The Education System is Broken

The education system is broken. Everywhere we look there are complaints about it: from parents, educators, employers and especially students. The most common complaint is that the skills being taught do not meet the needs of society. Society has matured past the idea that education has to come from one source. Formal schools provide a source that is rooted in the past.  It cannot improve its service as it is currently configured. The problem with it is that we have kids who are moving at a faster pace than in the past. The knowledge they seek is at their fingertips yet schools insist on controlling the environments in which they learn, the curriculum the schools want to be taught and meet the needs of no one. No one in the world of education wants to fix it. Oh yes they talk about it but really what they are doing is tweaking a dinosaur that wants to evolve but cannot.

Education in a school setting is much like a Die Hard movie. The protagonist realizes there is a problem and informs the proper authorities who respond in a low key way. He then has one true believer who trusts his instincts and judgement. It is someone from within the system who knows and feels what is happening. The protagonist then takes on the bad guys one by one, meanwhile fending off authority who want to deny the problem is as big as it is. So the protagonist fights on bravely until the end when the people in power claim victory and take credit for solving the problem. The real problem, not dealing with the issue and solving it, is still in place until the next crisis where it repeats.

This is true in education. Education needs recreating for the new age yet the government are happy with the way it is because they have no children in the system. Their children go to private schools. Their supporters and influential people are not public school supporters. Education becomes a low priority to them. Therefore education never changes. Also education, while it appears to be in the hands of governments around the world is heavily influenced by big business. Publishing companies help set up curriculum and provide research information that favours their companies. This takes the learning out of the hands of the students.

In order to change the educational system it must come from outside the system. The change needed is to convince the people whose children who are in the system that there is an alternative, that the cost is low and that their children will benefit from it. Parents need to realize that successful people are independent, self-reliant, confident, and individualistic. In other words they are Smart Creative. They see problems and seek solutions. This is what society needs, people who are capable of making informed decisions based on the information they have.

Education must become a new way of doing business. The kids need to become the best they can be. Let's encourage them to be this.