Bringing Understanding to Formal Learning
Bringing Understanding to Formal Learning
Knowing what you know today, would you go back and change your formal learning?
This approach has pros and cons. But the K-12 education system needs a serious overhaul. And add to this the fact that most public schools are low on funding.
"Why" of learning is missing. And this is a massive opportunity. If you break it down for different age groups, it is ginormous. Startups can help close this huge gap by bringing understanding to formal learning. When this happens, I would love to see technology that takes me back to kindergarten. Till then, let us create a better system for our future generations.
- Imagine your younger self. Armed with the knowledge and experiences of life till date, but gone back in time.
- Let us start with our life in elementary school. And try writing down a list of all subjects we have taken. Leave enough blank space in front of each subject for notes.
- Attempt writing down how we use each of these subjects. Doesn't matter how crude it is. It is about you. And it is okay to leave many subjects blank.
- For simplicity, let us keep aside how good or not good a certain teacher was.
- Would you change a few things? Many things? This isn't an attempt to cry over the past. But to use these insights to craft a better future for our current and future generations. Sorry if it breaks your heart, but this is not about us.
- By the end of this initial exercise, we know which subjects are useful in our daily life. And to what extent. Extent matters because why should we treat all subjects with the same weightage? Why not take useful subjects longer? And go somewhat broad and deep, at least for the K-12 age.
- How about exposing the kids to real-life practitioners? People who can explain their complex jobs in simple ways to kids. Let us assume a kid's home and social group has a heavy emphasis on math. The kid can learn math because they have to. Or because they want to. The latter is possible if the kid can get some idea about the future usefulness. I would have loved the opportunity to hear from a statistician. Or a quant-fund person. Ditto for every subject.
- And add incremental real-life understanding to formal learning each school year. Let us say a kid gets a good general overview by the time they complete elementary school. And by the end of middle school, this kid wants to pursue a career in healthcare. During high school, this kid decides to focus on senior care.
- Use the longer school holidays to work alongside real-life practitioners. And do small but real-life tasks. By being around, something super amazing happens. We get a feel of the environment. This is an intangible that textbooks cannot teach.
This approach has pros and cons. But the K-12 education system needs a serious overhaul. And add to this the fact that most public schools are low on funding.
"Why" of learning is missing. And this is a massive opportunity. If you break it down for different age groups, it is ginormous. Startups can help close this huge gap by bringing understanding to formal learning. When this happens, I would love to see technology that takes me back to kindergarten. Till then, let us create a better system for our future generations.
Let's Talk: If you have a true experience that resonates, please send me an email.
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