Today’s word is Education.

Today’s word is Education.

This is a very interesting word because although it is always spelled the same, it actually has two pronunciations, each with a different meaning!

Education when pronounced “Ed-ju-KAY-shun” is the fine art of teaching others how to perform, how to do or how to be. It is a selfless art. Its sole aim is the betterment of the student. There is no regard for the wellbeing of the teacher nor should there be.

Education when pronounced “Ed-ju-ma-KAY-shun” is a very different concept.  It does not concern itself with a student thoroughly understanding the subject; it merely seeks satisfaction in the student’s enjoyment of it.  It is more about the teacher, who seeks awards, accolades and financial betterments, than it is about the student’s progress.

Here is how they both work!

Let’s say that you have an apple farm. Your job is to sell quality apples to your customers. You enjoy this job very much and decide that you need an assistant so you begin an apple “Ed-ju-KAY-shun” program. You spend time in class and individually with each of your students and teach them how to grow apples, how to enjoy watching the trees blossom, bear fruit and eventually end up on the tables of your satisfied customers. You teach them everything you know about apples and they become so adept at it that they become experts and go off to own and maintain successful apple orchards of their own. Your education program becomes so successful that it becomes an Institute with an endowment, every dollar of which goes to aid your students in their quests for knowledge.

Your neighbor also has an apple farm. He enjoys selling apples to your customers too, but he’s really more interested in cars and swimming pools than he is in growing apples. He decides to institute an “Ed-ju-ma-KAY-shun” program because his business just isn’t making him enough money. As he wants to spend as little time at this as possible, his students show up in numbers and he lectures them all at once. He tells them to go out and tell others about his apples, especially their parents! He is perfectly satisfied to see his students enjoying his apples even though they have no idea how to grow one or how to prune a tree. In the end his students go off and mostly forget about apples altogether.  Having swimming pools of their own to maintain, they make money in ways they can and visit an apple orchard just once a year for fun. His education program is less successful than yours, so he begins an Institution that also accepts donations to an endowment, which of course allows him to pay for a bigger swimming pool and a salary raise every year!

Yes, words are fun aren’t they Boys and Girls? We sure are learning a lot. Tomorrow’s word is Leadership. You’ll want to be really sure not to miss that!