Learning and Education: Returning to the Purity of Learning  學習與教育：回到那份純粹的初心

Learning and Education: Returning to the Purity of Learning

✍️ By Lisa H.

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In this age of information overflow,

have we forgotten what learning once felt like —

that pure sense of curiosity, wonder, and joy?

Perhaps, it still lives quietly somewhere within us.

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📍Why Has Learning Become a Burden?

From a young age, we’re told to study hard —

to learn languages, math, skills, and social rules.

We believe that knowledge empowers us, and that education changes lives.

But somewhere along the way, learning has become stressful.

It’s no longer light or joyful, but instead filled with pressure and comparison.

This shift often stems from the added value society attaches to learning:

grades, degrees, awards, and status.

When learning becomes labeled and measured,

its purity quietly fades away.

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🈶 Redefining Learning Through Ancient Wisdom and Language Roots

In ancient Chinese etymology:

 • Xué (學) means awakening — learning through awareness, not mere memorization.

 • Xí (習) means to fly repeatedly — like a bird learning to fly, it implies repetition, patience, and persistence.

Thus, true learning is a process of

Knowing → Understanding → Internalizing → Embodying —

a dance of awareness and action, not just knowledge accumulation.

In English etymology, the word learn comes from Old English leornian,

meaning “to acquire knowledge, to cultivate oneself, to make something part of one’s being.”

And education originates from the Latin educare (“to nurture, to train”)

and educere — “to lead out,” or “to bring forth what already lives within.”

Across both cultures, the essence is the same:

Learning is not about filling the mind,

but awakening what is already within,

and turning understanding into living expression.

When we return to this understanding,

learning is no longer a burden,

but a journey of self-discovery, realization, illumination,

and co-creation of goodness with the world.

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🎓 Has Modern Education Lost Its Way?

Today’s education system emphasizes exams, grades, and standardization,

but often forgets the learner’s emotion, motivation, and individuality.

Children are entering competition earlier —

and feeling anxious and exhausted earlier too.

Education was meant to awaken wisdom and vitality,

yet somewhere within the system, it has lost its warmth.

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🌱 What If Education Could Be More Pure?

If we dared to redesign learning, maybe it would look like this:

🔹 1. Start from the Learner

Let students choose what and how they want to learn, based on their lives and interests.

🔹 2. Educators as Guides and Companions

Teachers become supporters, not just deliverers of knowledge.

When learners face challenges, teachers guide through experience and walk alongside with empathy.

🔹 3. Create Safe and Authentic Learning Spaces

A place where students feel safe to ask, fail, express, and explore.

Learning is non-linear; each person deserves their own rhythm and pace.

🔹 4. Through Observation, Inquiry, Experimentation, and Reflection

Let learning become a living cycle.

Through these steps, learners naturally grow in depth and character.

This process emphasizes awareness and integration,

bringing education back to the rhythm of life itself.

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🌟 Education Should Ignite, Not Instruct

Learning is a journey of exploration and realization —

a process of becoming.

Education should not be a chain,

but a spark that ignites inner passion and purpose.

May we all return to that sense of joy and freedom,

to learn not for “proving,” but for becoming.

And on this lifelong path of education,

may we once again rediscover the purity and essence of learning —

for that very awareness may be

where we truly begin to become ourselves.

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📘 學習與教育：回到那份純粹的初心

✍️ 文 / Lisa H.

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在資訊氾濫的時代，我們是否還記得，學習最初的模樣？

那份單純的好奇、探索與歡喜，是否仍藏在我們心裡的某個角落。

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📍為什麼學習，變成一種壓力？

從小到大，我們都被教導要努力學習。

學語言、學數學、學才藝，也學做人處事的規矩。

我們相信知識會帶來力量，也相信教育會改變命運。

然而，在這條不斷追求「更好」的路上，我們也逐漸忘了——

學習，原本應該是快樂的。

慢慢地，我們發現：學習似乎不再輕鬆、自由，

反而變成了一種競爭、壓力與比較。

這樣的轉變，往往來自「附加價值」的綁定——

成績、學歷、獎狀、名校、地位。

當學習被標籤化，它也失去了最初的純粹。

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🈶 從「說文解字」重新認識「學習」

在《說文解字》中：

• 學，覺悟也。

「學」的本義，是覺察與體悟，不只是記憶與知識的吸收。

• 習，數飛也。

「習」的本義，如同鳥兒反覆練習拍翅，象徵堅持與精進。

因此，「學習」是從 知道 → 理解 → 內化 → 實踐 的歷程，

不只是資訊的堆疊，更是一種覺察與行動的融合。

而在西方語源中，

英文的 learn 源自古英語 leornian，

意為「培養自我、使知識成為自身的一部分」。

education 則來自拉丁文 educare（培育、養成）與 educere（引出），

象徵「將內在潛能帶出」。

東西方語言雖異，其核心卻相同：

學習，不是填滿，而是喚醒；

不是記憶，而是實踐。

當我們回到這個根本的理解，

學習就不再是壓力，

而是一段發現自我、實現價值、照亮他人，並與世界共好共生的旅程。

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🎓 現代教育，是否失焦了？

今天的教育制度重視分數、標準答案與升學結果，

卻逐漸忽略了學習者的情感、動機與個別差異。

孩子們越來越早進入競爭，

也越來越早感到焦慮與疲憊。

教育的初衷，原本是幫助人們開啟智慧與生命力，

卻常在制度與比較之中，失去了溫度。

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🌱 如果教育可以更純粹

如果我們願意重新設計學習的方式，或許可以這樣開始：

🔹 1. 從學習者出發

讓學生選擇想學的內容，

從自身的興趣與生命經驗出發。

🔹 2. 教育者成為陪伴與引導者

教育者不只是傳授者，

更是支持與承接者。

當學生遇見挑戰時，

教育者用經驗引導、以理解陪伴。

🔹 3. 建立安全、自由、真誠的學習環境

讓學生敢於提問、勇於犯錯、樂於分享、持續探索。

學習是非線性的，也應允許每個人有自己的節奏與差異。

🔹 4. 透過觀察、提問、實驗與反思

讓學習成為一個活化的循環。

在這個過程中，學習者的涵養與素質會自然萌芽。

這樣的歷程強調覺察與經驗的整合，

讓教育回到人與生命的節奏之中。

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🌟 教育，是點燃而不是灌輸

學習的本質，是探索與體悟，是自我成長的旅程。

教育不該是枷鎖，而應是點燃熱情的火種。

願我們都能重新出發，找回那份純粹的快樂與自由，

讓孩子們學會，不是為了「證明」，而是為了「成為」。

願我們都能在教育的路上，重新看見學習的純粹。

那份初心，正是我們成為自己的起點。

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👩‍🏫 About the Author｜Lisa H.

Lisa H. is an educator, founder, creative integrator, and holistic practitioner.

She integrates language, virtue education, emotional literacy, and inner awareness,

creating learning spaces grounded in Virtues × Emotions × Inquiry × Reflection.

As the founder of NIHAO Chinese and several educational and well-being initiatives,

she continues to explore how learning can be both transformative and human,

guided by three timeless verbs: Observe, Become Aware, and Practice.

👩‍🏫 作者介紹｜Lisa H.

教育者、創辦人、創意整合者、身心靈實踐者。

致力於結合語言、品格、情緒與身心靈發展，

打造以「品德 × 情緒 × 探索式提問 × 觀察與反思」為核心的教學空間。

她是「NIHAO 中文」及多個教育與身心靈計畫的推動者，

長年關注個人成長與集體覺察，

並以「觀察、覺知、實踐」為教學與生命的行動指引。

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