Education is not really about learning anymore.

Like most educators, I would describe myself as having a passion for learning. Whether it is satiating my own curiosity or assisting someone to answer their own questions, I am wholeheartedly in.

One of the benefits of being in education is the privileged position of helping young people to find joy in the process of learning.

But, there is a problem.

Education is not really about learning. Not any more at least.

Let me explain.

In my mind, the learning process starts when somebody tells you some things/stuff. They may ask you a few questions about the same things/stuff and then allow you time to sit with the knowledge associated with the stuff and the things they have told you.

This is what education (for the most part) has modelled itself on for decades.

When it is successful, what results from the "telling" is one (or many) of the things and some (or all) of the stuff triggers your curiosity, so you go and find out more. You form your own questions and seek out your own knowledge and answers.

You have to. You must find out more.

The key here is: the telling is not the learning.

The finding is the learning.

The finding is driven by you. By your interests, your needs, your desires. The part where somebody tells you something is not what the focus of learning should be on, but it is almost all that traditional education focuses on.

Education has devolved to such a point that we have confused the telling for the learning. We find ourselves stuck in a perpetual model of education focusing on assessing how well you have understood what you were told but also, how well you were told it to start with.

Education is not really about learning anymore. Isn't that extremely problematic?