What's the one word we were told again and again in school? Perseverance. Just keep pushing. Just keep going.
Education while very linear, students can benefit greatly from applying stoicism to their education. I would say stoicism in school follows, as I dubbed, 3 laws:
The Law Of Control
The Law Of Adaptation
The Law Of Character
The Law Of Control
The core of stoicism is to only worry about what we can control, and not worry about what we can't control. So what does this have to do with school?
Much of our education, and what we learn is dependent upon us. All education is self-education. You can not learn if you are not personally invested.
What this means is that we are in control of what we learn and what we don't. Now, here's the caveat to most education: the grades we receive.
We control what grades we receive, mostly. Sometimes our grades our left to our teachers' discretion, but if we have made a positive connection with our teachers, they are more likely to be more kind to our grading.
On the flip side, sometimes we have little to no connection with our teacher. So what do we do then?
We do the best work we can and then do not worry about what we can't fully control (the grading).
Easier said than done, I know, but at some point, we have to realize that we are in control of the work we do, and typically the grade we receive is a reflection of the work we do. So do your best work.
The Law Of Adaptation
Change. Something I spoke about in a previous article, but I think it is very prevalent here. Stoicism is how we adapt to changes in our livelihoods, environments, emotions, actions, and other fundamental parts of our lives.
School and education are no different. The more you can adapt to different teachers, classmates, learning environments, assignments, and tests (yes, even tests), the more you will find yourself more at ease as you will be able to conquer your schooling.
Change is inevitable, but also necessary in all aspects of life.
School is just a more linear path of such, merely a glimpse into the change of real life, but learning to adapt early on will allow a more smooth transition into the grooves of life.
So how do we adapt?
We have to first accept things we do not know, and then seek to learn them as fast as we can. Adaptation is shortening the space between a problem we have (something we don't have knowledge of generally) and the solution (fixing the lack of knowledge on a particular subject).
Therefore, learning as much as we can as fast as we can allows us to adapt quickly as we have a bigger pool of knowledge to pull from when trying to solve new problems.
The Law Of Character
The stoics believe in 4 pillars of virtue(character), which are temperance, courage, wisdom, and justice. So how do these apply to education?
Temperance - Modesty and self-control. Do not let what you learn in school inflate your own importance or ego, but allow yourself to be humble and a student at heart.
Courage - Taking action despite fear. Being able to finish your assignments instead of procrastinating due to fear or anxiety or despite your fear or anxiety.
Wisdom - Quick-wittedness as well as resourcefulness. Our ability to use our and others' past experiences as lessons and teaching moments for a situation at hand.
Justice - Honesty and fairness. Doing your own work while being truthful to others in your class will yield better results than trying to take from everybody else.
Manners maketh man. Great movie by the way.
Besides that, our character shapes not only our education but who we are as human beings. If we build our character, and that can help us grow and learn more, then I would say it is in our best interest to build our character.
