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Dr. Alexiou Thomai

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The crisis we are experiencing nowadays 


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is first and foremost a crisis
of moral values.

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Values stem from our education.

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The cultivation we all receive.

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Education and principles start
predominantly within the family.

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On a second level, they stem from school
and then pass on to our society.

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Believe me, if we prioritize education
even during periods of adversity,

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miracles will happen.

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And, believe me, it is never
too late for miracles.

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I believe a lot in teaching,
but I believe even more in education.

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In the morals and values of individuals
and their holistic development.

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According to Plato, education
can change and define lives.

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It's like a second sun for people.

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So, let's start with the first part,
which has to do with the family.

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It is the main core 
of the society, after all.

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What do we need to provide for a child

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in order to ensure 
a proper and balanced upbringing?

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Love?

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Care?

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Protection?
Security?

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Indeed, but these are self-evident.

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I don't know of any parents 
who don't love their children.

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With the exception
of clinical cases, of course.

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What children really need
to grow up in a proper and balanced way

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is roots and wings.

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Roots, to feel that they belong somewhere,

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but also wings, to feel that they can fly.

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This expression was first used around 1920


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and was then used in 1950 by Carter,

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but, really,
it doesn't matter who said it first.

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What matters is that 
something as old as this

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is considered contemporary and timeless.

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Roots and wings, quite contradictive.

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From this, I will move on 
to my personal story to convince you.

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I grew up in Kastoria.
Yes, I was lucky.

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My schoolyard and house 
had a view of the lake,

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the swans, and the ducks.

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The value of this experience 
for my life and sense of taste

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is something I realized much later.

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Because some things define our lives, 
but we recognize them much later.

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The value of our childhood environment

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is something that recurs 
over and over again.

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Even during the difficult times 
in our lives.

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I am lucky enough to travel a lot.

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But every time I go back to Kastoria, 


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this sense of "coming home"
is beyond all other feelings.

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You go home for a while.

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Therefore, you go back to your self.

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I remember when I was young, 
while studying

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my mother would quietly bring me
some sage tea or orange juice.

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Even today, these smells
remind me of my childhood.

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They bring back feelings of

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warmth, comfort, security, love.

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My father had his own business 
and worked long hours.

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Still, I can't forget 
that he asked our mother

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to keep both me and my sister up at night
for fifteen minutes

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so that he could play with us, 
at least for fifteen minutes every day.

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Even today, thinking about this 
moves me deeply.

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I remember 
when I entered university,

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the Department 
of Early Childhood Education in Ioannina,

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my mother had 
a very typical "mum" reaction.

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Some of you, especially the younger ones,

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will recognize this reaction.

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She said "It's so far away,
you aren't going anywhere!".

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Of course, my father's reaction was

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"No matter how far it is, 
you are going there to study."

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Four years later, I went to England
to do my master's degree.

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My panic-stricken mother
came to help me "settle in".

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The very first day, I remember,
she made a tempting suggestion

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to spend some tuition money 
on shopping or whatever I wanted

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and go back home to Kastoria the next day.

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My father's instant reaction 
to this suggestion was

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"Send your mother back home packing
on the first available flight."

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Which is what I did.

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A few years later, I received 
a full scholarship at a U.K. university

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for a three-year PhD.

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It was September 
and I was working in Ioannina.

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My parents lived in Kastoria.

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I called to let them know
and my mom had again a typical reaction.

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"You can't leave for three years now, 
we just brought you winter rugs."

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Unbeatable arguments, as you can see.

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My father told me not to miss
this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

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From these stories, you can tell
who gave me roots and who gave me wings.

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Both of which are important, however.

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About three years later, 
I returned to Greece with my PhD.

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I gave up a university position there, 
because I wanted to contribute here.

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For about five years, I was working in different universities in Greece.

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Until I found a full-time position.

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I want to say this
for all the young people to hear.

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I had no contacts 
or parents in the academic world.

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In fact, my father only finished 
primary school.

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From the place that I am now,
I can say he's my greatest teacher.

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He gave me 
the strongest wings in the world.

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My mother comes from a similar 
educational background.

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But she raised me not only with milk, 


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but with "milk and honey",
as Fromm rightly says.

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With roots so strong, I always find 
ways and reasons to go back home.

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What I want to say is,
if a family is solid and strong,

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nothing can shatter it.

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No child has a problem on its own. 
A child develops a problem,

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if not properly guarded.

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From a very young age, I learned 
that I don't need expensive brands

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to feel that I am of value
and, above all, to be happy.

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I also learned that education
means thinking on your own

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and not always following the crowd.

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Only when you manage
not to care about the image, thoughts,

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and opinions of others,

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will you manage to isolate the noise
and listen to your own voice.

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It's not always easy.

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As my grandma used to tell me, 
when she was alive,

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"Don't ask me for advice about the future,
but only about the present,

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because I have a lot 
to offer you from the past."

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"But if you ask me about the future, 
it is you who must decide."

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"Because your sun looks to the east, 
while mine to the west."

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So, let's move on to school education.

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Let's see what's going on here.

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A month ago, we received
an official report.

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It foreshadows a bright future
for education in Greece.

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I really believe that this can happen 
under certain conditions.

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Indeed, our school drop-out rates are low
compared to other European countries.

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This means
that our children don't leave school.

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I am very proud of this, 
as well as of the fact that,

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according to the report,
our educators are highly qualified.

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Especially in this time of crisis
that we are going through today,

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offering high-quality public education,


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for free, 
as I would like to highlight,

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is something actually quite significant.

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On the other hand, having travelled 
to multiple universities and schools

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across the world,

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I can personally assure you
that our schools,

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the education quality we offer,


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as well as the qualification level
of our educators,

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are by no means of lesser value
compared to schools abroad.

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We are vastly inferior though 
with regard to infrastructure.

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But there are reasons behind that.

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What I would also like to mention

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are the countless opportunities we offer
for further education.

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It is by no means incidental, 
and it is indeed inconcievable,

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how much progress
has been done in this section.

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For instance, with MOOCs, 
distance learning programmes, and so on,

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access to education and training 
has been simplified.

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Namely, someone living in a remote village
on a Greek mountain

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can enter an educational platform
and without any charge, or for very little

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attend courses from Yale, Sydney, 
or anywhere else.

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These were inconceivable in the past.

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So, we have open access to education.

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To make a comment 
based on my field of studies,

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I'd like to say that 
one of the reasons for such opportunities

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is the fact that we have a high level 
of English language knowledge.

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The language of access to the world.

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Recently, since we are trying to emphasize
English language teaching,

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English is now being taught
from the first grade of primary school.

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I need to say, though, 
that with one teaching hour

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we will see no difference.

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These are not breakthroughs. 
They are half-measures.

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That was my field-specific comment. 
Let me ask something.

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Since we have a good education 
and our educators are of a high level,

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why is cultivation giving us 
such a hard time?

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So, let's move on to the school.

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Do we have love in schools?

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Are we ever going to add it 
to our reformation,

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as the dearly departed teacher, 
Mr. Tsolakis, used to say?

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Our schools are, unfortunately,
even today, a sports field of grades.

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Their objectives are exam-based.

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The recent report also pointed out 


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that less emphasis 
is to be placed on exams.

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We place too much emphasis on them.

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Therefore, we keep having obsessions.

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Grammar, maths, certificates of course, 
and technology more recently.

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We ask children to memorize information
they will probably never need.

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We ask for one question 
only one correct answer.

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How against Socrates is this in learning?

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We essentially ask children 
to do things they won't need.

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Children lose their childhood.
They lose unique talents in school.

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In our schools, 
children suffocate in their talents.

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Picasso used to say:

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"It took me four years to learn 
how to paint like Raphael

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and an entire lifetime to learn
how to paint like a child."

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Yet we insist.

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We dictate pictures, shapes, letters


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we instruct them 
on how to logically remember history.

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God forbid they change 
anything in history.

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Mr. Trivizas is right when he says

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that what we need 
to cultivate in schools is imagination

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and innovation.

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This is a talent 
that we unfortunately strangle.

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I remember my godchild,
back when she was three or four years old,

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we were drawing together,

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and I noticed that out of five markers, 
she was only using two: red and black.

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No blue, light blue, or green.
Nothing.

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I became alarmed.

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I was looking between the lines 
for any other issues.

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I talked to her in person and asked:

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"Sweetheart, why don't you
use more colours?"

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"Why only black and red?"

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She looked at me like I asked
the most stupid thing in the world.

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In her childlike naivety she said:

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"But my other markers 
have dried out, godmother."

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I didn't even think of the simplest thing.

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So, let's move on to the practical part.

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What can we do 
to add cultivation in education?

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What can we do 
to guard children inside schools?

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Disciplines change 
and what we are teaching now

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might be outmoded 
in five or ten years.

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This is how things are, 
because everything runs fast.

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Humanitarian studies, however, 
never dissapoint.

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We need life lessons, as Mr. Yosafat 
has been saying for years,

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and we must begin in Kindergarten.

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Love lessons.

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Teach children empathy, ethics, 
respect for the other,

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what is actually the other, 
what is finally emotional intelligence.

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We need lessons of basic world knowledge
that children will always need.

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From what to eat,

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because even eighteen-year-olds 
don't know how to eat,

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to what fills their heart 
during hard times.

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We emphasize all the rest so much, 
that we forget about the basics.

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Music, dance, culture, arts.

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These add quality to our life
and can truly help us

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during hard times.

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Of course, we also need digital education
and Internet lessons, especially today.

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I could, but I wouldn't like to mention
the emphasis we place on technology

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in today's schools.

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Many dangers lurk, I can confirm that,

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but I am not 
among those against technology.

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I am, however,
against one-sided obsession.

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In robotics lessons only, 
emotions cannot be cultivated.

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I'm moving on to the heart 
of cultivation in education.

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This is the teacher.

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Everybody in this space teaches, 
but we forget that we are educators.

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All teachers, 
in all levels, and of all fields,

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are above all educators, 
and therefore role models.

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Their influence is permanent through time.

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To convince you, close your eyes, 
and think of your favourite teacher.

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Of your childhood.

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You all recalled someone, a name.

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Do you know why this happens?

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Because, simply, 
nobody forgets a good teacher.

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If I ask each one of you 
why you remember this particular teacher,

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you won't say you remember them
because of maths or grammar.

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Children don't remember 
what we taught them,

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but they forever remember
how we made them feel.

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Therefore, the inspiring teacher,
the one who envisions,

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knows that they are don't just teach,
they educate.

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They facilitate learning 
and they educate.

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This is their main role.

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Moreover, they accept 
mistakes and failures,

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because they are part 
of the next success.

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Many people fail until they succeed.

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Therefore, we don't condemn mistakes.
We embrace them.

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Finally, the right teacher knows 
that teaching stems from the heart,

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not from the brain.

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So, the example is always
more effective than the lesson.

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Finally, and to conclude...

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to change everything, 
not just the education and family,

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but also the society,
in order for it to offer the child

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roots and wings,

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we must change our mindset 
and take on our responsibilites.

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Change, re-evaluation of role models,
based on humanitarian values and culture,

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to have meaningful education.

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Let's cultivate ourselves, 
enough with our image.

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Exupéry told us this years ago.

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The meaningful is invisible to the eye.

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The question is...

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The parents, educators, 
citizens of this world...

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Do we want to give our children
roots and wings?

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I'm asking you.

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Do we want to?
I didn't hear you, louder.

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Mediocrity and desire don't go together.

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Let's get pumped, open our eyes, 
open our heart above all,

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and let's take on life differently.

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Nothing mediocre fits 
or is worth it for our children.

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Thank you.