a decent
supply in season. The outdoor facilities include a garage with
servant’s quarters, a double size lockable carport and full workshop
with work-bench and electricity supply. Electricity: Pre-paid meter
system. The house is available with cutom made curtains and partly
furnished. Price on Enquiry. Contact: 082 410 7432
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VolksrustMuurbalNuus
Ons wil hiermee dankie sê vir al ons lede
vir n baie suksesvolle kampioenskap reeks,
baie dankie aan al die new lede wat
deelgeword het maar ook dankie aan al ons
ou lede wat steeds deel is, ons het n heerlike
braai aand gehad en wil graag dankie sê vir
almal se goeie gees en bywoning! Ons begin
eersdaags met die winterliga en vra laat alle
uitdaag wedstryde voor dan klaar gespeel is,
enige iemand wat aan die liga wil deelneem kan vir John Venter
kontak per epos,
kom en ondersteun
ons asseblief, daar
gaan ouder-
gewoonte n hele
week gegee word
waarin die
wedstryde gespeel
mag word. Baie
geluk aan ons twee
nuwe kampioene
Dirk van Deventer
en Retha Nel
~VEH~
When you were at school do you ever
remember the saying, “50% is a pass. If you
get 51%, you’re working too hard?”
That was my mantra. I did the least I could
to pass. If I could do it over, I’d do it
differently. I realise now that it was that
attitude at school that sowed the seeds of
my mediocrity. I missed the point of school.
School was not about just getting by so that
I could pass ... or doing a little bit better so
that I could get into university. It should
have been about personal mastery. Teaching
me to master my subjects and myself.
Unfortunately, I believed that I only needed
to pass to be successful. It shaped the way
I was to interact with me and the world
around me. I put in the bare minimum into
my journey. I hoped I’d get by.And I did …
sort of. My silver tongue and the modicum
of skill I had at writing kept food on the table.
The downside was that in the deep recesses
of my soul I knew I was a fraud.An imposter.
A cheat. I wore a mask of self confidence
and assurance. But when the first serious
stone was thrown at me, I ducked and the
mask moved and the real me was revealed.
It wasn’t a pretty sight.Ataker.Achancer.A
squanderer of potential. An ungrateful
wretch. A victim. Schools have missed the
point. They’re not there only to produce
learners that pass. They’re there to develop
human beings that have value. They’re there
to develop human beings that take their
duties as citizens seriously. They’re there to
develop human beings that contribute. I’ve
a notion that today, schools are breeding
more people like me. I’ve heard that in some
schools the pass rate is as low as 40% for
some subjects. This must be a massive
breeding ground for mediocrity. The
problem is that the focus is on the result and
not on the process. Our government wants
to educate more people. But to what end?
To tick a box? To convince voters how
wonderful they are for giving education? Or
to produce contributing and useful citizens?
To tick a box and appease voters can’t work
in the long-term. Encouraging mediocrity is
a mistake and will bite us later on. I’ve heard
that some folks in university are functionally
illiterate. Also, they haven’t developed the
thinking skills to deal with the rigours of a
university curricula.
The drop out rate
must be enormous.
What does that do
to the drop out’s
self esteem and
sense of worth? It
must be shattering
and disillusioning.
These students
have been set up to
fail. How
misguided are
those that do
manage to get their
matric certificates,
diplomas and
degrees? They
really think that a
piece of paper will
help them become
masters of the universe and conquerers of
this world. They don’t have the foundation
to master themselves, let alone the world.
The real world of work is tough. It will spit
out those that don’t contribute. I see this
in my world too. People want the result at
the cost of process and mastery. When I
market a course, one of the most common
questions I get is, “Do I get a certificate
after the course?” Phew. The intention is
not mastery, the intention is to tick a box
and make oneself more marketable in the
long run. This is a recipe for failure. We’re
always looking for the hack. We’re looking
for the short-cut and the path of least
resistance. We want to conquer the world
with the least amount of effort. But, when
we get involved in the rigours of this life,
we come to realise that there are no hacks
and no short cuts. This work we do
requires determination, guts, grit and
resilience. Mastery is a way to conquer
ourselves and the world we live in. My
suggestion is that schools focus on
mastery.Asubject should be mastered and
not skimmed over to scrape in a pass. It’s
time to become all ‘Tiger Motherish’. This
is a concept to explain the way a Chinese
mother deals with her children. If anAfrican
child spends two hours a day studying,
you can be sure that a Chinese child
spends six. I doubt you’ll find many
Chinese children coming home with a B on
their report card. I would imagine that in a
Chinese household and A- would get the
raised eyebrow of disapproval. A Chinese
Mother regime would be a bit extreme for
South Africans to handle. But let’s not lose
the lesson. When a child focuses on process
and mastery of a subject, it sets that child up
to deal with the world in a more positive way.
When we focus on process and mastery we
learn that hard work pays off; how to
persevere, no matter the odds stacked against
us; we build character; we see value in
things; we appreciate things more because
we worked for them; we become powerful
because the rewards (typically money) give
us options and we can contribute because
we have more to give. One of the ideas of
this life is to become a master of one’s own
destiny and not a victim of circumstance. Our
challenge is to master our emotions and our
baser instinct of survival. Taking for
ourselves at the expense of others. Our
challenge is to master our expectations of
receiving. This will always lead to
disappointment and victimhood. We need to
think in terms of our contribution ... that will
lead to mastery. The trick is not to conquer
the world but to conquer our need to conquer
the world. If we master ourselves our world
will fall into place.
~Jacques de Villiers~