Conventional Education is Dying: 8 Critical Skills to Learn Today

Did you ever struggle in school?

I’m delighted with the 3.5 GPA that I earned last semester, but looking back at 16 years of schooling, I’m reminded that school was a real struggle for me at times.

My grades had a history of being bipolar. Sometimes I got A’s and B’s, other times I passed or dropped out of the class entirely.

It is easy to blame the teachers.

Were they enthusiastic, encouraging, and engaging?

Would they give students enough time and attention?

Could they communicate complex subjects in a digestible manner?

It is easy to blame teaching styles.
Is the student an auditory, kinesthetic, visual, or tactile learner?
Was it due to my learning style preferences?

It is easy to blame the subjects.
Is the subject relevant to today’s marketplace and available technology?
Is it an exciting and fascinating subject?

It is easy to blame the parents.
Did they spend enough time with their children working on homework?
Did they encourage their children?
Did they seek out tutors for the children?

It is easy to blame the government.
Are they providing the school and teachers with appropriate funding?

It is easy to blame the school.
Are they offering tutors and afterschool activities to support learning and development?

What I have learned is that not everything being taught is relevant today.

With instant access to the internet and Google, the memorization of information is virtually obsolete.

I will make a bold statement to say that committing equations, vocabulary definitions, and other static pieces of information to memory is almost useless.

We are going to have poor teachers sometimes.

We are going to find ourselves taking classes that we find boring.

We are going to find ourselves without the support we want at times.

We are going to find ourselves learning in situations that are less than ideal.

So what should we do focus on?

What appears to become more and more significant is one’s ability to:

• think critically,
• solve problems,
• communicate and organize with others effectively,
• to be able to lead when necessary,
• to learn from failure quickly,
• identify opportunities and risks,
• prioritize effectively, and
• to apply systems thinking.

Applying these skills to school and to my work has helped me work with incredible efficiency. #ParetoPrinciple #8020

I can afford to invest significantly less time than others do and still get desirable results.

That extra time that I have — thanks to my efficiency and effectiveness — is spent on helping others, studying subjects I AM interested in, and optimizing my health.

What do you find to be critical in learning these days?