A Good Life

A good life is one that is rewarding and satisfying. It is also one that is alive to the rewards and satisfactions of others. It is good in the emotional sense, that it is colored by happy moods and feelings of satisfaction, and in the moral sense, that it is true to one’s understanding of right and wrong.
In a well-lived life, the interests of others will often limit the pursuit of personal rewards and satisfactions. But engaging with the interests of others will more often lead to deeper, richer rewards and satisfactions. The most familiar example is raising children, which requires parents to devote a great deal of time and effort that they might otherwise spend on themselves, but provides them with rewards and satisfactions that are immeasurably richer and deeper in the long run. Relationships of all kinds – among friends, colleagues, neighbors or acquaintances – are based on exchanges in which people do things for each other. As their relationships grow, they co-operate more readily and extensively, achieving far more than they could on their own. The Good Life for All is founded on the understanding that involvement with others makes everybody better off.
The good life means different things to different people, and life is enriched by the variety of ways in which people lead it. A world in which all could live a good life would be a world that allowed people to live their lives in many different ways.
However people seek to live their lives, though, a good life for all requires certain basic conditions. People need: * to live in peace and at ease with those around them: to live without fear of war or personal violence, and to feel that the people they encounter will not seek to harm or exploit them * to enjoy good health, and when that is not possible, to be assured of care for ill-health * the material necessities of life, such as food and housing, and to live without fear of losing them * sufficient income to be able to take part in the social and cultural life that surrounds them * education in childhood, and opportunities to continue learning throughout life, formally or otherwise * access to information; freedom to explore knowledge and ideas * freedom to live according to the moral values they have chosen or accepted, except where these cause harm to others * a way of life that is environmentally sustainable and therefore protects the interests of future generations – ‘the good life for all’ includes people yet unborn as well as everybody who is currently alive.
The school plays a very important role in nurturing and socializing children to attain a good life in society. It further develops a child’s skills and knowledge which he/she has learnt from the family and the society. It enables the child to be successful in life in terms of having a good job and raising the standard of living.
My school journey began in the year 1993 in Annesley infant school in Suva. I was a very shy student in school fearing if any of my responses would provoke the teachers to punish me. The school environment was very different to the environment at home in terms of culture, beliefs and attitude. However parents were also required to participate in school for the well being of the child. When I entered the secondary school I felt like a fish being placed from a small pond into a lake, and this process to be done with a long list of rules. There were a lot of changes experienced as students used to sit in the class and teachers would move around coming to classes unlike in primary education there was only one teacher allocated to the class. The subject teachers used to be very punctual and tactful in their teaching methods. Lessons became more student centered rather than teacher centered, learning was either in delivery or discovery method. The years spent in secondary school was mostly based on fear (fear of failing external exams) thus each year’s learning experiences were mostly based on the fact that what is to be learnt would help us pass the external examination which would then provide promotion. Secondary education was considered as the grooming stage in an individual’s life as all the concepts and methods would be taught . Learning was not fun, it was only carried out to achieve good marks. Consideration was not given to the content learnt and what was the value of learning those concepts. For example most mathematical concepts the teachers didn’t even know where these concepts would help us or where we would be able to put this in practice. It was just taught because it was in the prescriptions and there was no way out of it. Concepts such as indices, calculus up till this day I cannot figure out why teachers would teach these concepts. Tertiary education was the most adventure seeking, fun loving and a rewarding experience. Learning at tertiary level was different from primary and secondary level, because tertiary level learning is student centered, where the teacher (lecturer /Tutor) acts as a facilitator who monitors the learning process and progress in students. Tertiary education was mostly based on lectures, tutorials, laboratory learning and filed work where the students have to form groups and carry out the learning process. Teaching approaches such as lecture, seminar, fishbowl approach and discovery learning methods were very much encouraged at this level. Teaching was mostly lecture based and tutorials were student centered. Primary & secondary school learning was mostly interesting because my attitude towards learning was always positive whereby my time management skills on subjects were equally divided, which made me do very well in all my subjects till year 13 (form 7). The learning practices had a lot of impact on my character and personality.
Poverty played as a very influential factor which steered my life’s journey. From an early age when I confront or observe people who suffer from the disease of “poverty” I get very scared as I didn’t want to picture myself in that condition when I grow up or when I start up my own family. Due to poverty people tend to ‘sell’ their self esteem, respect and love for each other. Other events such as observing beggars, scammers and crooks made me concentrate more in schools as I thought if I wouldn’t study or receive quality education I might end up being one of them. I always remembered what my grandfather used to say “through education you would be able to differentiate between life and an achieved life”. He used to state that they were unfortunate that they didn’t have so much of available resources to study but now there are a lot of resources so we must make the best of these resources. My thoughts were opened up as I was constantly confronted by people with different background and work ethics. I learnt a lot of different society cultures and values just by interacting with these scholars. This high level of interaction paved way very much in while being in a tertiary institution where learners came from all over the region. This allowed me to interact and mingle very well with other members of the society very well, know their needs, cultural protocols. Furthermore the ability to identify the thin line of where friendship lies, that when friendship comes in to hinder the educational success and progress then she/he is not regarded as a good friend. Thus life experiences allowed me to better select my friends, make wise decisions and to think before I act. My secondary school subject teacher also had a major influence in my life, she guided me throughout the secondary level believing that I had the abilities to achieve good marks in external examinations and also making me believe that hard work always pays up and I would only rip what I would sow.
Main successes and challenges
Successes: When I was in school my success was measured when I received awards like coming first second third in class. It was a rewarding experience to achieve something and to be recognized after doing hard work. Receiving awards motivated me to even work more hard to be successful in whatever that was required in school. It enabled me to pass my external exams with flying colors and further pursue my education to tertiary level.
Challenges:
One of the challenges I faced was financial problems to support fees for my education. I used to take private tutorials for students in primary school and also used to work in a shop on Saturdays to support my education expenses. I have three more siblings in my family so the basic resources were divided among us and to support my expenses I had to look for other means. This was also a driving factor for me to study well so that my children didn’t have to face the same problem as I faced in my childhood days In South Pacific societies most learning occurs through informal education. Traditional education is usually regarded as spontaneous where for learning to take place there has to be a prior relationship of trust and respect between the trainer and the trainee, the training relationships begins by mutual consents, observation and imitation is regarded as the most effective learning method where most of all learning takes place from real life contexts rather than contrived settings. Thus it could be stated that learning is non organized, unsystematic and also unintentional. Most learning was skills based. Designing hooks for fishing, learning the correct method of farming and learning how to cook in an acceptable and presentable manner were some of the skills learnt through traditional learning methods of observation and imitation. The teachers were mostly elders of the society, relatives or my neighbors, brothers, parents, friends or even the instructor or sometimes a stranger who saw me carrying some activities wrongly. The different learning activities that took place was such as carpentry, joinery, electrical work, plumbing, cutting grass, cooking cleaning, training at the gym or even swimming. Informal learning mostly took place in the form of showing, advising or by telling. When an elder in the family was carrying out the teaching process showing was the most widely technique used in Activities such as carpentry, joinery, plumbing, cutting steel. The teaching learning process was only initiated once when there was respect and trust with the elders. This underlying expectation of a prior relationship of respect is fundamental for showing to occur. The training usually began on mutual consent, where the elders didn’t take into consideration if learning was either taking place or not as it was our responsibility to pay full attention on the task demonstrated by them. After the training process imitation of the same task would happen and then the elder would correct if the process was carried wrongly. But activities such as cooking, training in the gym or playing rugby where professionals carried out the training process the teaching modes of advising and telling was often used. Advising usually took place during the imitation phase. As in body building the adviser would usually stand beside or behind the advisees and watch us how we carry out those exercises and if we make any mistake, they point it out, show or tell us how to correct it. In this process the trainer takes more responsibility in the learning process. Learning by the process of telling was mostly done by parents, grandparents and friends. Where grandparents would tell tales of things how they existed during their times and what life experiences they have gone through. This learning process usually happened when I was still a teenager and when we were exploring life and trying to find out its consequences. Stories from friends were usually learnt by listening such as about relationship and about puberty. Personal views and beliefs: Education enables individuals to understand objects and events around themselves and inculcates a foundation for designing a desirable future. Education can be transmitted in forms Formal, Informal and Non-Formal. It was often assumed that missionaries introduced education in the South Pacific, however considering the rich culture there was evidence of a great deal of organized education that occurred in the traditional societies before the arrival of these missionaries. Most of the informal teaching process doesn’t take in to consideration whether learning process is actually happening. Oral instruction is not usually considered to be as effective as observation and imitation, but concession is only made for non demonstrable knowledge and skills. In my personal view for effective informal learning to take place questioning by participants should be encouraged (practice normally observed in western culture). In traditional cultures children are usually very scared of being inquisitive fearing they might receive corporal punishment from their elders. I believe that this barrier can be bridged then learning would be more fun and the content would be more easily acquired. As for the formal context firstly Firstly, Formal Education in Fiji is transmitted in a foreign language (English) that creates difficulty for students to comprehend to the Language of Instruction. A child learns traditional language (Hindi and Fijian) before starting elementary and junior high school and suddenly child has to learning new language of instruction which is English. The content of Formal Education is mainly abstract, analytical and decontextualized. The teacher targets learning by involving students in lessons (active interaction) and validates it by performance in tests and assessments. On the other hand, traditional education imparts skills and knowledge that is concrete and context-specific. Teachers of indigenous education required students to remain quiet. Asking questions was taboo and knowledge was validated through the reproduction of the right actions when the need arose. Positive empowerment of schooling in societies: Formal education, attending schools is the only perceived way of attaining good life. Through quality and high education better job opportunities will be available and thus would have a higher standard of living. The primary reason for schooling is the acquisition of money. Formal education also gives us the opportunity to communicate better with foreigners taking part in higher level discussions and international relation activities which determines a better standard of living. A person is only respected in society by the level of work he does for the society or by the level of formal training she/he has attained. Thus through education a person can be highly respected in the society. It is only through formal education that that future would look certain and bright. On the other hand getting too involved in formal training (western training) an individual tends to forget the norms and rituals of the society. For example in prayer ceremonies people should acknowledge and respect each other in terms of age but an education person would feel quite low when addressing a person with respect who is older by age by low by rank. Through education she/he tends to have an ego which allows him/her to bend or break those rules or norms set in the culture. Therefore a person’s cultural identity can be lost. People also get too involved in a schooling structure that they tend to neglect others feelings, needs and desires, they become more competitive and outcome based. In the near culture there would be more westernized learning taking place and for any skill either big or small to be acquired i.e. either swimming lessons, learning how to use internet or obtaining a diploma formal learning has to take place where it would be a must for students to attend schools in order to acquire that particular skill. New services such as online enrolment, online results and online examinations would be more frequent where students might have email accounts which can be used to disseminate news and important events as a result more teaching and learning time would be available. There would be more involvement of parents and other donor agencies into the schooling learning system. Simple and convenient learning strategies or delivery mode would be incorporated using computing technology, such as students can have e-learning system. Teachers and students will find it easy and more time can be used for student teaching interaction and time will be saved on writing notes (which is now). For example TVET department is developing e-learning system for technical students. Discovery method would be one of the widely used teaching tools used as most topics would be taught by research. “To understand, Piaget, one of the greatest psychologists believed in the cognitive theory of learning. Piaget’s theories suggested that learning was based on intellectual development and occurred when the child had the available thinking structures in the subject that is related to new information. In the classroom this could mean, the use of concrete (real life) experience, play and of problem-solving! Inquiry-based experiences were the order of the day.