The modern American school system does not encompass or define learning, it is a dominant
subset of it. Do you want to know why I dislike school? Homework, sure, but more important
than that are these four ways that school trains us to fail in “the real world.”
Schools teach knowledge, but life requires wisdom
“Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you
make a life.” — Sandara Carey Instead of learning critical life skills on
how to manage money, how to negotiate, or how to communicate, kids are mostly taught
to memorize information. This is helpful to learn, but not at the cost of not learning
critical life skills. Many people put these “life” skills on the onus of the parents
to teach their kids, but not all parents are qualified to teach these lessons, and many
assume that school is “enough learning.” The school system would be a perfect place
to learn these indispensable skills. I can’t give school a hall pass on this
one, because it is set up as a core way that kids are prepared to live in the world. Why
is it positioned as such when it lacks personal growth training, financial management training,
communication training, emotional intelligence training, and healthy living training? Psychology
is the closest course to any of these, but it’s mostly in college and typically optional.
You could come up with a few examples of where these skills are taught in school, or where
some wisdom is imparted by a particularly great teacher. But this is a general problem
of focus that schools have. Schools are not set up to teach us what matters most.
School (noun) — A place where students suck on an information teat instead of learning
how to feed themselves. Here’s what I would love to see changed.
What do you think? Classes for important life skills — money
management, interpersonal communication, miscellaneous psychology, habits, goals, etc.
Incorporation into existing classes — in math, talk about smart credit card usage to
avoid freaking 18% interest rates, how to build credit, how to pick the right health
insurance, why new cars are a horrible investment, etc.
Start teaching this sooner than college. Not everyone goes to college, but everyone needs
to know this stuff. School is an unsuitable learning environment
for many jobs For those that say school is not the place
to impart wisdom to youngsters, but to prepare them for the workplace, then why is it that
it’s absolutely horrible at accomplishing that?
Let’s look at some stats that make colleges cringe (from a Mckinsey consulting firm report):
Warning: these stats are disturbing… In 2011, 1.5 million, or 53.6% of college
grads under age 25 were out of work or underemployed. And for those that do have jobs? 48% of employed
U.S. college grads are in jobs that require less than a four-year degree.
30% of college graduates don’t feel college prepared them for the world of work.
Six times as many graduates are working in retail or hospitality as had originally planned.
It used to be that apprenticeships were the norm; you’d learn the hands-on skills and
expertise from a mature worker in your field. The downside was that back then, it was more
like, “hey kid, you’re going to be a carpenter because that’s what your family has always
done.” Today we have more choices, but with it has come an inferior form of learning.
Most professions, even today’s digitally-based jobs, need hands-on training and mentorship.
Programming boot camps are popping up, showing how horrible the current school model is.
In 2–3 months, 90% or more of graduates have a job making more than $80,000 a year
(within just a few months of graduation). Programming boot camps are old-school intense
apprenticeships where students learn to code from knowledgeable programmers already working
in the field. It’s all hands-on “real world” work, and the graduates are highly
valued for the skills they possess when they enter the job market. I hope this emerging
format continues to grow and expand into other areas as an alternative to college. Even if
you disagree with everything I’ve said, competition is a good thing and will promote
the improvement of schools. College claims to be the safe, sure way for
a great career (it’s not) Everyone must learn at some point that nobody
cares much about their “potential.” When a company selects from a sea of faces
and they all have identical or similar degrees, the value of those degrees shrinks, and they
will look for the people who can do what they need right now. That’s exactly what we’re
seeing, and the 2008 recession amplified it. And don’t count on them seeing your potential
like I did. Example: Candidate A has 95% overall potential
but can only do 15% of the job now — she must be trained. Candidate B has 63% overall
potential but can do 85% of the job right now — he’s ready to go. Candidate
B gets the job almost every time. Potential is exceedingly difficult to gauge
accurately and so it is often not considered by employers. The answer to “where do you
see yourself in 5 years?” question doesn’t quite nail down your potential. Specific job
skills, however, are readily knowable by employers with observation and questioning, and are
given much greater weight in the world. Whether or not you go to college, and whether
or not you want to work for yourself or for a company, build skills and experience in
your desired field. And if you want to be even smarter, network heavily. These things
matter; they bring results. And take it from me — don’t expect your diploma to
get you anywhere unless you have the applicable work experience and skills to go with it;
having the ability to learn a skill set doesn’t mean much when your competitors already have
that skill set. Grades distort our perception of reality
You can get straight As in school, but nobody, no matter how successful, gets straight As
in life. No, in life, you tend to get As by getting Fs first. Lots and lots of Fs.
Stephen King probably still has his huge stack of publisher rejection slips. Those were “real
world Fs,” folks. Stephen King, one of the most successful authors in history, got dozens
and dozens of Fs before he got his first real life A. School trains us to have the mindset
that a given amount of effort will always bring a measurable, predictable, and successful
result. The real world doesn’t work like that.
Colonel Sanders had 1,009 rejections he received for his chicken recipe before the first yes.
And many of his rejections were humiliating, like an F- or something. If you give an “A”
effort in school, you succeed every time. If you give an “A” effort in life, you’re
lucky to succeed on the 30th try. Successful blogger, author, and entrepreneur
James Altucher said that about 17 out of his 20 businesses have failed. But the ones that
did well were worth millions of dollars. There will always be talented authors whose
books remain unknown, superior athletes who never get a chance, and brilliant people who
remain jobless. Meanwhile, some others who are in the limelight may not be deserving
of it. Unlike test grades and GPAs, life is rarely fair.
The best thing about school preparing us to fail in the real world, is that while you
can “flunk out” of school, you only flunk out of life if you give up. And even better
than that, it only takes one great “A” to succeed.