Seeing is Believing

In Believe in Change from Clif's Notes by Clif Mims, he gives a quote:

“You have to believe it to see it.”–from Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium

Then Clif asks, “How do you think this relates to the educational reform that many of us in the edublogosphere are calling for?”

I think this is the problem between educators and non educators. Unfortunately most of the non educators are the ones with the power and the purse strings. I think this as educators we build a lot of things on faith. We believe that we can instill knowledge and make a difference. We can’t wait around for proof before we take action. We believe we have newer strategies and tools that will make this process easier and better for the next generation. Educators need to have a vision for the future instead of looking at what was always done in the past. Our students are going to be the decision makers of the future so we need to give them tools of the future to help them when they get there. Sometimes these tools might not have been developed yet so we need to teach them how to find access to them when they are developed. Sometimes we just need to have faith and keep an open mind. We have knowledge that we can build on to move in the right direction. Sometimes we will make mistakes but it is through these mistakes that we are learning. I feel if we always wait to see it before we believe in it, we will have lost so much. And the time and energy it will take to catch up with the rest of the world will be so overwhelming that we might never catch up.

Original image: 'Moment magique' http://www.flickr.com/photos/26106682@N02/2918686678 by: Nanou :)