“Education is not the filling of the pail, but the lighting of the fire” - William

Butler Yeats
I believe that education should be catered towards students. Every student is different in
terms of their learning styles, necessities, backgrounds, and lifestyles. As teachers, we must
constantly adjust and learn to adapt to all of our students. Pragmatism, developed by Charles
Sanders Peirce, is the idea of constantly evolving and changing. As students grow and mature,
they develop their own morals and beliefs alongside their academics. We as teachers must guide
and support them however we can along with teaching them our subjects. Our lessons for our
students are not restricted by the curriculum. It’s our duty as teachers to provide resources and
motivate our students.
It might seem cliche but I think that anything is possible for our students and as teachers,
we must provide the guidance and resources to make it so. We must know how to make our
lessons applicable and relevant to individual students. Our teaching styles must be malleable and
fluid but must ultimately reach the goals of our curriculum. We have to make it possible but we
must also challenge students. For students to develop, they have to step out of their comfort
zones. We have to know to what extent we can push them so that they will be motivated to learn.
I’ve seen students learn throughout a 60 minute long lecture but there’s bound to be students who
don’t have that patience. We have to manifest their strengths and bolster their weaknesses. Only
then will students be able to succeed.
We must motivate students to motivate themselves. Students should always look to
further their education. I don’t simply mean schooling where they show up to a class and get
graded. Knowledge is acquired through experiences in and out of a classroom. We need to show
students that, even as teachers, we are still learning. Expanding their knowledge isn’t limited to
classes and textbooks. Throughout life, they should be aspiring to learn more. Our lessons should
not revolve around yes’s and no’s, corrects and incorrects. Students need to wonder the how’s
and why’s. How things came to be and why they matter. We, as teachers, must spark curiosity
and drive in students so that they may move forward in life, ever changing, learning, developing,
and evolving.