What I Learn about Learning after 20+ Years of Schooling
Yes, Learning and Schooling are different.
When I finally graduate, my first thought is “Awesome! Now I’m done with 20+ years of schools!”
Leaving the school system and entering the “society” though, is a very odd feeling because the two function differently. Something that works at school won’t work in the society, and vice versa.
Schools are Led by Teachers, Society isn’t
My first realisation is that classrooms are predominantly led by one persona — school teacher. For years we see our school teachers as the authoritarian figure in the classroom that passes us knowledge on books, accompany us in our personal growth, grade and evaluate us according to our performance in tests (which by the way only measure how well we behave in a timed manner under a specific, somewhat narrow, and far-from-perfect curriculum). Don’t get me wrong, teachers are great beings. But then I also realise it is an occupation, out of many other equally important occupations in our society.
Besides, while teacher controls the dynamics of the classroom, people with power, money and influence are usually those who controls the dynamics within an organisation. And yes, their set of grading rules differs person by person. To be honest, most of them judge with their own personal preferences and make use of their influence to their own advantages. The “authoritarian” figures in the society are not always the teachers at school who would guide you to your better self and be fair to you and everyone.
We can’t Learn Everything at Schools
Schools teach us mostly what’s inside the standard, generic curriculum only — language, maths, history and some basic science. It’s funny because they don’t put much emphasis, as in there won’t be a subject or class, on essential skills like time management, prioritisation and personal finance which would really come in handy especially later in our lives.
Some of my classmates also have the misconception that academic knowledge is more superior than other kinds of knowledge, so “study” is the only thing that worths their time and effort. Like, there are students with lot of As in their essays and exams that don’t know how to cook or to do housework. It’s really funny to see smart people valuing only a particular kind of knowledge and uninterested in common but equally essential skills.
How to Keep Learning outside School
Don’t let your previous education defines you
Learning exists in so many forms. It is an everyday experience. To me the best kind of learning is when you observing or experiencing something and you suddenly have this eureka moment: This is something new to me. I’ve never heard/seen/felt/noticed/understood this before. What does it mean? How does it impact me? Do I agree with it? What can I do about it?
Of course if you’re interested in new knowledge like quantum physics or hard skills like coding, you would need solid learning resources. For this I would actually say try not to let your previous education defines you. A bit about myself: I have a BA in Comparative Literature. So everyone thinks or expects me to be a copywriter, or work on something culture-related. I used to agree with them and think that’s my destiny, but now I realise my degree does not define me. The Liberal Art-student identity is only one of the many sides of Kitty. If I’m interested in Python (I am), I should read about it and start coding (I did :D).
Thanks to the Internet, we now have access to most information and knowledge online. So really there is no barrier in terms of knowledge we could reach. The real barrier is in our mindset. If we not open to learning new things or we keep making excuses, we won’t be growing and bettering everyday. The benefits of not being in a school right now is that we don’t have to worry about bad grades when learning a new topic.
So, whether you’d like to start a class at Coursera and EdX, or you want to learn gardening, cooking, surfing. Do kick start your journey! It’s fun to be see yourself starting as a complete idiot, then a newbie, then maybe somedays an expert in a topic.
Happy learning.
