Reflections on my learning experience – a personal story Inspired by the research performed by LDI on this subject, I have decided to put down what I have learned about learning in the course of my formal education as well as my experience in learning to live. In retrospect, the term reports I received in high school are a source of great mirth to myself and my family. Although I seemed to perform at least at an average level in most subjects (with an inclination toward the languages and the arts) the comment on my reports for (then compulsory) sports always read: “Meira expresses no interest whatsoever in sporting activities”. To this day, it surprises me that my gym teacher in fact even knew my name, since the number of times I actually showed up (armed with elaborate excuses why I was ab-so-lu-tely unable to participate in any strenuous activity) for the weekly ordeal must have been no more than ten.
This all would probably be no cause for more than a casual snigger at the memory of my high school years, if it weren’t for the fact that I now earn a part-time living managing a successful Gym. In my capacity as an instructor I teach an average of 13 classes per week, in addition to my private workouts, which occupy me for an additional 5 hours. To me, this is just one of the areas of my life which supports my vision that conventional education does not necessarily lead to personal development, but may, in some cases, even stifle it. As the child of expatriates, my formal education was very varied.
I was eight years old when I finally went to a conventional school, having been educated by my parents (both teachers by profession and motivators by vocation) until that point. At my first school, I was immediately struck by the extent to which teachers expected students to assume and believe statements and theories, without being offered tangible proof or explanation. This posed an extreme contrast to the type of education I had received until.
