Does anyone wonder why the national conversation behind inequality and injustice does not have Education at the forefront of the conversation, or why we keep having conversations about education and the inequity many children face, yet the solutions given are not often acted upon? Why is our education system immersed in testing and standardization when we are all well aware that each and every child is a unique individual, with different learning styles, and why are children unable to receive the mentoring to bring them out of such poverty to become contributing members of society when we know that coaching and mentoring is an essential part of growth and development?
Many look to put the blame somewhere. It’s the government; it’s corruption; it’s a bad system… and on and on. However, our goal is not to blame. One can play the blame game forever, but the reality is years have gone by, trillions of dollars have been spent, and little progress has been made for those who need it most. So, where does the error lie?
It lies with a reactive system instead of a proactive system, and it lies with standardized education instead of differentiated education. While we often tell children what to do, we rarely tell them why or how to do it. Isn’t that interesting? As well, the error lies in actions that are based in the short term, ultimately making children that do not achieve or do well in school to become dependent on a system that keeps them mediocre at best, but usually living in poverty instead of creating more opportunities to provide for themselves and their families. It is not to say that assistance is not good, actually, it is necessary as a short-term solution, but to just give money, food or free medical care does not stop, and will never stop the cycle of poverty that exists around the world. It is not the long-term solution. Once the money, food and medical supplies are gone, people are still going to need to buy basic necessities; they will still need to eat; they will still get sick and need medical attention. This is why it is called a cycle of poverty … people give and those in need, receive. The system needs to be reversed and create the conversation of how will those in need be able to provide for themselves without the help of others?
While what has already happened is something that is out of our control and we can work on creating better opportunities for adults, which is a reactive approach to what has happened to them due to inequity and many other reasons, the way to true and lasting change for the future is providing proactive educational programs for children and adolescents will help avoid such reactive programs in the future.
Education is the most important factor to ending poverty. It is an investment, a process that needs time and nurturing, and it is a solution that works! Just look at Geoffrey Canada and Harlem Children’s Zone.
Providing a child with proper education will give them opportunities to break the cycle of poverty and change the outcome of their future. Giving these children a way to develop their talents will bring new possibilities that they could only dream about, but it can’t stop there. Being surrounded by people who help them believe they can achieve will change their life and providing a curriculum that coincides with personal development and success are fundamental.
Now with the Global Pandemic, new questions are being raised as we look at so many adults turning to the personal development industry. There is so much out there at this time about personal mastery for adults, but what about learning such lessons at a much younger age so adolescents can make informed choices about their futures and change the preconditioning/beliefs/paradigms already set in by society and family? It begs the question, why do we wait until we discover this knowledge on our own at 30, 40, or 50 years old, and why is it not taught at a much earlier age when it truly matters.
The mission of Maggio Multicultural Virtual Academy and Maggio Multicultural Foundation is…
- To create equal, educational opportunities for children, adolescents and young adults in the United States and abroad in order to make them successful and contributing members of society.
- To create a PROACTIVE system in educating youth so the next generation can make informed choices to benefit their personal growth and development that is not based on traditional or societal perceptions.
VISION
- Create an educational model that is learner-focused, independent and collaborative, highly personalized, gamified, applicable, and relevant, that makes cross-discipline connections, moving the students’ attention from one task to another quickly and effectively. The system will incorporate AI, AR, and VR into learning, as well as access to chats that will connect students globally. Once students reach high school the model will be based on entrepreneurship and business skills in which students will explore, investigate, create, and implement a business by the time they graduate so they will be agile and have the skills to succeed in a world that is rapidly changing.
- Graduating students who are more curious than when they entered, who bring creative energy to the world, and confront every challenge as an opportunity to help move humanity forward. Schools produce agile life-long learners who can quickly adapt to changing and unpredictable trends of the future. There is a 100% graduation rate even in the most disadvantaged areas simply because the students are inspired to learn. The educational system is based on the interests of the students, instead of those within the system, and it is aligned with the way students learn rather than the way a teacher teaches. Students no longer answer the question, “What do I want to be?” Instead, they ask, “What problem do I want to solve?”