The Lessons I Learned in School — and Why I Am Unlearning Them
Lesson 1: When confronted with failure, you should either quit or settle.
Our current education system is one that molds students into a desirable output — productive workers in society — and disregards whatever does not conform to its model.
In fact, the American education model was created to mimic and prepare its recipients for factory life.
“The American education model…was actually copied from the 18th-century Prussian model designed to create docile subjects and factory workers.” — David Brooks, writer for the New York Times
Unlike many other parts of society, which have adapted to the rapidly changing times, our education system lags far behind.
Though the system has undergone measures of reform, it ultimately still maintains its roots of “regimentation, lack of individualization, rigid systems of seating, grouping, grading, and marking,” according to Alvin Toffler in his book Future Shock.
It is precisely this system that has resulted in generations of people who do not feel passionate about what they do. It is because the lessons we learn in school are almost exactly opposite to the lessons that are most necessary to thrive in the real world.
