Communication and Respect- A Gateway to Happiness in Education
In life, happiness is a necessity. We study and work hard in order to achieve happiness.
But what if we could experience happiness during our normal everyday routine? And what if the students could experience that kind of happiness at school? What can we do to bring that kind of happiness and positivity into our school?
Schools are places of learning. But this learning is not brought about by teachers just lecturing to students.
It is the result of interation. It's about two sides sharing and exchanging knowledge and experience with each other.
When one person is sharing their experience, that perso becomes the teacher.
But that same person also becomes a student when obtaining knowledge from another. In that sense, we are all simultaneously teachers and students.
In a school, there are all kinds of people. Students and teachers, principals and administration, culinary and custodian workers, building management and those in charge of safety are all put together in one place.
We all have our own experiences that are unique to us. This is an incredibly valuable asset.
The things I don't know or haven't learned are right here with the people around me. And the duty of a school is to draw out that expertise for the benefit of everyone.
Think about how much just one teacher’s experience could fill us with knowledge. Learning what one principal has already learned through a vast amount of trial and error can be so useful to us teachers and students. And what students have learned during their time in school can prove to be useful to their classmates and underclassmen. Even if what they learned wasn’t learned in a classroom, I believe everyone’s hard work will greatly contribute towards everyone’s benefit.
To accomplish this, we need to learn to openly and clearly communicate with each other. It’s this communication that effectively draws out those unique experiences and
knowledge. But when I say “communication”, I’m not just talking about passing some information from one person to another. It had to be a sort of give and take between two
parties. This communication is only possible when we respect each other.
Of course, it’s important to assimilate the information that’s found in school materials. However, that’s not the only reason why we go to school. Anyone can read a textbook on their own. We go to school to learn something we can’t by ourselves. This is why it is important to make a learning environment where people feel comfortable sharing the things they hold dear. Try to imagine a classroom where the teachers and students both respect each other’s knowledge and experience. Imagine a classroom where people can freely express themselves. It would be a place where we can all marvel at the treasure that’s in each and every one of us.
That’s real learning and that’s something that brings happiness. That’s what I hope for in KIS. For everyone to become a student and a teacher.
KIS has students and teachers from over 20 different countries. That’s a great variety of human ability and experiences. If each person were to share all of their own personal experiences, that would make KIS an amazing melting pot of learning, so to speak. For this to happen, communication and respect needs to be set up as a foundation. By respecting and valuing one another’s asset and turning that into one’s own benefit, we will make this a place of learning. And through this movement of mutual learning, I believe true joy can be found here. And so, I invite you all to the joy that can be found in learning, here at happy KIS.
- Principal Daniel Lim
