Guest Author: Peter Haslam
This post was written to discuss my perceptions on the 7Lessons You Learned @School That Could Possibly Ruin Your Life
You can read, download and share the post as a pdf file here:
1
Be Afraid of Failure
The Education system works on the basis of penalties for failure. If we step outside the rules or do something in a different way than what was being taught then we were penalized through detentions, failing marks and parent meetings. This would continue until we toed the line. This assembly line approach produces people that are afraid of being labeled a failure and will do almost anything to avoid that stigma. Education then is reduced to something that is restrictive, boring and something to get over.
The penalty we get from this legacy is an inability to see failure as a stepping stone
towards success. We need to see a certainty of result before we are prepared to act. Creativity is restricted to the 'Arts' or leisure pursuits instead of a way of life.
To be successful in a world of constant change, exponential growth in knowledge, and an explosion of new tools for managing and utilizing that knowledge requires working with an uncertain future. The need to take actions with less than perfect knowledge of results makes learning by failure a prerequisite for surviving in the new global environment.
The entrepreneurs we admire so much are successful because they have unlearned this mistake.
The choice is ours.
2
Focus on Doing It Right
Doing it right was whatever way the teacher wanted it. The worse part of starting a new grade, course or class was learning what was right. This was a skill we mastered as we progressed through our grades, through university and finally on the job. There was very little of doing it our way. The way best suited to our abilities. A way that allowed us freedom in developing our own sense making tools. The result is the viewpoint that we need outside opinion to tell us we are doing well. We have passes the power of judgment to others and therefore no longer in control of our lives. How sad.
The choice is ours.
3
Learn not to Learn
We learned by memorizing details just in time to pass a test or exam and then unless we needed it in the next class; we would simply let it fade from our mind. Our learning was not to answer the questions we wanted but to simply get to the next level. It had no value that we could see. It only interfered with what we wanted to know and be involved in.
Have you ever watched a 4yr old learn how to play a video game consisting of 45 levels. There is absolute focus and concentration, There is perseverance, failure, strategy, mini successes and consistent progress until the game is mastered. When the game is finished they are a little sad because there is no more challenge left and are immediately asking to get a harder game to start on. They don't learn to forget. They learn to take on bigger challenges that extends them even more. Learning is fun and it is done their way – no rules.
What obstacles do you think they would be able to overcome in their lifetime of learning their way? What would be the benefits to mankind of them expanding boundaries simply because they wanted to answer their own questions rather than forget about learning? Which world would you rather live in?
The choice is ours.
4
Intuition is not Important
The emphasis in the Education system is on rational thinking; our inheritance from the success of the scientific method. If we can not explain it then it is not valid information.
We are given someone else's logic to memorize until we can explain it. But, this does not mean that we understood it. The result. We learned not to trust ourselves.
We have the ability to make sense from combining all kinds of different inputs. An
intuitive leap from random information to an answer which makes sense when you track it backwards but not have reached by going forward from any single piece of
information.
Would Einstein have created the concept of without intuition (insight)? Yet our
Educational System does very little to nurture this valuable resource.
The choice is ours.
5
Our Imagination is Unimportant
As children we explored the world utterly fascinated with a butterfly, puppies, and
empty cardboard castles. An excursion anywhere was an adventure of trolls and knights in shining armor. We were invincible and totally unafraid of trying new things and sharing them with our imaginary friends. We dreamed of flying carpets and genies.
Then we went to school.
We learned to stay in the box. Don't explore because no one is interested in whether you know how to think or not. Only if you can repeat the facts you are given. Don't try and make sense of it. We will tell you what makes sense. Just repeat after me.
Look at the accomplishments of the people that were successful in unlearning living in a box and letting their imagination soar once again. People such as Walt Disney, George Lucas, Picasso, and J.K. Rowling. The universe charged with imagination seems far more appealing to all of us.
The choice is ours.
6
Don't Make Decisions for Yourself
The Education system has made all your decisions for you. Just follow the yellow brick road and you will obtain riches and rewards. It doesn't matter if the information is no longer valid. That there are new and better theories you should understand. That there are new technologies in use that you should be using. We know better what will prepare you before we allow you to make decisions about your life and your future. We will let you make decisions when we are finished with you and not before. That has been the way to success before so why won't it work again.
Who wants the headache of being responsible for your own future? Why make decisions that may not work? Lets follow everyone else even if life sucks; we can always say it was someone else's fault.
The choice is ours.
7
Don't Aim to High
The Education system has taught you to be satisfied with less than what you could be. Why strive for anything more than being satisfied. A passing grade is all we need; that's good enough. Accept what the world is telling you that you need to be satisfied. Buy toys and be happy. Go places and be happy. Drink and be happy. If you run out of things, don't worry, we will create more and show you how happy you will be when you have them.
This is a certain recipe to arrive at your death bed full of regrets for the opportunities you never even saw; let alone explored. If we want to live a quality life then we need to aim high and fully engage with life. We may never climb to the mountain top but we could certainly get above the clouds and be rewarded with stunning vistas and feelings that we would never had experienced without making the attempt.
The choice is ours.
This is where the teacher becomes a guide and joins you on an exploration of discovery. Jointly you discover the answers, sometimes going down wrong paths, sometimes taking the long way around, but always learning. Learning then becomes an adventure and you learn to trust yourself and failure is but a stepping stone to success. You learn that acquiring knowledge and seeing new connections and exploring them are natural uses of the mind. Nothing to fear and definitely a source of infinite delight and pleasure. Truly then your ideas will create your future. There is no box you need to stay in. The universe is yours. Take it and recreate it.
Do you want to learn more about Peter? Visit his Necessary Skills Blog
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See the previous discussion about the 7Lessons here.