DAYnamics Show Discussion: What is True Education?

Join us this month around EDUCATION Dynamics! Education is so much more than traditional school subjects, it’s a lifelong journey of questioning, critical thinking, values, virtues, enlightening experiences and self-belief, all starting with YOU. Join teacher Makoda as we explore how learning evolves in today’s digital world and discover how adults can guide kids with clarity and care. Plus, we’ll dive into why education at any age matters, because the older you are, the more you inspire and influence those around you. 

• defining education as knowledge, skills, values, habits, critical thinking, and personal growth 
• why lived experience makes learning stick, especially for kids 
• social media and AI as both a learning tool and a misinformation pipeline 
• teaching values and virtues at school and at home and being a role model to others

Links Supporting the Show:

Blogs:

Dynamic Education: Shaping the Future Beyond Basic Curriculums

EDUCATION Dynamics: The Vast Range of What Education Is

Videos:

Vehicle Video #78 - EDUCATION Dynamics Intro

Question:

What do you think your level of understanding is around education? 

Transcript

Welcome And Centering

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Hello, our dynamics community. It's your host Marianna, and here to welcome you to the Dynamics Show where personal development meets daily life. On this podcast, we know there's no one size fits all path in life, which is why each episode is crafted for you to align with your own dynamic self on your terms. Our journey here is filled with options, uh opportunities, and infinite possibilities. So let's uncover the reason you are here because you always hear what you need to and explore what's possible together. So today we are doing a discussion recording where we're exchanging ideas with respect and openness and we'll be exploring the subject of we're continued exploring it, education dynamics, which is a new dynamics for this month. We are also honored to have our guest with us, and I thought, what a better person to talk about education dynamics than someone in the education field. Makota, welcome.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Thank you for having me, and yes, I agree.

Defining Education Beyond School

SPEAKER_00 1:40

Yeah. I think that there's gonna be a lot of information come out in this because education not only are you a teacher, you have your bachelor's, your master's, you've been teaching a bit, and you just see it with different eyes because education is not the same as when I grew up in education. And but again, even the definition of education is so much broader than formal education. Right. So when you think of education, what do you think of right away?

SPEAKER_01 2:21

Well, when I think of education, I usually think about well, how educated are you on a specific topic? I think before I went into university, I thought that education was, oh, getting an education and going to school, but I see now that education is just how much knowledge do you have on a specific topic and how knowledgeable are you? And I would feel like that for me is the definition of education is how educated are you on something.

Learning Through Real Experiences

SPEAKER_00 2:49

Well, that's yeah, that's a good that's good. And and it actually so first thank you for that. And it's good because we always ask the the question why this subject. And for me it because it's time more than ever to really educate ourselves on many different topics. Yes, yes. And it goes into the definition of which I looked it up, and I always use, you know, you always know that I use more than one source, so acquiring knowledge, skills, values, habits, transforming individuals by fostering critical thinking and personal growth, receiving or giving creativity development of characteristic traits or sorry, character traits, and then an enlightening experience. That was one of the things under education, an enlightening experience. I like those words. So that is why we're covering this, and thank you for being here. Yes, thank you for wanting me. Always. I always like to set the tone for our time together before we get into the the juicy part of the podcast. It is more than just a podcast. We are here to remind you that flowing through each one of us is a dynamic energy that is ours to use every single day. And that's why the Day in Dynamics show is capitalized, as it is a daily choice to live dynamically. So let's take a moment to center ourselves, take a deep breath, in, and then out, and be fully present and listen with an open heart and mind. Since we know that what we focus on expands. A part of being dynamic is constantly changing, being open to new ideas, and knowing that we're always becoming something. And I think we become a lot more when we're educated, or at least we have some knowledge of what we are talking about. So let me ask you this, and I'll ask you this, Makoda. Given the title, which I don't really have a title yet, specifically, but given what it's about, education dynamics, and you answer this a little bit, but what is important to you when it comes around education and the word education. Like I know what you define it as, but what is important to you about education? That's two separate questions, you know. Like, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:05

Two very separate questions. I think the most important thing to me about education and this topic of education is experiences, and that you can be very knowledgeable about a subject and learn it about it in school and do projects on it and do all this stuff. But to experience those things or to be able to really understand them from a first-person point of perspective is very hard. But when you are able to do those things, it really does change your mind on understanding those topics. As an example, a lot of my kids in my classroom will probably have a harder time in their life traveling due to their situation. But they're able to vicariously see these places that we're talking about through Google Maps or through Maps or through my experiences and being able to experience it in a way that they would probably never be able to is so eye-opening to them because they hear about these things, they know about these words, they know about these countries at such a base level of knowledge. You think about when you were a kid in second grade or third grade, and you heard about a country that isn't like your own, you would just think, oh, it's the same as ours in every way, or if you heard a little bit about it, it's totally different. But actually being able to go and see pictures or look at cultural videos and learn the language and those types of experiences make you truly educated, in my point of view, rather than just base level knowledge and thinking that you know it, but actually seeing it with your own eyes in some way.

Social Media And Misinformation

SPEAKER_00 7:43

Right. Yeah, I like that because the importance of that part is it's a more meaningful and and bigger picture version of being educated versus versus like we always say in any of our stuff, is what you've been told it is. Yeah. You know, you can, you know, there's so many resources now, and even going on the internet and looking up something, and like it's even even a definition, there's different val, you know, there's there's always so much. So that's like it's again to me more important to really educate yourself before you decide on an opinion or a belief or what you choose to, you know, serve you around a certain subject because you've now done your research for it. Yes. And then you get to see the bigger picture and then you can decide what is right for you on that. Yes, yes. Yeah. And and the great great example of you saying the you the younger kids, because a lot of them are being, you know, exposed to many different things. So when you're teaching them a subject and you can like broaden their horizons around it, it makes it a whole different thing. Yeah, that's awesome. Thank you. I mean, it was one of the reasons why Dynamics series was created, was one of the reasons why Kid Dynamics was created initially, is to have those resources as a part of education for kids on certain themes for the Kid Dynamics program. And then we had this conversation yesterday. So that's why I always look up a definition of a word when it comes to anything, instead of just what I've been told. It's supposed to be through my influences, through what I might have seen online, may have read, maybe been, like I said, downloaded from many generations of something. So what let's talk about more social media. I know that you did when we did a podcast, you talked a bit about the social media and AI and all that stuff and how that's all affecting us. But let's talk about that from an educational point of view as far as the formal side, because then there's an informal and then there's other variations of education. You know, there's the common sense stuff, the the values, the everything that is set up here, values, skills, you know, transforming individuals because they know more. So how about social media with the education side of things?

SPEAKER_01 11:03

Yeah, that's a that's a very interesting topic because you have a lot of content creators, as they would probably call themselves, that, you know, make educational content for kids, which is great. And some of the people out there that are on social media that are making content for kids are really good and are actually very educational. But there's also a lot of easy ways for kids to get out of that loop. And that's the part that is a little scary as a teacher that, you know, okay, we'll give our kids Instagram or YouTube or TikTok or whatever, because there's this one educational person that we like and it's safe. But a lot of people, if they're not on those platforms themselves or if they're not monitoring what their kids are actually able to access, can become maybe not educational or maybe a little bit harmful to the point that I've had a few kids say facts that were completely false to me because they saw it online or they saw it on a person that they trusted on YouTube. And then that becomes a cycle of, oh, are they just now spreading misinformation that kids are going to pick up on because they trust these adults that are supposed to be for them?

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Right. So it's like almost educating the kids to to do more of their research and not just trust one person.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Yes. Well, it's good in that way, especially maybe if they have parents that they disagree with when they're a little bit, you know, older, maybe in the tweens and teens age, that that can be a good outlet for them to do their own research when they see other people that are able to give them a different opinion. But for young kids, it can be a little bit hard for them to understand what is true and what is not when it's you know at that younger age when they're still trying to figure out the world around them.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

Right, because that that brings up the the AI. I had sent you a video about something, and you're like, mom, that's not that's that's AI. Like look around, like look at it instead of just what the person's saying, like look around it and and actually see. And and that's the whole thing now with educating yourself with different the re like I said, the different resources that you can trust, is that you have to know what's you know what's being put out there. Is it just for marketing for you to buy something, or is it or information for you to start something or end something, or all of that stuff, and now you have these young kids, you know, being influenced. This is not a good or bad here. This is just information to be aware of. So as a person that is for the well-being of the kids, is also again doing their research so they know what their kids are doing. You talked about a video game at one point or something, and you don't have to say what it is, because you know, but you we can just keep it broad.

Online Games And Kid Safety

SPEAKER_01 13:52

There's you know, I I think especially as someone that played video games from a very young age, mostly single player, which means that there's no other people that you interact with, those games are usually pretty safe, especially if you you know follow the ratings of the game and all that. But when it comes to online games, which are you know more popular now because people are becoming more global, those have a lot less of a filter on them. Even though many games have a parental controls filter, or they have ways to disable things like chats or voice talk, there's still a lot of ways that it can be dangerous for kids because they're being exposed to things that they don't fully understand sometimes, or things that are even just mature in concept, like getting jobs, or you know, things that they don't really need to think about right now. And so when those games become more so, oh, how do I do things to become like an adult, that leads into a lot of scary topics for these kids that then they bring up to their friends, or they start saying at school, and then it becomes this thing of, oh, that sounds funny or that looks funny, and then they just repeat it. It's a very much like a copycat situation. So if they're not really understanding where a lot of this information is coming from, or if they see something that they don't fully understand, not every kid's gonna go and ask their parent and say, hey, what is this? And not every parent's gonna be looking into what their kid's looking at. And then it just becomes a cycle of where did they get this information from and how do we stop it? And then at that point, sometimes it's spread so far to other kids that it's hard to go to the source.

SPEAKER_00 15:26

Yes, yeah. I mean, you bring up so many great points, and I think communication is is huge when it comes to educating, you know. So it says one of the definitions are receiving or giving instruction, you know, so it's like it doesn't have to necessarily be an instruction, it can be a conversation too, you know, giving or receiving conversations around certain subject matters so they have the balance, you know, so the education that they have is aware. I know when we when you started doing video games when you were younger or going online or your first Facebook, like what was the first thing? One, it was to never use your first name, yes, your your true first name when you're that young. That's a choice that a parent would make as well as a kid, or or shorten it, you know, so it's you know, a nickname of you or something. And then it was like watch who's trying to communicate with you, be careful what groups that you go to, who you follow, who you message with, you know, what pages that you are on. And I know that a lot of them have, you know, like YouTube has YouTube kids now, right? So you still have to be aware of what pages you're going to or what videos they're watching as well. Yes. And and having that sort of conversation. It's not to filter out everything, but it's about being educationed, educational based when it comes to, hey, I know you're on YouTube today. Did did you see anything that you know you want to talk about because you know, we haven't talked about it before? You know, it's it's that that real sense, and especially in the classroom, you have this wide range of kids, all teachers do, all you know, bosses or instructional or parents or grandparents or people that influence or you know, whatever coaches, or you know.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

I think it's just it's so important that if you're in a position that you feel like you can do these things, especially as a parent or a guardian, is I know that not everyone's a gamer and not everyone plays video games, or maybe they don't like watching YouTube, but even if you just take a few hours out of a month and actually do the things that your young kids are doing in terms of the video games they're playing, the videos that they're watching, and seeing how it really is, that can make a big step in the right direction of understanding if it's harmful or not for these kids to be interacting with. Right.

Values Virtues And Common Sense

SPEAKER_00 18:02

Yeah, yeah. And how about when we move from that over to again, because all of this is just about awareness about the dynamics of education, given the definitions that we have, you know, and broadening everybody's mind around education and the importance of it from a formal and informal. Now, informal meaning like what about the education of values? What about the education of morals? How about the education of doing the right thing? How about the education of common sense? You know, so what what do you feel about that side of education where it's a little bit less informal because unless you go somewhere that's teaching you that, you know, in the educational system, where do you learn that education, you know, as a real life experiences, you know?

SPEAKER_01 19:06

Yeah. I mean, being a current teacher right now, I can say that a lot of these kids probably, not that I'm talking to the parents, but they probably don't have a very good sense of a lot of these things. And as someone that wants to become a parent, I feel like that's partly something that a parent should teach their kids to do. But it's also increasingly harder because the older that they get, the less time that you have with them because they are spending so much time with the teacher. And for me as an educator, I really do try to push that onto my kids and teach them how to have those values and virtues and teach them how to love themselves and to love other people and to be respectful. But sometimes, even with topics that we're learning with the curriculum, if it's only taught at school and it's not enforced at home, then it kind of goes away every single day, or it kind of has to backtrack every single day. And so I'm not sure how it is for other schools or other parents and situations, but it would be nice if that type of stuff was part of a curriculum or part of the mantra of a school, really. And the way that that school is run is based off of teaching their kids virtues and values and having that be important because they know that sometimes that's not given to them at home, or maybe it's not given to them by an individual teacher because maybe they don't understand how to do it, or maybe they don't know those things themselves. And so if the teachers aren't educated and the parents aren't educated on it, how can they educate their kids properly? And then no one does it, and then it just becomes a cycle of being uneducated. So having some type of program or having some type of way to give that to children is so helpful. And I I wish there was a clear answer. It really just depends sometimes on your situation, but I hope that more teachers and more parents want to have that be a focus of up, you know, bringing up kids.

SPEAKER_00 21:03

Yeah, that's a good point. And having the balance be, yeah, it's great that you're learn learning the formal stuff and the school stuff. That's you know, your basic in a lot of cases, sometimes just a basic subjects, you know, and then those that are, you know, in different situations in different areas of the world, having you know, more options sometimes and sometimes less. But just having the the importance of those other things, you know, as well, and having that you get your schooling stuff done, whether it's homeschooled or in a in a classroom setting or whatever it might be, to you know, what about, like I said, the values, education, the the virtues, the the skills, the habits, the transforming individuals, you know, and how to think properly and about your personal growth and your in your relationship with yourself and you know, and all of that side that is so important. Yes. In in the bigger scope of when you when you grow up.

SPEAKER_01 22:10

And that's not always taught. I mean, where I work, it's very much. Okay, you just listen to adults, and if you do something wrong and get punished, and it's not always about okay, well, why did that kid do that behavior? Why are they acting out? Why are they feeling this way? It's not always a conversation about your emotions and your feelings and how to better combat getting upset or getting in trouble. It's always that, oh well, you knew what to do, you did that thing, and so now you're getting punished. And that's maybe that works for some people, but that doesn't always work. And you can tell that it doesn't work for most of these kids because they discontinued to do that behavior because they're not taught positive ways to counteract their bad choices. Because a lot of kids, when they act out, it's because they want attention, and they don't sometimes know any other way to get attention but to do bad things.

SPEAKER_00 23:04

Yeah, positive or negative attention, it's still attention, right? But there's there's there's so much of the psychology around all of this education stuff.

SPEAKER_01 23:13

Yes, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 23:14

Yes. Now, you know, we have all of our dynamics and we offer resources, and you know, and we're focusing on revamping the kid dynamics program and looking for ways to help where portions of that could be part of not maybe not a curriculum, but something where it could enhance what you're already doing, whether, like I said, it's just when you're young and they're a baby, and then teaching it right from there, talking to them when talking to your your kid when when you're pregnant with them or when you first get them for whatever situation you might be in, or whatever that that that's instilled. Yeah. You know, the the values and the morals and all that stuff is instilled so early. And uh because I remember even being pregnant with you is that I would, you know, say positive affirmations to you. I would talk, but here's the one thing is that you have to believe it and love yourself to be able to share it with someone else. You can say the words, but if you're not feeling it, it doesn't mean a lot. So the education of yourself to know that okay, I have this child or children, and they are going to look to me as a role model. And or anyone again that is in that role of being a role model to children. And not even children, youth in general, you know, because it doesn't matter what age you are. I I said to my mom that's in her 90s, like, Mom, you're still the I know better now because I can consciously think for myself, but you're still a role model to us because you are our mother or father or whatever, right? So it or grandparents, it it doesn't really matter the age, but it just it if we can get it in the when our children are younger, then there could be that platform for them to have that base.

Mirror Affirmations For Self-Belief

SPEAKER_01 25:19

Yes, because I I did that with my kids this last week actually, because we are we've they're all kind of ready for spring break. They're all kind of tired of you know being in school. It's getting to this point now where they're they know that it's getting close to the end of the year and they're not learning a lot of new stuff, it's a lot of repetition at this point, and so they're getting a little complacent, they're getting a little, you know, messy with the rules and trying to bend them a little bit. And so we had a big discussion. I I told them straight up, and I said there's gonna be a lot of people in your life that are gonna say a lot of negative things to you, you know, your parents, your family members, your siblings, your teachers, random adults, other people in your classroom, and that you need to just block all that out because you need to know what you are and who you are. And so we did, you know, part of the Kid Dynamics program, and we did the mirror affirmations, and you could just see that a lot of them had never looked at themselves in the mirror and they didn't really want to talk to themselves, and they were kind of asking me, like, why are we talking to Amir? And I said, Well, you're not talking to Amir, you're talking to yourself, you're looking at yourself in the mirror. If they were shy about it, I had them go back and do it and really try to look at themselves and say it to themselves because I let them know is that if you can't say those things to yourself and you don't believe those things about yourself, then you can't say those things to other people and really mean it.

SPEAKER_00 26:44

Yeah. Or or even accept it when someone says someone outside of yourself says it to you either. Yes, it starts it starts from within, right?

SPEAKER_01 26:53

Yes. And if you're if you're only able to think negative things about yourself, because I have a lot of kids that will say, Oh, well, I'm dumb, I'm not very smart, I don't know how to do this, this is too hard for me. And sometimes it is just because they don't want to do it, and you can kind of find that out really fast. But for some of those kids, they actually do believe that. And I tell them that if they say those things, that one, that's gonna be hurtful for them, but also they're gonna have an easier time saying that to other people because that's how they feel inside.

SPEAKER_00 27:22

Right. You you you know hurt people, hurt people, you know, it doesn't matter what age you are, or you know, uneducated people not might necessarily put down educated people because you know they just haven't taken the time.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

You know, yes, but yeah, it's sad that kids that are seven and eight years old think that way about themselves already, or don't have the confidence to talk. I have a few girls in specific that are shy all the time to talk and to raise their voice and to stand up for themselves because that's what they're told that is okay, to not be okay about standing up. And then you have the boys that are super loud and can say whatever they want and they don't get in as much trouble. And it's just a weird dichotomy of you want to teach them all equally, but they're already being shown how to act and how to break them out of that by giving them positive affirmations and positive examples of who they can be.

SPEAKER_00 28:19

Yes, and being a good role model, which you are. So thank you. And many teachers out there and parents, and you know, there's there's so many people that are great and are being great examples. And so thank you. Thank you. Yes. Anything else you want to talk about this? Because we have we've talked about some tools to use. We're, you know, we'll do a listener check-in. How's everybody doing? We're getting close to the end here now. So anything that you want to share to wrap up this, you know, knowing what the definition now is, what knowing what we discussed, and is there any like a take-home saying or something that they can around the dynamics of education, either formal or informal?

SPEAKER_01 29:06

Oh, that's that's a big topic there. Well, I would say kind of back to the what point that I said earlier of if you're anyone that is around young kids and that you care about their well-being, is to check up on their hobbies, check up on what they're interested in, see if it is harmful to them. And at the same time, if it is, or something has happened to them that they feel like they have changed as a person, to backtrack and to go back to the basics and teach them the values and the virtues, and teach them that the things that they see and they hear might not be completely true and doesn't need to impact them for their whole lives. I still remember things when I was a kid that still I think about to this day, things that my friends said to me or that teachers said to me that have stuck with me for more than 20 years. And not every kid's gonna have that experience, but it's so important to just talk and have good communication and to teach the people around you how you want to be treated and how they should treat you.

SPEAKER_00 30:07

Well, that yeah, that that's a good one. And and to know that they have value regardless of their age. Educate them that.

SPEAKER_01 30:15

They are, I think I saw it on a beautiful website, and it was that children are just versions, children are just small versions of adults, you know, they're not they're not a different species, they're not something that you need to coddle and pretend is small. They are just small in size, you know, they are just smaller versions of the adults that they're going to be. So if you put them down like they're nothing, that's gonna carry them for their whole lives. They are just small versions of who they're gonna be. Right. They need to grow big.

Final Takeaways And How To Engage

SPEAKER_00 30:47

Yeah, yeah. And for any age that's listening to this, adults in general, too, whether you have kids or around kids or not, like adults, you are still an example, whether it's at work or at play or whether you know, at the gym or whether a social situation, like you still have the ability to do your education so you can be the good example. So I know we focused a little bit of this around this, around the kids' side, because of Makoda and being a teacher and getting her in her influence and her insight, which we very much appreciate. But at any age, do your education. Do not take for one second anything that one person says as the truth if it doesn't feel right. If if you know, if it sounds right and it works for you, great, but I still do your research. Like just be an informed education-based person. Like, no, like again, going over the definition again, acquire the knowledge, acquire skills, acquire your values, acquire your habits, you know, transform yourself with critical thinking and personal growth. You know, receive and give. So there's so many more things that broaden this whole topic of education. We could probably go on and on for hours. But let's let's just as we finish up, take a moment just to reflect on the show around living a dynamic life every day around the subject of education. And what resources will you use? We have lots on our website, dynamic show or dynamic series. And how are you gonna make this information that we shared uniquely yours? And then if you have more to share, please reach out to us through our websites or the many contact form ways or or contact ways that you can do it. So if you are invited sorry, we invite you to follow, subscribe, share, support, shift. And we already mentioned about visiting the websites, and keep in mind all materials are shared on this show are copyrighted, meant for informational purposes only. And until we meet again, thank you, thank you, thank you for tuning into the dynamics show. Makota, as always, a pleasure to have you here. Thank you for your insight. Thank you for being part of the dynamics education for so many years. We we truly honor and are so pleased with that. So thank you, thank you for being on this show as well. Thank you so much. Yes, and as we always say, align with your dynamic well being every day and make it a dynamic day. Make it a dynamic day. Thanks for joining us. Thank you now so much.