I’ve never let my school interfere with my education. Mark Twain
I wrote about this topic a while back. Time flies... years passed... but what I wrote seems to be still valid.
Below are my thoughts about education and schools...
Few days ago the school year started and I took my son to school. I do not have the illusions of some parents and do not think that he will learn everything he needs to know there. In fact I am pretty sure that there are many important things they will never teach him at school.Below are just some of the things I wish they taught me at school but unfortunately they didn’t.
1. Follow your dreams
Maybe the reason why many businesses around ”follow your dream” idea are successful among adults is because it was never taught at school.Most of us did not think it was possible and had forgotten about our dreams long before we became adults.No one at school told us that dreams and adulthood are not incompatible and that they can co-exist together. And no one told that dreams do come true when you do your best to realize them.
2. Emotional Intelligence
The perception that what they teach you in schools and universities is enough to enter the ”adult” life and succeed is very wrong. Most of us are told that if we study well we will definitely succeed and only later on we realize that it is not the case.On top of academic knowledge we need emotional intelligence, which unfortunately is never taught at schools.
3. You are not obliged to follow the crowd
What teachers and professors tell us about the future? They already design everyone’s path by telling that you are supposed to study well, then go to college, then university. The next step is to work somewhere, climb the career ladder, marry, buy a house…. They push the standard ”success” stories of ordinary people following the same path.Unfortunately what they never tell you is that you can choose, that the above mentioned scenario is just one of the options and that it is ok to choose another one.That is the reason why many people realize they want to live in other way and do something else AFTER they have already worked for a while, married and bought that house.
4. It is ok to be different
I went to school in times when the Soviet Union still existed. Back then any kind of differentiation (not only at schools, but everywhere else) was punished. We all had the same uniform, the same notebooks and pens. We were supposed to have the same behavior and the same opinion too.Now things have changes, but not in its root. Even today children are not told that it is ok to be different. Even now those who are not like others are misunderstood and even isolated sometimes.
5. You don’t need to work for someone else
What most of us do after graduation? Right – try to prepare impressive CV, send it to many corporations and go to job interviews until we get hired. And when it happens we feel extremely relieved and happy. We feel that we finally grew up.That is because no one told us that we do not need to work for someone else and we can start our own thing straightaway.I wish they did though…
6. It is ok to fail
There is no such person, who has never failed. We all fail sometimes and it is ok. What is important is not to get discouraged, not to give up, stand up straight and try again. That is what we were supposed to be taught at school.
7. Use your right brain
School tests and exams are designed in such way that they encourage children to use their left brain. That is good, left brain is very important indeed … BUT children should also know that there are many situations in life where switching on their right brains will be very effective.They should know that right brain also exists and it also needs to be used.And what would be even better is if they were taught how to develop the right brain. Just like they learn the basics of math they also need to learn about their creativity and intuition.
8. Teamwork
Often or occasionally we get into situations where we are supposed to work in a team. It can be in our corporate job, in sports, etc.Working alone and working in a team require completely different skills and children should learn both.On the other hand, maybe we should not expect too much from schools and universities. After all life and personal experiences are the best teachers.
What are your thought about the topic? What was the one important thing you wish you had learnt at school and not much later?