4/20, 9 days left before I’m leaving for NY. This morning I mentioned to my sister, what a pity that I still haven’t got a chance chatting with the young relatives of the family, my other sister’s son and his fiancée, an expert in educational psychology.
She couldn't understand why I wanted to chat with them. I said, an expert in educational psychology is like a gold mine to me, a great resource of learning. Plus I enjoy meeting young people and getting to know what’s going on in their world. My circle of friends are senior and stale in mind. She further questioned the practical implication of learning psychology, especially at my age.
She is right about the practical side of learning anything after retirement. Still, ideally the value of learning should go far beyond its immediate application in job market, especially psychology.
More importantly, it would be dreadful if we narrow our mindset and circle as we gain in age, or if we fail to recognize the values in different perspectives and experiences, and miss an opportunity to enrich ourselves. Engaging with younger generations can provide insights into contemporary challenges, and allowing for meaningful exchanges and connections across generations.
On educational psychology, my previous reading on parenting convinced me that parents should definitely learn about it before becoming parents. Knowledge in psychology provides insights into human needs, behavior and emotions, especially those of the teenagers, so parents can better communicate with and resolve conflicts with them.
Sigmund Freud believed that most of the adult mental illnesses have their roots in the traumatic experiences or poor parenting in their childhood. Finally, here's an excellent book that I recommend, Counselling for Toads by Robert de Board, 1983.