| “I want to be a doctor,” blurted 10-year-old Travis when asked what he’d like to be when he grows up. His answer is certainly not dissimilar to many young children today who have for some reason been transfixed on the idea that the only good careers are those that fall within the academic streams of science or business. Becoming a doctor, lawyer or even a pilot are among the preferred professions that most believe bring with them some level of prominence in the society.However this belief couldn’t be further removed from the truth, as according to Head of the Humanities Department of School of the Nations, Ms Mischka White, “the stream of Humanities is very, very important; no less important than the others.”Her emphatic remark came even as the privately-run academic institution situated at 41-42 New Market Street, Georgetown, held its third Humanities School Fair on Thursday last.Premised on teaching within the Humanities, the Fair is usually designed to raise awareness among students about the importance of the various facets of humanities. The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical,Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences.It includes ancient and modern languages, literature, philosophy, religion, and visual and performing arts such as music and theatre. It is also regarded as social sciences and include history,Throwback Jerseys, anthropology, area studies, communication studies, cultural studies, law, economics and linguistics.White, during an interview with this publication, sought to substantiate her conviction about the Humanities, by alluding to the significance of history,Wholesale Authentic Jerseys, for instance in the life of a politician. In order for such an individual to fully embrace such a profession “he or she needs to have a background in history.”Turning her attention to Geography, White passionately insisted that this area is in fact “critical to everything that we are doing and will do in the future, because we are going to use the earth in one way or another and that’s Geography…so we need to have persons looking at these areas as well.”“We don’t want people becoming businesspersons and they go out and locate their business in the wrong area, so urban planning is very important, particularly as we are developing now as a country…We want to show them (students) other things that they can do,” asserted White.As such, she insisted that there is a need for more persons across the country to become involved in the humanities and “not just look to business, or science alone,Wholesale China Jerseys, and think that becoming a businessperson or a doctor are the sole careers you can have. We need to have good teachers in all areas, because if everyone becomes a doctor who will teach our children,” White posited.Moreover,Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping, the purpose of the Humanities-focused fair was to bring to life, in a major way, various aspects of the humanities through students’ group projects emphasising the importance of History, Geography, Sociology and other areas. The ultimate objective, White disclosed, was to encourage students to open their awareness to careers that can be had within the humanities.She made reference to the fact that when students enter fourth form they often opt to venture into the science or business streams, with the humanities attracting a very small number of them. As such, the fair was expected to ignite interest among them in hopes that the existing trend will be halted.“The hope is for us to have an increased number of students going into the humanities streams and taking up careers as geographers and historians,” White said, as she related daunting statistics at the school.Pointing to a constant decline in students opting for this area, the Head of Department disclosed that in the recent past about 25-30 students ventured into the Humanities, but last year the numbers dipped significantly, reaching an all-time low of 12.“That is a significant decline in the number of students. Even at the University of Guyana we understand the number of students who register to have degrees in areas such as history has dwindled, so we are trying to change that from the school level; we are trying to achieve a mindset change,” White stated.Projects on display Thursday were fascinating as they were diverse, suggesting that students were beginning to embrace the various aspects of the Humanities.Exhibits numbering in excess of 40, touched on the hydrological cycle, rural settlements, music, the Mashramani celebration, the family structure, architecture and subsistence farming, among others, and were evidently appealing to those in attendance, among whom were University of Guyana students.The fair also saw the artistic work of students on display, and according to White, there are too few persons who are pursuing art as a career.“Everything was done by the students with no teacher help…the models are based on what they have been taught, so this is their opportunity to bring it to life,http://www.airmaxfantasy.us.com/1600-New-Balance/,” said White who insisted that “all we did was give them guidance in terms of what material would be the best to use, but the actual construction and idea behind it came from them.”The projects were all premised on lessons taught since the beginning of the school year and represented assignments that would be graded in two areas: display and students’ ability to explain and answer questions.Once graded, all of the projects will be displayed at various points in the school, White disclosed.School of the Nations is a private institution of learning, whose founder is of the Bahai religion.As such, while its existence is premised on educational advancement, it also focuses much attention on character-building, citizenship and for students to have a greater sense of respect and acceptance of each other.The school has a growing population which spans play school through Fifth Form and there is a Sixth Form College as well as a university – Nations University. |
