Education Needs to Be Turned on Its Head

Education(ˌejəˈkāSHən) Needs to Be Turned on Its Head

“Our culture(ˈkəlCHər) lies. They say they want to encourage and reward individuality(ˌindəˌvijəˈwalitē) and creativity, but in practice they try to hammer(ˈhamər) down the pointy(ˈpointē) parts, and shame(SHām) off the different parts.” — Sandra Dodd

By Leo Babauta

Going through the traditional school system (in California, Washington(ˈwäSH-,ˈwôSHiNGtən) and Guam(gwäm)) was never my favorite thing as a kid, but as a parent, I’ve grown to realize that the whole system is upside down.

Not the system of any particular(pə(r)ˈtikyələr) state or nation, but system of education as a concept.

Traditionally, schools use this model:

Decide on what kids need to know to prepare them for adulthood.

Prepare a curriculum(kəˈrikyələm) based on this.

Give students a schedule(-jəl,ˈskejo͞ol) based on this curriculum.

Have educated teachers hand them the info they need, and drill(dril) them in skills.

The student reads, memorizes(ˈmeməˌrīz) the info, learns the skills, and becomes prepared.

Students must follow all rules or be punished(ˈpəniSH). This is actually more important than the info and skills, although it’s never said that way.

Unfortunately(ˌənˈfôrCHənətlē), this isn’t a great model(ˈmädl). Mostly because it’s based on the idea that there is a small group of people in authority(ôˈTHär-,əˈTHôritē), who will tell you what to do and what you need to know, and you must follow this obediently(ōˈbēdēənt), like robots. And you must not think for yourself, or try to do what you want to do. This will be met with severe(səˈvi(ə)r) punishment.

This is ideal(īˈdē(ə)l) if you’re going to be a corporate(ˈkôrp(ə)rət) employee(emˈploi-ē,ˌemploiˈē), and need certain skills in order to work for the corporation(ˌkôrpəˈrāSHən) — mostly skills of obedience, actually. This isn’t ideal for the workplace of the coming decade, when people are less likely to be employed by a large corporation, and more likely to work for themselves. And have to think for themselves. And figure out, for themselves, what they want to do. And learn new things for themselves, without a teacher.

Things are changing faster than ever before. Every month, new technology is announced that alters(ˈôltər) the way people work, or will work in the future, and we need to be able to learn and adapt(əˈdapt) to this ever-changing landscape.

How are we to do that, or how are our children to learn that, if they have no authority telling them what they need to know, or how to learn, or what to do?

People often grow up to be competent(ˈkämpətənt) learners, and achieve great things, after going through the traditional school system. But this is in spite(spīt) of the system, not because of it. We are pretty adaptable(əˈdaptəbəl) people, inherently(-ˈher-,inˈhi(ə)rənt) curious(ˈkyo͝orēəs), and we can learn without an authority, but the current(ˈkə-rənt,ˈkərənt) school system tries to beat(bēt) this down. It usually fails to some degree, but to the degree it succeeds, it harms people.

Schools fail not because they don’t impart(imˈpärt) knowledge or skills, but because they kill curiosity(ˌkyo͝orēˈäsitē), smother(ˈsməT͟Hər) excitement(ikˈsītmənt) for learning, club down with a furious(ˈfyo͝orēəs) brutality(bro͞oˈtalitē) our desires(dəˈzī(ə)r) to be independent, to think for ourselves, to learn about things that actually interest us.

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http://www.gutenberg.org/files/219/219-h/219-h.htm