Education isn't something that happens in a classroom

This post is long overdue. Between pitches, recovering from pitches I have long neglected my plans on blogging about education. But it’s been eating away at my heart…and before what’s left gets chewed up and I turn into a heartless zombie, it’s best I get it out. 

If you know me or have read my previous writings you’d know I’m a mom of two kids. Daniel turns 9 this year. Sarah turns 7. They were in a private Australian pre-school close to our home in Singapore. I picked the school because it was close, the environment was relaxed, the teachers really cared and they learned at their own pace. It cost me a fortune.

When it was time to go to grade/primary school, I sent them to public schools due to government ruling that Singaporean kids can’t go to private schools without a reason (usually a learning disability). And it was a much cheaper option. I think the Singapore has an amazing school systems when it comes to developing kids in subjects taught in school. My only apprehension is the amount of unnecessary competition, pressure and focus on educating kids from the neck up. 

You see, like Sir Ken Robinson, I believe in educating the whole person. I feel that the subjects taught in school adhere to an archaic economic system that educated the world to meet a national supply of workers who will benefit each country’s economy. Students are taught to be engineers and factory workers - followers. Let’s just for a second put aside passion, dream and following the heart. Let’s strictly talk about making a living. 

Today these are not the high paying jobs. Accountants, engineers, doctors and lawyers don’t necessarily make the most money. Musicians, artists, movie directors and people in more artistic fields make more. These aren’t frivolous jobs. They require handwork and effort and they do benefit the world in a great way. They are jobs that require unique expressions - future proofed - so AIs can’t emulate these talents in the future. A song or a unique piece of art is just that - unique. It cannot be automated.

So here’s my ideal system of education. Kids know from a very young age what they want to be. Why wait till university for them tho choose? By then we’ve knocked out every bit of dream and imagination out of them. I should know - my 8 year old gets very frustrated because in school when he writes composition he has a set of pictures his stories are governed by. To me this completely defeats the purpose of story telling. What happened to good old give them a topic and let them explore and use their imagination? 

I saw my son, the child with wild ideas and a brave disposition and excitement to stand in front of a crowd and perform, turn into such a shy boy because his non Singlish English - is the subject of much mockery by his mates. I was heartbroken when he came home and told me he feels obligated to dumb down his vocabulary and speak like his school mates or suffer ridicule. It’s horrible when you have to speak and be like every body else just to be accepted. 

I think one key lesson schools need to teach and embrace is diversity. We need to encourage kids to communicate and feel comfortable about being themselves and teach them that “different” is NOT scary, dangerous or wrong. It should be welcomed and learned from. 

My almost seven year old, offers her contrary point of view in class. She speaks her mind and refuses to do what she’s told if she doesn’t believe it’s right. She communicates her view point confidently and politely or in silent protest by ignoring the order - ok I admit, this can be rather frustrating if you’re the order giver and I have been on the receiving end often. Her teachers have me on speed dial and I get calls almost every day. They sound partly amused and partly frustrated on the line but I can’t help but want to laugh at her fresh outlook of the world. She was punished in Chinese class and she comes home eyes shining bright delighted saying the best thing happened. While others had to sit and do their work, she got a chance to sit in a corner and not do anything - her best Chinese period ever. I was rather pleased that she put such a positive spin to something so negative.

That’s the second lesson I wish they’d teach in school. How to make the most out of any situation. If a kid doesn’t do his or her homework, instead of punishing him or her, find an alternative way to help the kid complete the task. After all, isn’t that the purpose of the homework - for the kid to be able to revise and put to practice what was taught in school so it sticks?

Which brings me to my next point. Homework isn’t helpful. Why do homework at all? School is for learning the topics. After school, let the kids go home and learn to do real home work which would set them up for life and teach them values like how to be responsible, neat human beings - making beds, helping with the cooking, how to have fun and play with their friends. Let’s take a step back and let our kids be kids. And learn skills that make them proficient human beings. 

Introduce dance, coding and different art forms as part of school lessons - not as electives inferior to maths, science, english, Chinese and whatnots. Seriously these are the more economically- profitable subjects of today. It’s time for schools to rethink what they are teaching based on the value it brings to kids. 

According to a research by Career Trek in partnership with the University of Winnipeg and the University of ManitobaIt, it’s never too young to get children thinking about their career opportunities in subtle, age-appropriate ways. The sweet spot to capturing a child’s imagination with respect to work seems to occur around Grades 5 and 6,. Somewhat surprisingly, the study found that students in that group demonstrated greater awareness of the importance of planning for a career than did children in higher grades.

Let kids pick what they want to learn and attend classes accordingly. 6 months of educating kids neck up. Six months of education kids neck down… what say you education ministry? And during these period - kids learn subjects they are interested in for as many hours as they want.  

Do away with the sit at your desk, pick up your pencils and copy what I’m saying method. Do away with exams and come up with a lets gather around the table and create your own version of the solar system. Get students to take turns to explain how it works and what it does. If you must grade them, do it based on how they work as a team, how much they help each other and how they demonstrate their understanding of the topic by teaching and learning from each other - not based on answers written on a piece of paper. 

Who knows, this way, by the time they’re 16, they’d be ready to earn their living while living out their passions - why wait till 21 before they graduate from university? Let kids progress according to their passions and abilities, and not be restricted by their age. 

Let’s prepare our kids for life. Not for exams. 

P/S: The VR learning in the novel Ready Player One is an amazing model for education. It’s virtual but experiential. That will be my next blog if I come around to blogging more about education. The ideas expressed in this article are purely my personal points of view based on my experience. You’re more than welcome to disagree with me on them.