One way to get ones family angry is to announce that one is about to leave ones religion of birth. There is this expectation that a child automatically inherits the beliefs of the parent. There is a column for religion in an infants birth certificate and it is to be filled with the parent own religion. But the birth certificate did not ask for the parent birth certificate but the child’s. The opinion of the child was not sought . Yet whenever the child comes of age and decides to leave the religion of his birth, the parents get angry.
Some religion encourages her members to discriminate against and disown their children for attempting to leave the parent religion. Other religion ask parent to kill any child who abhors such thought . Of course every religion wants more members. One way to do this is to promise after death reward to entice non members to join. Another way is to make punnitive laws to prevent existing members including infants. from leaving th toe religion. Their goal is to have more members
Civilization has made it ok for a grown up child to choose a career path different from that of the parent but it is unacceptable to deviate from one religion of birth. The parents did not take into consideration the individual characteristics of the child. An extrovert is more likely to feel attracted to a religion that gives members freedom of self expression and varieties. To compel the individual to belong to a religion that promotes repeatation of ancient prayers could be boring. Similarly, To compel an optimistic child to actively partake in a religious gathering that constantly preaches sin, hell, rapture, crucifixion,co tondemnation , etc makes one guilty. A positive approach would have been better.
To force belief to children and compell them to hold on to them for life is an infringement . the child religious freedom was not taken into consideration. Each child ought to be exposed to various teaching at an early age . He should visit the church, the mosque ,the shrine and other religious and irreligious group and study with them. and be free to choose according to it’s feeling. Wherever he feels joyous,that is his path . The parent can only bless him. This will teach him see things from various perspective at an early age and will make him more tolerance of those from other religious group. In this way, we build a next generation devoid of religious based violence.
We came out of our mother’s womb naked. At three, it is accepted to walk around the same way but by the time we reach seven, we are shamed for attempting to walk in the Same way we arrived at the earth . Gradually, we teach the girls to become so focused on societal perception on her body that she she becomes uncomfortable in her own skin. She rejects her true self for a covering- a cloth , to fit into the society. This does not stop there, she learns to hide her real thoughts, beliefs,values and emotions and learn to be a hypocrite.
Since she is unable to be her true self, she learns to shame those who attempt to be authentic. Deep within, she envies them for having the courage to live their own lives. If we are shaming those who choose to walk naked, we are indirectly telling the creator he did a terrible job. We are on obnoxiously questioning his rationale for bringing us in this world naked in the first place. Which right thinking person would light light up a candle and hide it under the bed ? Which right thinking artist would mould a sculpture and cover it? Did our books not tell us that early man roamed about naked? At what point did nudity become a taboo?
Clothes were worn in those days sparingly for protection against adverse weather condition. Today it has become a law . Psychologist have pondered why the older we get, the more uncomfortable we feel in our own skin . Abraham Mascow, attributed the taboo on nudity more on societal norm than on ethical grounds . We have been conditioned into feeling uncomfortable in the presence of any nudity. The term ” gymnophobia” has been coined to describe the psychological aversion to nudity
Some religion tell us that the human body is shameful and to expose any portion of it except the face or the hands is an offence. Many religion cannot draw the demarcation between nudity and sexual. It is believed that mere exposure of a body incites sexual thought and behavior in the opposite gender. Is nudity the problem or the mind? This mindset has led to rape victims being blamed as partner in crime.
As a result, people who chose to embrace nudity were viewed by mental health professional as psychological dysfunctional. It was until 1930 that the former president of American psychology Association , Howard Warren (1933) observed a group of persons camping naked for weeks. At the end of the camping, he noticed that participants became more open and trusting of each other. This led to a proposed theory that when strangers that nude at an early stage are more likely to enjoy be open and trust each other . This led to the birth of a new therapeutic movement which uses non- sexual social nudity as a means to improve individual mental health. A more recent publication by Renowned professor of psychology , West K (2018) shows that people who practice nudity tends to have higher body image, high self esteem and better life satisfaction.
Recent studies are beginning to link constant putting on bras with ill health including breast cancer. Guys who put on tight boxers are likely encounter problems in their reproductive system. The very clothes we crave may be causing problem yet social pressure compels us to put on clothes.
Before you put on that piece of cloth, question your rationale behind it. Are you putting it on for you or for others. Before you condemn that person for dressing the way he/ she likes. Ask yourself why her dress-code bothers you .?
The job of a private lesson tutor introduced me to the concept of individual difference among children. There are kids that grasp a concept easily and there are those who require constant remindal. A good teacher does not fall to the trap as labelling one smart and the other dull. He would rather call the former a fast learner and the other a slow learner for slow and fast are function of time set by the teacher and the education board . To tag a pupil “dull” can damage his self esteem and discourage him from soaring high.
The education board gives teachers a curriculum and expect teachers to input the syllabus to pupil at the boards approved time frame. Great teachers understand that each child has his preferred learning style and the classroom learning style does not favor all. Private tutoring gives the teacher an opportunity to understand the pupil for whom he is and adapt his teaching style to pupil need. He is not fixated at one teaching style.
Children dread school. The few who love school do so to link up with friends. They dislike memorization style of learning taught in school. Each individual has his own potential. The classroom does not help fulfil all the potential. Tertiary education is not for all. It is necessary to read and write (at least to fill to the teller and sign your check). Pupil who would end up as athlete would benefit from soccer training than classroom education. To impose classroom education only without other extra curriculum supplement would make the child deviate from his true nature. Such child grow up directionless, discouraged and unfilled in their blue collar job. An unhappy CEO or a lawyer who dread court cases. Until he gets to fifty, he remembers his childhood dream of being a footballer. By then, his body is weak. The school did not help him uncover his potential.
Many teachers are in the academia for lack of a better job. The school did not help them discover their potential,, so they repeat the same mistake to students. It is important for teachers to ask themselves, What is my teaching mission? By drafting a philosophy, the teacher can manifest it in the way he teaches. A teacher whose mission is to rise to the top of the educational institution as a principal will teach differently from one whose motto is to transform the life of students.
My motto is to grow a generation that would question the status quo. To do that, I teach them critical thinking. I select subject that encourage thinking rather memorization. I once resigned from a school because I was assigned subjects that did not give me flexibility to think outside the box.
Likewise, I encourage my students to speak up. , I love listening to their opinion. Likewise, I introduce thought-provoking open-ended.question in the classroom and ask for their views. Furthermore, I quickly remind them that there are no wrong answers. Sometimes, I deviate from the school curriculum to do this. I ensure each child gives his opinion or how the issue relates to them. Every job requires thinking.
Realize that children encourage speaking up and wish teachers give them more opportunities to open up. Sometime, the children happily discuss this with their parents. The parents do not hide their disapproval especially if the topic has religious t it., the school authorities do not want to lose patronage, so they appeal I desist from that. I temporarily agree, only to repeat it again until someone gets tired or leaves.
Paul Clement began to help soccer players as a Physical education teacher at the age of twenty-three. He was so effective in the job that he was asked to coach Fulham youth team. Chelsea snapped him up to work in their academy and finally promoted him as an assistant manager under Carlos Ancelotti. The duo did well together that the Italian manager took him to be his assistant at Paris St Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. The duo won the UEFA champion league as well as other trophy.
Trouble began to kick in when derby and Swansea appointed him manager. Clement performed woefely that one began to doubt his coaching ability. What would make a wonderful assistant manager perform poorly as a manager?
Peters principle gives us a clue. A person is promoted due to their success in previous job until he is no longer competent in their new job as a result of lacking the skill needed . Many exceptional teachers perform very well as vice principal but when they are made the principal of the school, their performance drops. He begins to spend more time in the office appending signatures to files as well as attending to meetings upon meeting and less time in the classroom
The role of a youth coach differs from that of a club manager. The former is responsible for the Athlete whereas the later is responsible for the club managment. A youth coach is successful when he transforms a mediocre player into a super star. He instill the needed skill to the player to improve his performance. A team manager is successful when he wins matches and take home the trophy. To promote an assistant manager to a main manager comes with extra responsibility for which the individual may not possess The youth team coach enjoys bringing out the hidden potential of young athlete.The fact that he did well there was because he loves the work more than he loves to win. Not everyone loves competition . Not everyone is well suited to the fame and power that comes with taking the lead role. Some individuals are better off helping from the background.
Both positions come with different skills. Unless the coach has the new ability needed, he is destined for failure. This begs the question. If a youth coach is offered an opportunity to manage a club which he knows he lacks the ability to perform at that time, should he reject the offer?
The first factor is the individual perception and reaction to failure. Employee who perceive failure as a terrible thing hate being sacked.One who dreads to fail is better off in his comfort zone . Job security is Paramount to such individual. When a team fails, the fans blame the team chief manager . . The chief responsibility of facing the media falls on the head.The backroom staff are overlooked. Such person should first change his mindset on failure before he can accept such offer. Failing to step up counts as failure. Real failure comes from inability to learn from ones mistakes. He should see the offer as an opportunity to gain new experiences and meet more people in the sport sector. He should understand that all great coaches failed one time or another but learnt in the process. Every failed match is an opportunity to reflect on the likely reason and improve his knowledge.
The second factor depends on the individual ability to embrace the change that comes with learning . Slow learners are better off rejecting that offer as they are unable to deal with the immediate complexity that comes with the new role. Fast learners should take the job while asking for help from experienced persons outside the organization. For instance, he may choose a more experienced assistant manager. He should not hesitate to engage in additional training in that new skill which he lacks.
Club owners are unreasonably optimistic. A club legend does not necessarily make a great coach . Diego Maradona is a typical example . A good sergent may make a bad captain or a worse general. One may be good at obeying order but terrible at knowing the best circumstance to give such order
Spoon-fed by inspired writers Commanded by perceived experts. . Taught by certified teachers instructed by respected martyrs
We look to external mortal To tell us what is rational like second hand individuals born without a functional cerebral
If we perform rites of Initiation Repeat words of supplication. Suppress certain natural inclination And control our reflection
We are assured of immortality.. This does not match with reality An attempt to strip us of our personality. and subject us to their authority
They teach us dogmatic belief Adapted from ancient writing To make us act by their script And ignore our dream .
We memorize the rules like prisoners . We live the life of mediocre . Lawyers wear the badge of Freedom fighter . In Religious centers praising the jailers
Ethnicity leads to group Identification. Group identification leads to division division leads to competition. Competition hinders cooperation
Holding on to dogmatic belief. We know is not working. And hope it turn out well is the road to stagnation
A period of Isolation To examine Religious assumption. . Subject them to experimental investigation. Wake up from mental limitation
Reject all societal hypothesis That does not align with reality with immediate alacrity To free up mental capacity.
Break the chains that bind. Asking Question is no crime . Finding answers is our right . Reclaim your power to live our own life
Religion stains whatever it touches. Religion has caused division among senior advocate of Nigeria. Ignoring the problem of religion in this country never manages to push the problem away. Ignoring the problem often compounds the problem until it grows into a mountain .
. An average Christian wishes everyone is a Christian. An average Muslim wishes everyone becomes a Muslim. Each tries to project his desire to the other. Whenever a Muslim is in power, Christians fear he is on a mission to islamise the country. Whenever a Christian becomes president, Muslims fear the same.This fear makes it difficult for them to cooperate amicably . Christian trust Christian leaders, Muslims trust Muslim leaders.
Our education system is fueling this saperation. From primary school, children learn mathematics, English language, Basic science and other languages together. But when it comes to religious studies, Christians are divided from Muslims. This continues until the child finishes secondary school. The school saperates the children as kids and expect them to miraculously work together as adults.
The academia should develop a general religious knowledge curriculum. At an early age, children ought to be introduced to all form of religion outside the religion of their parents. A growing child should have basic knowledge of Christianity, Islam, African Traditional Religion, Buddhism etc. Limiting him to one knowledge alone create a narrow mind and makes him difficult to tolerate and work with another Religion for which he never knew existed. When we delve into other belief, we become intrigued by the similarities. We become more accepting .
Christian should not wish everyone were a Christian. If everyone thinks alike, the world would be bored. God created us different for a reason . Muslim should wish every Christian develop a greater understanding and acceptance of Islam while remaining firmly within their own Religion.
Each time I look at every record released by any national agency, I notice a huge discrepancy between the core north and the south. Southern states top the literacy chart, number of successful WAEC candidate, number of jamb candidate, number of yearly graduates, etc. An outsider would believe the north are marginalized by other regions. This is not true. Our educational standard has been reduced to encourage the northerners to consider going to school. A pupil from that region needs to score fifty marks to get admitted into unity school whereas his counterpart in the south needs to struggle for a hundred and fifty marks. They are simply marked as educational disadvantaged state. I wonder how long they would continue to get pampered. Goodluck Jonathan initiated a free education system yet the same people massively voted him out. If he had done the same to the south, he would have been immortalized.
I do not believe that God created them with a deformed brain incapable of assimilating the Western concept. The likes of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and Nasir El Rufai is a proof that great brains can come out from the region. It seems there is a conspiracy not to educate the masses. The way the almajiri free education system died quickly is an evidence that the elites do not want her people educated.
Education is dangerous to the political structure. An educated person can see beyond the deception of the elite.
Western education is dangerous to the religious practice. Western education encourage curiosity and doubt. The elite prefers to control the thought of its citizen. They want them to read only books they approve of. Books that makes it easier for the citizen to comply to their directive. It is a sin to read non approved books. They may open your eyes to the Ill of the controller. To prevent this, they give you only Religion education.
When Emir (Dr) Sanusi admonished his people against giving birth to numerous children beyond their ability to feed, there was an uproar. His ideas were against the status quo. He was exposing his fellow elite. Today, Emir Sanusi is no longer a traditional ruler. ,The Elite will g at iany length to shut the truth. The current Governor of Kano state,the man who dethroned Emir Dr Sanusi was quoted to have admitted that bokoharam recruit Almajiri boys into it’s fold.
Educated persons understand that an increase in population would result to a struggle for limited resources. . In the western world, more children means more tax. Barack Obama had only two children. Good luck Jonathan had less than four children. A northern senator boasted of thirteen children.
The Elites encourage them to continue to give birth to more children. God will take care of them. Those who are so poor that they could not afford to finance a wedding need not worry, the government used a public fund to sponsor their mass wedding. The leaders are not interested in educated people or a well-trained offspring. The leaders want more population to win votes. Poor people are interested in their stomach. They would do anything you ask them to do. They are easily recruited as hoodlums to snatch ballot boxes and commit other hoodlum. He may be told to drive into a park and press a button. He may be told that is what God wants him to do. He doesn’t know it is a bomb. A hungry, uneducated man is easier to deceive. In other words, they are advocate of pro birth, pro death and pro suffering.
Religion is an easy tool to achieve their aim. Religion teaches supremacy of belief. Our Religion is superior to theirs. When we identify with a religion, we have positive feeling towards in group members and negative emotion towards out-group members. It reinforces Us vs them. Whoever does not belong to us is against us. With Religion, it becomes easier to discourage western education. It becomes easier to fight against western education. This brings prejudice and violence. It is easier to convince poor Religious persons to die in the name of the almighty. A rich man will not leave his wealth behind. An educated man will doubt such teachings.
The society want its people to remain stupid it’s whole life because uneducated people are obedient. They do not have the cognition to understand how the elite use them like a pawn for selfish purpose. The elite wants living robots.
Education presents a different concept and hands the reader the liberty to choose as he deems fit. Western education breeds tolerance. One must not stick to gender norms. Women are free to aspire to be whomever they want. Education provides power to think for one self. It is the route to cognitive freedom, political freedom and religious freedom.
Other regions are tired of this region. The Igbos have not hidden their desire to break away from this region. The Niger -deltans cannot understand why this region controls derivative from the oil well. The middle belt laments they are being marginalized. This region cannot continue to be lagging behind while clamoring for power. Should each region get her autonomy, the core north would be the worst hit.
History tells us that great thinkers whose thought changed the world never got married. Jesus of Nazareth whose philosophy gave birth to one of the most populous religions in the world abstained from marriage. Immanuel Kant never married. Isaac Newton remained single. John Stuart married very late . Few who married were involved in divorce cases. Did they take an oath of celibacy?
(1) Great thinkers are super introverted. They need time alone to think.He dislikes noise. Thinking involves great concentration on an issue His focus is on the subject on his head and not any lady. After spending time outside, he comes back home to reenergize in silence. Women on the other hand prefer to talk about her days activity. He would rather spend his time alone than listen to the endless tale of a woman. Rationalisation is the defense mechanism that helps him cope with life stress. She will never be number one in his priorities.
(2)Each society operates within a certain code.Great thinkers question these codes. Great thinkers have their own view of relationship . His idea of a perfect marriage is wierd.e.g non-monogamous marriage. Cohabitation without marriage. This could be illegal in some society. Others perceive marriage as a prison one should be free from. Many thinkers priotise friendship over marriage.They can see beyond the illusion of happily ever after. They dislike the drama that comes with two strangers with different upbringing living under the same roof. He can see the flaws in each woman the same way he sees flaws in the world. Scholars perfectionist nature makes him seek the ideal woman to marry. Unfortunately, such woman does not exist. He will not settle for less.
(3)Great thinkers do not have a life like the ordinary person.They can be boring to an average lady. They live in their head. They care little for personal appearance. It is common to see him with unshaved beards or torn clothes.He spends time thinking that he forgets about food. His body looks worn out. He spends less time doing and more time thinking. The world pays for your skills not for your thoughts. He thinks out loud while talking.He is easily mistaken for a mad man.Some of them got dismissed for deviating from the norm. Bertrand Russell remained unemployed for supporting gay marriage in 1929..They are jobless. He has no defined source of livelihood.Which lady will happily settle down with one?
(4)Great thinkers possess unique philosophy. His views are in minority. ..Most great thinkers are on a mission to spread her ideology. First he needs to find a mate who thinks the same way as he does. Since his ideology is mostly his, the odds is less than one in a thousand. Most times, he had to choose from female disciples. Secondly, she ought to find him attractive enough and thirdly she needs to share in his mission to move from one place to another to share his those . She should understand that she will always fall behind his love for intellectual pursuit. He will gladly divorce her if she becomes an obstacle.
Intellectuals seek like minded partner. Unfortunately, they are rare
(5)Neurologists tell us that the human brain is divided into two parts. One part is emotional and the other part is rational. Philosophers have a highly developed rational mind and poorly developed emotional side. Most women have poorly developed rational side and well developed emotional side. Women are feelers.philosophers find it difficult to understand the feeling creature. He tells her she looks fat and she gets angry. But she asks for his opinion. Most women cannot handle the truth. Men are thinkers. To convince a thinker, she has to use argument. But her less developed intellects makes it difficult. A woman cannot manipulate a philosopher. He sees through her mind games.
We are different. We cannot be fixed into a box. It is unrealistic to expect each person to be suited for marriage. Great scholars are happier single. Marriage could hinder his mental activities.
Purity culture: any teaching that places the honour of a girl/woman on her vagina and reinforces the idea that premarital sex make women worthless.
Purity /noun/: the state or quality of being pure.
Pure /adjective/: clean and not containing any harmful substances; complete and total.
Purity culture is blaming Eve for giving the apple to Adam and enticing him to sin. Every Christian girl knows Eve is the architect of our misfortune. Every bad thing women experience today is a result of Eve’s sin. Purity culture is comparing girls who are sexually active to expired food products. Because you know, girls automatically become expired milk after they have sex.
It is placing the burden of the sexual urges of men on women. If a man lusts after you, then you probably looked or dressed a certain way to entice him. Purity culture is using “defile” to describe rape and saying Dinah was defiled, instead of saying Shechem raped her. Purity culture is telling girls that they are responsible for the sexual purity of men, because unlike men who are inherently sexual, we are just vessels who aren’t supposed to be sexual. Purity culture is telling girls that only “bad girls” enjoy sex.
Many churches practice and teach purity culture targeted mainly towards girls. Some go to the extreme, by holding daddy-daughter dances where girls pledge their virginity to their fathers, vowing to wait until they get married to have sex. Some wear rings on the fourth finger of their left hands, which they eventually take off and replace with wedding rings after they get married and have sex for the first time.
The culture that places women on a pedestal of innocence and purity enables the punishment of women that do not maintain this image. There are multiple way sin which purity culture and here are 5 important ones you should know.
Misplaced Sexual Responsibility
Purity culture has been branded as all of the ways women can stay protected and holy in today’s society. The truth of the matter lies in the fact that this only serves to subjugate women even more. By placing women on these pedestals, it places the onus on women to cover up and ensure that they are not temptations for men, forgetting that rapists are not dissuaded by the physical appearance. Purity culture is also set up in such a way that encourages women to avoid taking charge of their sex life. It paints women that deviate from this as whores who need to be shamed and punished, hence why when a women is raped and she is vocal about her sex life, it is brushed off because she asked for it by taking charge of her sex life. This is how purity culture normalizes and trivializes sexual assault .
Most Religions do give women right to make decisions concerning her body
It does not define Consent
Women who have been raised religiously have been taught in some way by socializing influences, that they do not exist for themselves. They are to keep themselves holy and covered up, and to wait patiently in their fathers’ houses until a man approaches said fathers for marriage. It is in all the biblical stories and anecdotes describing model women of faith and religious principles.
This is problematic because not only would the woman lack individuality, there are no boundaries of consent. There would be nothing that says that she can say no to her husband. In Nigeria currently the law does not recognize marital rape as rape. So even when it feels like rape, when she knows that it is rape, when there is physical evidence of rape, she says nothing because she has been conditioned to think that the man has only taken what was his in the first place.
Good girl/ Bad Girl Binary
Purity culture divides women into two groups ; the good girls and the bad girls and pray to God you don’t fall into the latter group. When a girl who is seen as a bad girl is abused sexually or physically, people see it as a punishment for her behaviour.
Guilt and shame are products of purity culture, when girls are taught that they become worthless after they have sex outside marriage they live with guilt and shame and it is even worse when they experience sexual violence because the victim automatically assumes it is just a punishment for the way she behaved or even dressed. What I don’t understand is how people expect women who finally have sex after they get married to just shake off this feeling of shame and guilt they’ve associated with sex because of what they were taught.
Her Body Her Choice
Nobody throws chastity balls for boys asking then to pledge their virginity to their mothers and the church, nobody makes women the gatekeepers of the sexuality of men so why then do people do it to girls? Double standard much?
Don’t get me wrong, abstinence is a good thing and it wonderful but not when it is forced on people. Instead of teaching and encouraging purity culture, instead of teaching girls to associate fear, shame and guilt with sex why not teach girls good and quality sex education. Teach them their body belongs to them alone and not to their fathers or the church. Talk to them about the clarity that comes with abstinence, tell them abstinence is a choice they can make without the pressure of the church. Teach them that they are not responsible for the sexual purity of men. Teach girls to love and embrace their bodies instead of seeing it as a weapon the devil uses to lure men to hell.
I grew up like most of you out there subjected to three major kind of education. The first is family education, second is academic education and the third is called religious education.
Family education focused on duty. I learnt to be obedient to authority- my parents,elders, etc. I heard to do whatever they asked me to do whether I felt like or not under the assumption that they meant well for me.Failure to comply resulted to punnishnent. I learnt my first lesson- suppress your feeling and comply to avoid punnishnent.
The Religious education focused on submission. We are to submit to the instructions as written in the holy books. I must pray at a particular time and place whether I like it or not. If I fail to comply, I would be sentenced to eternal punnishnent. I learnt my second lesson. Suppress my feelings and submit to what the gods say or risk going to hell
The third education is societal education.We had to obey the written and unwritten laws of the land or risk getting jailed. No one cares if you enjoy paying taxes. I learnt my third lesson : suppress your feelings and conform to societal expectation.
All these education taught me to focus on ideas outside of myself. My parents, religion and society had little or no concern for my feeling . Pleasure and humor are to be swept underground.I am not to search for my own happiness even when my happiness does not interfere with that of others. I feel guilty for pursuing my dream. It means I am deviating from the dreams of the religious group,parents or society. It means I am a selfish fellow. I am a rebel for not living a duty oriented life.
Selfishness is synonymous with evil. A selfish person is one who is concerned with his own need. when did that becomes a terrible thing . we are encouraged to sacrifice our desire . Is self sacrifice really a virtue? Teaching of self sacrifice encourage one to value others more than oneself. It may lead to low self-esteem.Self sacrifice teaching has prevented many of us from achieving our dream.
There are few teachers who have touched us in numerous ways.
Dr O.N Oguoma while teaching us a course on factors affecting location of an industry asked one of us to list three factors he would consider before he would get married to a woman. He listed
(1) beauty( 2) Intelligence (3) character.
Then he asked him to allocate points to each factor in descending order of importance. His response was
Then Prof asked two ladies of opposite features . He asked the guy to score each girls according to his perceived performance in each factor . His response was similar to this
Next, each score was multiplied by the rating and the sum for each girl was taken. The girl with the highest score wins.
It has been over seven years since I attended this class but I still recall it like it was yesterday. Youth are so obsessed with relationship issues . He used our interest to teach us. One can apply the same method in making life decision. For instance, while applying for masters degree program, choosing between two jobs, choosing between various investment plans, residential areas etc .
As a teacher, I often use soccer to explain certain phenomenon to my students. It has been over seven years ago since I received this teaching. Prof must have retired by now. we may never cross paths in life but his teaching method remains forever in my heart.
I have been fascinated about the prospect of working and earning money. My first experience came as an industrial attachment at a construction company . The thought of doing something new excited me. As time past, I began to dread the Job.I felt depressed toward the end of each day as I contemplate going to work the next day .I only enjoyed the weekly allowance and the monthly wage. I felt bad knowing fully well that I would spend the next five days trading my time for an activity I dreaded. I wished everyday were a holiday. I was glad It finally ended. I vowed never to work in an engineering company. I have high regards for those who work there but I know It did not reflect my abilities and interests.
I laid my hands on marketing. I was thought various ways to open and close sales and other ways to get others to purchase goods. As time passes I began to feel guilty for manipulating people to generate sales. Integrity has always been my top value and marketing does not allign with It. Before now,I used to think the feeling of sadness on Sundays experienced by low income earners engaging in menial jobs at uncomfortable environment. How wrong was I?
Then came the compulsory National Youth Service Corps.(NYSC) I was posted to a rural area in the North Eastern part of the country to teach mathematics. My love for mathematics was second to none. I taught Jss1-3. I had not less than 10 periods per week twice more than the second highest corper posted in the school. The students were slow learner. I had to teach them according to their pace. At times, I would organise free evening classes for those that are interested. Despite my heavy workload, I squeezed out time for private lesson. Whenever I see any empty class, I would begin teaching them.
If anyone had told me that I would enjoy teaching, I would have disagreed instantly. Here I am rejecting other job for teaching. Teaching does not put me in a position to deceive or manipulate people like sales. Rather, teaching reflect my personality.I am someone who enjoys been surrounded by children whom I care deeply for , patiently guide them to make better decisions for themselves and the world. I prefer been surrounded by children who are aware of their ignorance and are open to learning unlike mode adults . NYSC made me realize my calling as a teacher. I look forward to going to work. The Covid 19 break did not prevent me from teaching as I organised students within my street and taught them for little . I feel energised each time I teach .I feel my contribution is respected and appreciated . Despite the fact that teachers are undervalued in the society, I feel proud describing my work to others.
IF not for NYSC ,I would still be wandering from one Job to another in search for the one that suit me. Today I am no longer in support of the scrapping of NYSC.
Go to any school and ask the students to identify the subject they dislike most. Many of them will chorus “mathematics”. What makes student harbour a passionate hatred for this subject still remains a mystery for most educationist .
. Many reasons have been proposed . One which seems to be overlooked is the fact that students do not feel connected to the subject in anyway . Imagine spending hours finding ” x” when “x” is neither your brother or your sister only to search for “x the following day. It is not only routinal but boring. The student begins to wonder whether to use the same formula to find his biro. This is because the teacher failed to explain to him the application of these formulas in real life situation.
Many mathematics teachers were top in their classes when they were students. When they are not learning in class, they are studying in the library. They spend little time socialising and having fun . They grow up to become an expert in mathematics but deficient in relating same to the student . They begin a topic by introducing an abstract theory and leave the student wondering how this theory concerns his life.
They do not deserve to be blamed.They only repeated what was handed over to them by their teacher . Garbage in garbage out. They can choose to create a new tomorrow.
We can have outstanding mathematician but terrible teachers of mathematics. Great mathematics Teachers begin by stimulating the interest of the student. Students who are less than fourteen years of age are emotionally focused. They tend to feel more and rationalise less .
Simultaneous Equation. : Divide the children into groups of 4 .Ask tleaxh group to go to four different shops . Give each group #200 to buy pencil and biro .total amount of both items should be six. Compare each group answer. . Solve on the board. Which group got it right?
Speed : Take student outside Measure any point A about 100m apart. Get each student to walk fast or run from point A to B and get another student to record time against the student. After each student must have done dat,take them back to the class and calculate the speed of three students. The remaining students should calculate their own walking speed.
Volume of cylinder : Tell student to bring any empty milk ,or tomatoes container to class. Using ruler, they watch you measure the height and Diameter and repeat the same for their container. After that, you calculate the volume or area using formula method and watch them do the same .
Average : each student is given a company name and asked to go to the library and get the prices of shares for nine consecutive days.They are to find the moving average of five
Area The student measure the length and breadth of one class room tile . Student count the number of tile in the class and find the product.
One way we make mathematics boring is that we do not involve the student in getting the data. We spoon feed them the data . In real life,they have to know how to get the data themselves. Getting them to measure it themselves makes them engaged. One parent told me his child measures everything he can lay his hands on at home . After measurement, he would begin to calculate . Things got out of hand when the television fell off. These method make class lovely, children interesting and active participant in the learning process, .Soon children will begin to love the subject
THE NAKED NIGERIAN 