Unforgettable Empowerment

Its difficult to say what I am moving toward in terms of objectives within this organization. I am looking for a goal which is more "creative and ambitious"; A personalized strategy for the empowerment of future generations. I have felt the potential for this vision in the classroom with all different age groups but have yet to really grasp it. "Grasping it" in my mind is about inspiring others to push for their dreams and fight for the entitlements of their communities. An individual's dreams/goals and the empowerment of a community are intertwined either simultaneously or imminently. With resources at our disposal the question is whether we are using them to our greatest benefits to reach our potential to work and care for our communities like we do ourselves.

As a teacher and mentor to many of the students I see I must remember to engage them from a socratic perspective. Asking a lot of questions especially about their dreams, what they know needs to happen in order to get to their goal, and how they are going to put those steps into practice.

The classroom is especially useful for these conversations because I can bring to the forefront the resources available to the students and the reasons for pursuing goals of community and self empowerment. In a world of innumerable choices and tools, very few of them see the way to attaining more and better entitlements/rights. They may be able to program their phone to play a new song that came out on the radio just yesterday as a ringtone, but they don't know how to use their phone as a tool for empowerment.

Communication has undergone great revolutions and evolutions technologically but not interpersonally. We still look to people for honest and compassionate words and if we do not get them we will suffer because the consequences. No machine will ever substitute the need for genuine human contact, therefore, it is our responsibility to fulfill those needs by connecting community (which has many implications on its own) and technology. Then and only then will we have the unforgettable empowerment we all seek.


Forgettable
The question we as educators must address is how to spur long-term retention amongst students to recall and care about the health of their bodies. Now, the easy part is dispensing the information to the young people who see us as the only break from the school-day monotony, but it is another effort entirely to create a situation where they feel empowered to care about their health and the health of their family. A lesson that empowers is a long-term and sustainable lesson that will benefit far into the future. An empowering lessons changes the culture to one of wisdom and community. Our challenge as educators is to teach young people not to forget how to be wise for themselves and the future of their communities.