In my last post I talked about how we humans were unique compared to other species thanks to our intelligence and how we have used it. There is another thing that is quite unique about us and that acts as a catalyst for us to use our intelligence in the first place.
I am talking about curiosity of course. We humans are natural born curious beings and it’s evident from the fact that right from our childhood, we are always trying to make sense of something or the other.
You see, ‘the need to know’ is quite strong in us and that has led to us always moving forward as a species. If we were content about what we knew, we would never have come this far.
To make sure that, that continues to happen, we as a society, have settled on an educational system that prepares us, through years of learning and training, to be a contributing part of the society and to move the human race forward.
But, as the world around us has evolved, and keeps evolving at an ever increasing pace, our educational system has failed to keep up with times and now, the consequences are starting to get tangibly worrying.
We Have An Outdated System
Any system is designed according to the conditions present at a certain given time and as those conditions change and evolve, the system has to be re-designed as well. But unfortunately our educational system, which is the backbone for our civilization, hasn’t been updated.
Many people believe that today’s system is in fact killing the natural curiosity that we are all born with. You are told what to do and are supposed to stay on a pre-determined path. Students are more focused on getting good grades instead of being curious about whatever it is they are interested in.
From curious children to miserable teenagers, our education system does a good job of crushing the curiosity and converting potential geniuses into workforce for the economy. I have seen so many comments on Youtube videos that say things like, “I learn 10 times more from Youtube than school.”
Also, different countries have different education systems, but largely, at least in developing nations, students are trained to memorize stuff and the ability to do that is seen as the hallmark of intelligence while in real life, it doesn’t mean anything. In the information age, we can have access to any info in seconds. So, testing students on the basis of their ability to memorize things is so outdated.
Standardized tests are another big problem. Every student is unique and has their own interests and talents but the presence of a standardized tests, do not necessarily reflect that. A student may be a genius in one area but just because of low grades in other subjects he or she will be seen as a “low performing” student.
Albert Einstein once said, “If you judge a fish by its ability to climb trees, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” He also said that “Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.“ These two quotes convey exactly what is wrong with today’s system.
Teachers, who play such a pivotal role in the education system, (as they literally impart knowledge), are not given the status they deserve and this is another major problem. I mean, they are the ones creating the necessary brainpower for the society and thus deserve to be paid on par with doctors and engineers!
But alas, today education has become just another business thanks to private corporation that could care less about student success and growth or the teachers. If you didn’t know, education is a $750 billion industry.
The students who are always stressed about getting good grades and get degrees and diplomas, don’t even realize that they do not and should not define what you can achieve in life. Take for example, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and hundreds of such example and you’ll know what I’m trying to say.
Another thing that bothers me a lot is that so many things that are important in daily lives aren’t even taught in school and that leads to a lot of confusion once you start your work life. Things like doing your taxes, negotiations, time management, money management, dealing with mental issues, all need to be taught in school.
Basically, we have a system where students aren’t asked what they want or need. Teachers aren’t provided the resources or consulted with about what would work in the classroom and we are just creating trained individuals that can act as a cogwheel in the corporate structure.
We are simply not able to realize our full potential under the current education system and that affects the whole human race. Yes, we are still progressing, but it is certainly not an inclusive progress.
As a teacher, I agree that the decision base lies far too far away from the most important people -- the students and the teachers. Administrators, directors and politicians wield far too much power.
as a former student, a parent, and a grandparent.
I agree..the education system is screwed up.
This post portrays all my thoughts about the current education system.
I would quote and re-quote the whole post,but let me just take this out below.
The whole system is messed up where by intelligence is measured by an individual's ability to cram and memorize!!
This whole system worked in the industrial age and not now in the information age(everything you need is accessed by just a click or link!).
I used to think that the education system is only messed in my home country Uganda,but alas,its the same everywhere...!
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Just want to add my insights, conventional educatuion systems aren't helpful at all they lacking "intuition" for example in math we taught how to solve for x but we dont learn why? We learn to accept facts as they are without argue and debate so we got generations with no creators. They should've taught us that we are all have the ability to aquire any skill and anyhing . Living our life to the fullest potential is a must, we should devolope a learning life style prosperity canes down to constant learning qnd improvement. @sauravrungta thanks for sharing such an inspirational post,bless up
It really sparked a realization in me when you discussed the role of memorization in our education system, and how it is more or less completely obsolete. Simply put, there is no goal in creating recall machines in a society that already possesses such devices (we call them computers) that can do it for a fraction of the cost.
No, what we need is the people to design the computers, to innovate and push the frontier between us and the unknown further and further out. we already have wealths of knowledge at our fingertips; let's dedicate our lives and our educations to discovering some more.
When i think of it, i figure I could have done better in school of the system was different. The thought of having to memorize everything in itself makes you despise everything about studying.
The fear of getting low grades is only motivation for most students across the entire world, its such a pain when you realize that all the 17 years spent is school were to train you to think like others. In Uganda where i come from unemployment rate is so high, and we still can't notice it?
anyway thanks for sharing, will be following your posts.
yeah..!!
I would suggest parents to for home schooling for a short time and notice the difference in their ability of learning and least should meet parents already raising their children with home schooling only.
Great post Saurav. Loved reading.
Regards Nainaz
#thealliance
I feel you a lot of people are getting hurt behind it. Shouldn’t be like that.
Great article
Well presented...who creates the curriculum anyway? And like many government run operations...it becomes cast in stone...impossible to change...all about "standards"...
In general, throughout high school I have been taught very little by my teachers who simply had too many students to be able to share their knowledge to everyone at the same time, and the system never bothered to help them either. In the end none of my classmates really thought high of our education, considering it to be more of a waste of time. I enjoyed the way you wrote this post, kudos to that @sauravrungta!
To make sure that, that continues to happen, we as a society, have settled on an educational system that prepares us, through years of learning and training, to be a contributing part of the society and to move the human race forward
and that's the problem.
It only takes a village (extended family)
to raise a child properly.
if society attempts to do so.
how well has that worked out.
as far as humans being unique in regards to curiosity and education of their youngs.
you forgot corvids
why did it have to be crows?
Even though I am a teacher and I work with kids every day, I agree that the education system is outdated. I am fairly open minded and most curriculum's are too rigid. Kids learn things that are just not useful anymore. It's all good to do mathematics but what we learned twenty years ago is no longer relevant. I have lots to say about this so I'll rather shut up. Education do not keep up with the rate of the world and that is why we have so many people walking around that has no clue of life. We are currently planning a new course at school called life orientation where kids are taught basics about life. How to open a bank account, how to do your taxes, how to buy a house, how to apply for a loan. etc. There are open minded teachers out there that goes against everything and teach their kids things that are not in the curriculum. (Just my two cents, but I could keep on going for weeks)
What I see as a major problem, is that educational system trains Teachers to teach in a certain way . But as people we are all individuals, we all learn differently, what works for you may not work for me.
From a young age children in schools are been trained how to fit in, how to conform so that they can become model citizens. If they start to think outside the box they are put back in line. From my experience there is little time for individual creativity, there is no evidence of education empowering our children. I have 3 daughters, I donot want them to follow, to conform, I want them to question, explore and find the answers for themselves. And as a result be confident and resourceful and that my friends will not come from being in a school.
I agree with you. As a teacher myself I saw how other teachers taught at the level of their own education giving very little life chances or employable opportunities for students to progress in their grades and final exams. It was the reason I stopped teaching in mainstream education as there were some students from their linguistic skills and sharp intelligence who were labelled as under performing because they were unable to answer questions specifically as required in the assessment criteria. Teaching in colleges students are now being asked to critically evaluate, reflect and analyse their work, which is helpful, but they're not taught the skills to be able to do so.
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STOPI agree that a lot of the "Education Systems" around the world are outdated and fail to a certain point to help students fully develop their full potential.
Most systems it seems were developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Therefore the Industrial World needed a disciplined and productive workforce that could learn a task and repeat it in a satisfactory fashion.
We need to modernize and adapt "Education" ... Update it to better serve the needs of the whole human race.
I hope that some day soon, philosophers, scientists, teachers, architects, parents of all backgrounds including students gather on a forum to discuss "How to Change... Adapt... Modernize Education ".
I couldn't agree more with you. Curiosity is being killed in our educational systems as a part, I believe, of a free thinking killing process.
Our systems are made to train people to have jobs, to occupy a space in a "factory", not to teach us how to live, nor how to be fulfilled human beings.
Things are definitely happening but we are still a long way to go.
Besides all the "alternative" systems out there like Montessori system, there are people doing amazing changes in the educational systems of their countries. Sadghuru is an amazing example of it in your natal India, great school system he is implementing there. Check them out: http://www.ishafoundation.org/Education/residential-schools.isa
Another great example is Ricardo Semler in Brazil, check his Ted Talk:
I am a teacher and I know that our system is really messed up. But at the same time, our government (because even Private Universities, barring a few good ones, too follow what the government asks them to do) is really working hard to bring in good practices into the classroom.
There are smart classrooms, there are continuous additions and omissions from the syllabi, and above all the most important aspect is bringing in good teachers.
I believe, teaching still remains as one of the least 'desired' professions because the money isn't really that great.
As I am an engineer, I can surely say that Govt. Engineering Institutes (at least the Nationalized ones) are paying real good money even at the entry level.
So, if there's good money, you'll definitely get interested and passionate folks to join the profession.
they only want 9 to 5ers literates but not educated. take orders but should not evolve
There is plenty of discussion about what is wrong in education systems worldwide, the Indian one notwithstanding - given that we had the FIRST university and the gurukul method was superior in many ways.
The reasons go beyond the purview of education and is more fundamental than many would realize. We blindly follow a calendar that has NO basis in the rhythms of the natural world.
Yoga is practical psychology that reaches beyond the curriculum followed by education boards.
We tend to discount the system because intuitively we realize that our traditional wisdom has more to offer..!!