Generally, when we think about education the first thing that comes to mind is the school system where it's a formalized way of attaining knowledge. That that's the right and only place to get it. Teachers and educators have been trained and specialize in how to deliver the right content to help the student develop academically. To equip them with the right information to have a successful career or way of making a living.
There's the debate of the purpose of education. Some see it as a necessity to advance society, to be engaged and develop a skillset that contributes to the economy. Others see it as promoting obedience and conformity. Where a select a few dictate the masses. But whatever way you see education it does serve a valuable purpose in gaining relevant knowledge to better ourselves. We all are naturally curious and the things that we're not familiar with we want to know more. It's what prompts us to slow down and think about what we're trying to process.
Think of when young kids start to really ask questions and this comes from the want to just understand what's going on. Now if a kid starts asking too many questions the adults might be a bit annoyed and will try to disway them from asking so many questions. And if that happens that's where part of the curiosity that a child has is stifled. This gives off mixed signals that questioning things is bad and can affect a child’s want to know more and can lead to just being obedient, not think and just do what they are told.
More obedience stifles independence
Being obedient was seen as a valuable thing that you wanted in a child where the more obedient a child is the more they are valued. That you listen to your parents and teachers and do exactly what they say. This is understandable because the adults are trying to protect the kids and the adults understand or think they understand all the dangers involved and they want to keep safe.
The physical harm is what adults want to protect kids from, from being hurt or kidnapped. But in just conditioning kids to be obedient, it takes away their uniqueness. Molding them into what others want instead of what their child needs to thrive.
There needs to be a healthy structure to guide kids so they can fend for themselves. And nowadays this is much more understood and accepted which is why kids are getting a little bit more choices of what they want instead of just being told this is what you're going to do or what you’re going to get. That old school way of just do what you're told a lot of that comes from how authoritative figures handled those that they oversaw or were responsible for.
If we think about how discipline was probably handled in the school system 60 years ago if a kid was misbehaving, they suffer some sort of consequence. Some of the extreme cases would be hitting a child to get them to fall in line. But this would also carry into other aspects so if a child isn't performing well in understanding the information, usually through the test results, they also would be reprimanded.
Some of the tactics used could be shaming the students that are not performing well or praising those high performers that can make everybody else feel bad. This largely relies on instilling fear so students can rise up to what they're expected to do.
School system prepares students to become employees
The idea of education is to learn and grow but much of the focus is mirrored on how the economy is measured. It’s about preparing students most of their lives to enter and contribute to the workforce. An economy is measured based on its output, the goods and services and revenues related to that. The school system will follow the same concept where they measure headcount and how each of the students in the classrooms perform based on test results.
Students are valued based on how well they perform in school. The better that they perform in school the more they're valued, saying how great and smart they are. Obviously, parents will highlight a kid's success to emphasize how much they're proud of them. The more praise given the more that the kids will pursue doing well in school, but this can condition people to be valued in terms of external things. I got A 's in all my classes so I'm so much more significant and feel so much better about myself. This then trickles later in life where the amount of money earned is where significance comes from.
This goes the same in the opposite direction so if a student isn't doing well and getting C's and D's and maybe even F's they're going to see themselves being less valuable. Teachers and parents may see them as being a problem, obviously they might be going through some sort of trouble but that alone should not be what defines them.
Ideally, we would want a supportive environment that helps them to really learn and grow that is not so heavily dependent on a grade that tells them really in a nutshell how much they're worth. The lower the grade the lower their worth. This just drives home the point of learning for results instead of for its own sake because it can really satisfy our sense of curiosity.
Look at how classes are generally structured, they really do replicate what the working environment is for an adult. The general working hours of 9 to 5 and this is going to differ slightly for the schools which could be from 7:00 to 2:30. At work you arrive at a scheduled time and it's about completing all the different tasks to meet whatever quota or expectation. And the schools will have the same thing the alarm bell rings you got to be in this class at a certain time and then when the alarm bell rings again you move on to the next class or you go to lunch, or you go home at the end of the day because that signals your day is done.
The parallels between the two are so similar. In the work environment there's a boss or a manager that talks about whatever the company is focused on, their delivering information and then the employees are the ones that execute that. Now there might be some discussion and collaboration on how it's going to be done but then after that it's do your job in silence.
In the classroom it's a similar thing where a teacher is up in front where all the students are looking up to and following whatever information that they're saying. Yes, in certain subjects there's going to be opportunities for discussions but then it's also about taking notes or demonstrating that students understand what the teachers are talking about.
Taylor education to your needs
The formal way of teaching is teaching all the tools that can be mundane and almost loses site of the big picture. It's the concept of getting lost in the trees and not being able to see the forest. So all these different subject matters that are taught in the classroom focus on specific things. But what if it was to be introduced from a big picture point of view that macro environment to see how things are all connected and then we can dive into so many different micro subjects.
If we think about a cooking class, they're going to go through all the different measuring devices and tools used in cooking and this right off the bat can lose a lot of people's attention. Instead, what if we started with the thing that we're aiming for. We all can relate to our favorite foods and if we think about that we'll then start to think through how do I make that if you don't already know. If one of your favorite foods is pizza you're going to try to figure out how exactly to make all that happen instead of just walking through all the different individual things needed to make a pizza such as maybe a rolling pin, yeast or measuring cups.
This way of seeing the big picture really helps to focus on all the moving parts to make what you're aiming for possible. And this can relate to so many other different subjects when it comes to learning about being educated and gaining knowledge. If it's about engineering instead of diving into all the details involved it's about getting familiar with all the different types of engineering work getting you to want to learn more on your own.
This is such a huge thing that is lacking in many of the traditional educational systems where instead of the students being the ones that are looking for the information the teachers are force feeding them information. It leads to being turned off by wanting to learn more because for many the information that's being taught is just not intriguing to them.
It should be giving the students enough information where they're searching for it on their own. Instead of just teaching to the tools like integers or fractions in math where it's addition and subtraction it should be taught more on a practical matter, real world basis, to teach to the problem. Things like how to run a business, what you should price goods and services at, all the costs involved how much you intend to profit from what's being sold.
Or if you intend to film a movie and somebody who's more of the visionary that positions characters and how they contribute to the theme of the movie the math can be related to the budget of the movie, how much will actors and people involved be paid, the special effects, all those types of things. This can really help a person want to learn how a certain subject matter relates to the industry or their interests.
A film director doesn't need to know all the financing pieces involved in shooting a movie, but they do need to have enough understanding to budget properly. This then makes all the information involved a lot more relevant and apparent that can stick longer as opposed to just using the information to take a test.
Educate yourself in what you value
Education is not about getting a diploma or a college degree, it signals that you're capable of certain things but not a guarantee. It proves that you completed the coursework, and it shows you can do your chores, that you can work at something that in some ways can be annoying, homework assignments and term papers.
A piece of paper with a grade on it does not define your worthiness, intelligence, or capability to go out an earn a living. But what happens is school used to measure and is supposed to be evidence of how you're going to perform. Remember the past is not a predicator of your future but your behaviors are. If you behave the same way you did in the past, then it will be an indication.
Resumes are similar, they have a purpose but it's very limited in what it tells about a person. It doesn't show how much integrity they have or how much they're willing to overcome the challenges that they face or being able to lead in hard times or if they are a good fit. It just shows highlights that doesn't capture the entirety of a person and that's part of what school does, it doesn't capture the entirety of a person, it's just a glimpse into how they performed in a controlled environment that maybe not suitable for them.
It's actually limiting many great people simply because of a score or grade that they got. How can you expect a freshwater fish to perform well in a saltwater environment. Do we come to ask ourselves if the student is in the right environment to thrive and not that there is a problem with them. That the problem is with the way the school system is designed. That is input and output, conditioning people to compare themselves and if you don’t compare well then you are less than or not worthy of. This just further motivates students to fear failure, that others guilt you for not being like the rest.
Think about how the schools have grades levels from kindergarten to grade 12 and this follows an assembly line. Some kids are going to be more advanced than others and others are going to be lagging the average but that doesn't mean something is wrong. Some people are late developers and that shouldn't be frowned upon. We need to be patient and allow them to grow and develop.
People have different abilities at different times, and it shouldn't be because they're in the seventh grade they should know how to read or write like someone else. That's just further conditioning to be like the average, be like everybody else to keep up with the herd. Can you imagine if Sir Richard Branson, the billionaire, if he would have put his self-worth into how the school system viewed him as? He wouldn't have been a billionaire even though he struggled in school.
It makes more sense to cater to the education to match a student’s aptitudes and abilities. This allows them to really accelerate their learning and allows them to focus on being themselves as opposed to trying to keep up with others or the expectations that teachers and parents have of them. This also breaks free from pigeonholing people where a grade does not dictate how their treated and how their viewed.
Final thoughts
If you find yourself struggling in school for whatever reason you can take action towards what fits you best. Let go of how you compare to others, or the expectations others have of you and instead focus on the things that really interest you. Dive into and really learn the in and outs for your own sake. This can be so powerful because you decide where you are taking your future instead of others influencing what you should do. This is especially important for those that are teenagers and young adults because it's almost like you need to unlearn all the in the box thinking that the school systems taught. That there is only one correct answer for the problem that you're facing.
Essentially the school system has taught us not to trust ourselves and to trust in what we're being told. Let yourself question any and everything. If it doesn't make sense gain more information where you do have an understanding and can form your own opinions to think critically for yourself and know that if you think different from others that's OK, there's nothing wrong with you. What's gained from this is your uniqueness to lead the way so you can be much more accepting of yourself. Get back to the basics of who you are by breaking free from the limitations that others have put on you. Create your own future by educating yourself.
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