By By: Oyem, Israel Ekene
Many times, we’ve heard pupils in primary schools say, “My teacher said I should do it this way.” Some would say, “This isn’t how my teacher taught me to do it.” While this is good at the basic level, this mentality should be refined as students progress to secondary schools. Students shouldn’t go ahead with the mentality of taking it all without thinking or questioning what was said or read. Students are meant to be inquisitive; they should make findings as regards a situation from both ends. This essay brings the attention of teachers to the awareness of refining the minds of our students not just to believe what they read, hear or see but also think and verify information within and outside the wall of the school in order to secure a safe future with verified pieces of information.
Confident teachers, in most cases, are seen by student to be very knowledgeable; hence, they take in all the teachers say as the truth. They do not even bother to find out if this is right or wrong. We, teachers, should help them build the confidence or mind to question everything before they believe. We won’t stay with them all our lives; hence, we should build in them qualities that would make them functional individuals in the society. Qualities that would lead them in the right path even after we no longer teach them.
While it is good that we know what we are teaching them and it is correct, we should sometimes ask them to explain what we’ve said and ask them why they believe what we said. This would leave them amazed: the fact that we said something and demanded from them the reason for believing what we taught them. Teachers are humans and we most times can say what isn’t right. Students should be able to check, cross-check and triple-check every piece of information they see, hear or read before believing it or sharing it with another person.
When we instill in them the ability to analyse situations properly, even in years to come, they won’t be misinformed or share pieces of information that are far from verisimilitude. We should help them ask “why” and “how, ” instead of moving about with the mindset of “my teacher said this, so it is correct,” or “this was said by someone in authority, so it is true.” Things like this are not always best to believe at once.
In conclusion, it is even more dangerous and worrisome in this age of social media, where one with access to a large audience can spread a piece of information to the detriment of another person. If we inculcate the habit of asking why and how in students, we wouldn’t only leave them with inquisitive minds, but also a quality that keeps them and the future safe. We should forget that our students are leaders of tomorrow and if we fail to build in them positive qualities, the future might end up being unsafe.
