Brief introduction - I am a ESL tutor from South Korea.

First of all, I really appreciate the instructors, Mary and Bill, for giving us such great insight into the concept of education, how it has evolved, and the many forms it can take. I'm especially intrigued by the three approaches of pedagogy - didactic, authentic and NL.

Despite the vast amount of resources that surround us in this century, I am sometimes disappointed to see that most educational institutions and teachers still employ the traditional, didactic approach. I think back on my elementary school education more than 30 years ago, and am sad to see that not much has changed today. It's even common to see students at universities make audio recordings and simply sleep during their lectures. We absolutely need to change this. We have to encourage students to ask questions in order for actual learning to take place.

After reading the supporting material, I am most impressed by Ellen Johnson's and Queen Rania's. In Ellen Johnson's speech, she mentioned that girl's education is a priority they're focusing on. I'm glad to see that she's emphasizing the idea of having a good working attitude and cultivating professionalism. These are important values that young girls must have to develop themselves in a competent labor force.

Queen Rania brought up four key points which I absolutely agree with, especially the first one about nutrition and fourth idea about schools being synonymous with skills.
How are students expected to perform well academically if they're stuffing their bodies with fast food and instant, processed foods? Whole foods must be made more affordable and accessible. I must say kudos to the health department at public schools in countries like Japan and South Korea for designing such nutritious meals for their students.

Her last point also struck a chord with me - schools have to constantly upgrade their curriculum to motivate students. It is absolutely sad to see that many schools still use very outdated systems, equipment and are still teaching their students about old concepts that are not valid today.