My top 10 principles for raising standards of quality education:

1.             Learning opportunities should not be restricted by central examination.

Part 1:

My vision for what education could and potentially should look like is one where there is not just one way to measure the value of an individual and determine their worth and suitability for further education.

I do believe that academic study lends its self to a certain type of person, with defined character traits and interests. There are a number of ways to profile an individual but most of them agree on 4 major groups of characteristics, Extravert thinking, Extravert doing, Introvert thinking, Introvert doing.

Meyers brigs, Joseph Campbells archetypes, Carl Jung and the yijing (Iching and the book of changes) are all ways of determining the profile of an person, the one that works most comprehensively for me is the YiJing, this is the one that subdivides natural beings the best. It is a little tricky to get into at first but once the basics are mastered the observations made by the creators of old start to make a lot of sense. The book talks of the changes in nature, people being an integral part of nature are governed by the same principles. It talks of combinations of people and scenarios that are beneficial when brought together and combinations that should be avoided. It very clearly shows that there is a continuum of existence where all things live on a spectrum, not simply good or bad, right or wrong, pass or fail, clever or stupid. It very elegantly brings context into play, with observing in situation A take action B and avoid action C, advising that person D would be the best suited to deal with this scenario. Effectively showing the contextual value of all things and not just the narrow view of those whom can sit, take in facts and regurgitate information. I know I am overly simplifying the situation but it in conclusion I feel that the reductionist view to examination is in its nature scientific, I would just like to see more contexts available for this system to be of most practical use.

If we were to look into this idea of context more we would come to a fork in the road that aligns with Einstein’s quote: “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

This is fundamentally how our education system works, it is built for little monkeys to figure out pre-determined puzzles and to mark them on their ability to complete the crossword. The problem arises when that little monkey prefers a rubrics cube which it can complete in a matter of seconds but comes last in scrabble every time. It gets even worse when his friend the fish struggles to even put the letters in the correct order. If you were to ask Richard Branson to complete a cross word puzzle he would rather get the human race into space before trying to figure out the correct spelling of antidisestablishmentarians.

It is my vision that we identify a character and personality preference early and is that with which we test on an annual basis for evolutions, not the result of an arbitrary test. Once you know the strength and weaknesses of characteristic you can start to guide the learning journey to one of excellence. A journey that increases in natural momentum and learning depth, one that doesn’t require a fight or belittlement but is filled with pride.

My suggestion is a multiplatform approach to enable such personalisation, because in practice I’m talking about effectively a minimum of 4 distinct education systems. In this approach the teacher becomes responsible for inspiration and leadership, they are the guardians of the learning journey that unlock the next level of progression and illuminate the path forward. They become the sensei to their learning dojo, training their students in the ways of self study, of perseverance, of investigation, in trial and error, in creativity and problem solving.

The central examination boards would move from being knowledge lead to being based on finding creative solutions, those that mark the “exams” will be leaders in their fields and will be marking based on the application of knowledge and not just on regurgitation.

This is essentially how the “real” world works. That those whom follow what naturally works for them find success in playing to their strengths. Years of entrepreneurship focusing on creating results leads you to a place where you rely on your self-awareness, on your ability to lean into your strengths and partner to cover your “weaknesses”. This way we are naturally brought together in our pursuits and are free to; and rewarded for concentrating on being the best we can be rather then chastised for not being exactly the same as everyone else.

If we are to move away from a single standardised test we move toward a situation where the learning opportunities can expand into a myriad of personalised and practical directions. With a multiplatform approach a wider array of learning experiences can be explored, with a world of opportunity opened up to students and educators that prepare for the future world rather then the world of the past 100 years.

These principles are on a journey with me, one where I am open to feedback and learning. If there are educators or entrepreneurs that share my interest in innovation please do let me know.