My son recently turned six and is starting school next fall. After visiting his school and talking to other parents about their kids schools, I have formed a strong opinion about the school system.
The Production of Workers
Today’s school system is built on the old idea that you need to program kids to become teachers, lawyers, doctors, etc. They need to be good in math, grammar, history, etc., and if they aren’t, they need to get better at it. Otherwise, they might not get a good job when they grow up. In other words, our school system is producing workers for the society. But if you think about it, paying a tutor to teach someone something he has no interest in is like throwing money down the drain.
Think about it. From the age of 6 (or younger in some countries) we are forced to study what some grown up we don’t even know decided would be best for us to study without consulting with us. And if we follow the curriculum with great care, we are putting our future into the hands of a selected few who have no concern of how our lives will turn out, as long as we get a “good job.”
I almost went down this “get a good job” path once. When I was studying business at Reykjavik University back in 2006, I saw a trend in the society that all the best jobs were in banking and that was the best future for someone with a business degree. So I decided to major in finances. But after thinking it through for a few days I realized how stupid it would be to major in something I had absolutely no interest in and would lead me down a boring and miserable life path. So I decided to major in nothing, but instead take all the selectiver coursed I was interested in. Study what I thought would be interesting, and most of all, fun! But I was already a grown up when I made this decision and had the power to make it. Imagine being 9 years old, wanting nothing more than becoming a graphic designer, but being forced to take extra classes in grammar becuase you are dislexis or just plain bad in grammar? And you can’t do anything about it!
Embracing Diversity
Why doesn’t the school system welcome diversity instead of demanding homogeneity? Why do we all have to fit the same mold? Imagine how the world would be if Einstein had decided to fit the mold instead of pursuing his ideas?
Kids are born with the amazing ability to believe that anything is possible. They get tons of ideas every day, some of them crazy (good?), others less crazy. The other day my son figured out that he was the best Lego builder in the history of man kind and that if he would make his own Lego design and box it up, someone would be willing to buy it. First he wanted to take it to the local supermarket and sell it there. But then he realized that it might get lost in the crowd of branded toys, so he opted to turn our apartment into a store for one day. But if he did that, he would need to have more than one product to sell. So he decided to take his big Lego box, sort out all the yellow heads without bodies he had, put them in small boxes and sell in bulk. He still hasn’t finished planning the store opening, but after the store closes, he’s going to change our apartment into a theater and stage a comedy that guests will be able to see for a minimal entrance fee. He’s only 6. Imagine where he will be in a few years if I continue letting him pursue his ideas and not demand he gets better at something he has no interest in anyway.
What we should do is embrace each child’s talent. If he’s good at drawing and bad in math, instead of hiring a math tutor, we should let him attend a drawing class. Let him get better at something he’s already good at and has desire, ambition and will to work hard at doing. We need to stop producing workers and start empowering kids to nurture their talents and follow their dreams. Don’t you think it would make the world a better and happier place to live in?
Thorunn
photo credit: Pink Sherbet
