Education and Meaningful Existence

Introduction

Education, theoretical and practical, schooled and unschooled, resides in my daily consciousness. From elementary school through college I tutored younger students and peers in reading, music, mathematics, science, computer programming, and theater management. At the same time, I do not take for granted giving clear directions to a stranger, installing mini-blinds, fixing a car, or consulting on a project. A music teacher once asked me why I put so much time and effort into helping younger students learn their band music. I simply said it was for the smiles on their faces when they "got it." The students where filled with joy when they could play their music well and partaking in that also filled me with joy.

Throughout my schooling I recognized a gap between the students who learned more quickly than others, especially as the "smarter" students were placed in upper level classes. Being one of those students I grew not to depend on teachers as much as others, however a poor teacher was often discouraging and a good teacher was usually inspiring. I noticed that poor teachers usually repeated the same explanations students did not understand a concept, often resulting in frustration from both the students and the teachers. In contrast, I realized that when I sat down to help classmates who were struggling with course material and altered the way I explained an idea according to my knowledge of their learning styles (visual, verbal, etc.) we all departed feeling more confident-joyful-in our knowledge of the lesson.

A turning point in these positive observations came after I aided in the development and implementation of a fundamental science course for non-majors. As a result of various requirements a series of lectures were built on digital slides showing verbal content as well as visual diagrams and animations. During the first run of the course I observed that many of the students did not smile; they did not have the sense of joy I experienced in my personal education or the joy I saw in those I tutored. Among the many possible reasons for this lack of joy I began to question the method of delivery: the effective use of digital presentations as a teaching tool.

I focus on the joy a person, a human mind, feels while learning because in my experiences I found that joy is a powerful realization of accomplishment and thrust to move forward. Alongside each action a mind has an emotional sensation. People express feeling joy in countless situations. But what does it mean to feel joy? For me, joy is when I feel accomplished yet not proud; when I realize what I have done and I want to do more. A dictionary definition of joy is as a "vivid emotion of pleasure" or "extreme gladness."! Spinoza defines joy more precisely as a "pleasure accompanied by the idea of a past thing which surpassed our hope in its event.i" It is key that Spinoza defines pleasure as a change toward a perfection ...