Co-habit, co-worry, co-incide
At the entrance to humanity stands a colossal monument of compassion. One cannot enter humanity without saluting it. This monument remains from the time we are nourished in infancy, to when we are buried after death, and even to the works we leave for future generations. It is this compassion that enables us to feel pity for those we do not know. We are not saying that everyone is compassionate, but it is evident that the compassionate branch of culture persists. Without it, families would not form, children would not grow up, and the elderly would not share their experiences.
We tend to be compassionate toward those close to us but find it difficult to extend this to those far away. This is because we are still influenced by our animalistic bodies and thoughts. In Europe, we might help a poor person nearby, but we do not care about Africans dying of hunger. If a people are exterminated in a distant corner of the world, most of us hardly notice. We help a drowning child but do not even mention the dead when they are not close to us. Compassion involves becoming one with that person; we mirror their pain in our minds. Humanity has grown not from intelligence but from the care shown to one another. Compassion raises the child. Compassion heals the sick. Compassion buries and remembers the dead.
Humanity is more than the sum.
The desired behavioral changes that we call education should also begin with compassion, to which other virtues can then be added. After showing compassion to the learner, the method and technique of teaching naturally take shape. The teacher will then see that a person becomes human together with others, and learning is done together. One must be a model to be mirrored, to be followed. In the mind of the learner, the closest thing to the words being said is visualized, yes, but trusting mere words when there is a living person before you is placing too much weight on what language alone can bear. One must do more than just speak words.
Paradoxical Foundations
The one who shows compassion provides the best education, but most of us are not even aware of what is truly needed. No matter how compassionate we are, we must be knowledgeable to understand the learner’s needs. Along with being knowledgeable, one must also be powerful to educate others. Becoming one with knowledge, power, and the foundations of humanity elevates education. However, we must admit the paradoxes here. While education is a instrumentalizing endeavor, good education is carried out by making it an end. It is necessary to be powerful while being compassionate. One must know their limits while aiming to rise. Education that is suitable for the future must be given in the present. These paradoxes, which seem contradictory, are the tragicomic idealistic manifestations at the core of all reality.
