I used to be a lousy student up to the third grade of gymnasium. Suddenly – I had to repeat one year – I discovered that achieving good marks fostered my motivation by a sense of accomplishment. I continued to do so but my view of the educational system has been really challenged in the last couple of years.
“The world and your career are unpredictable, so you are better off learning subjects of permanent value.”
Gian-Carlo Rota, Professor of Mathematics at Harvard University
Looking back
When I look at my education of almost 20 years including University it has always been the same: go to school, listen to the teacher, repeat, and have a test. This system have not really motivated me to find out more about a specific topic. I have been satisfied with getting good marks, enjoying myself with friends and eventually becoming a graduate. I never asked whether this is the best system for me although I admit that I found some strange things especially at University. For example:
In a management course, we had to learn a book by heart. Neither the writing style nor the layout fed my appetite for learning more. The author was the head of the Department of Management and the Professor who also did the lectures. To put it mildly, the taught subject matters have been somehow limited. Besides this, there has never been a vibrant exchange of opinions or small talk with one of the Professors. I learned that this situation has been quite different in other studies like natural sciences.
“School requires you to learn about things after the answer has already been decided. Life requires you to learn about things while the answer is in the process of being decided.”
James Clear, Author of Atomic Habits
Suggestions
20 years later I am convinced that education should spark the joy of learning in a much different way. I used to think that life is not easy and so should be school and university to prepare us for the tough world out there. I also thought that alternative school forms like Waldorf education would not prepare pupils for later life properly. Turns out that I changed my mind. Our system should prepare us in a much different way now. Here are my suggestions:
- School starts too early in the morning. Adolescents need more sleep than adults. Just google “sleep adolescent health” and you will find a ton of information on that.
- Teaching units are too long. My teaching units were 50 minutes followed by a 5’ break. This is too long in my opinion. At least we could shorten them by 5 minutes and expand the breaks by 5′ as well.
- Too many hours per week. Some school forms have their students be in school for 35 to almost 40 hours. I remember that we had a weekly schedule of some 30+ hours and homework to do. That is too much of a workload for teenagers.
- Emphasis on quantity, not quality. I get the point that a broad education can be good for us. But maybe it could be a nourishing idea to build a more flexible student schedule. The core could be a solid base of knowledge with an emphasis on quality. Everyone should reach a decent level in maths, English and their mother tongue emphasising writing skills as the digital world favours the written word. The rest should be a free choice.
- Emphasis on health. People should get a sense of health responsibility early on. I know that this is not on the mind of most teenagers who discover party, drinks and junk food. But self-love and a positive body image could decrease the pressure on adolescents tremendously. If we could get the health topic right early on, we would fix our health care system. It is a matter of political and social will to change the system for the better. See Iceland as a perfect example of what can be achieved. This change must include more PE lessons (yes, we have enough time for movement – just build it in the regular class hours – see here), healthy nutrition and a general understanding of a healthy lifestyle. It should teach people how to take ownership of their own health, treat minor issues themselves and read body signs properly.
- Safe space. Schools should provide a safe space to spark the joy of learning and discovering, as we have done in our infancy. It should allow for making mistakes and learning from them. It should foster our self-confidence and inspire our creativity.
- Assessment. We know that assigning grades is obsolete. People do not need them to learn. What people need is constructive, honest feedback and the ability to receive it well. I used to be a proponent of the marking system because I thought you continued to be assessed in the real world. Yes, it is easier to have a look at a school report with tangible marks than a qualitative assessment of that person’s real skills. I changed my mind. Marks tell us just one thing: how people did on the test. Nothing more. But that is not what we need in the future. A dear work colleague of mine back in the days used to say: “When we hire people, we really look for four things: upright walk, fundamental mathematical operations, decent reading and writing.”. That is what I meant with quality: get the basics right first before heading to more challenging tasks.
- How not what. The most important point for me is that the education system should teach people how to think not what to think. A good starting point can be found here. We should be allowed to challenge the status quo of a system. We can ask for more information on a topic. And we can approach a problem differently. This may result in a better outcome.
If you want to learn something about a completely different system it could be a good idea to look at the Acton Academy. In the meantime please let me know in the comment section how you would turn our system around.
Blogpost photo by Jaredd Craig on Unsplash.
