I just got done watching a video where Elon Musk discusses some problems with the education system. Among them, he said that schools tend to teach towards the tools as opposed to teaching towards the problem.
I was a little confused as to what he meant by that at first but he went on to explain:
He likened it to explaining how an engine worked. It would be one thing to have a course on screwdrivers, then a course on wrenches, etc., and it would be a completely different thing to start with the engine and tell the kids they need to take it apart.
When you tell them they need to take it apart, what do they need? Screwdriver, wrench, etc. Ok. That’s what this is for, this is what that is for, and they learn seamlessly.
The problem is school almost never does this. Instead, school has twenty different courses on screwdrivers. There’s courses on different types of screwdrivers, Phillips head vs. flat head, different colors of screwdrivers, different lengths of screwdrivers, etc.
When you get to the upper-echelon of screwdriver courses, you get to learn about advanced screwdrivers called drills. These are like screwdrivers but they do the turning for you! To switch between a Phillips and a flathead, you have to loosen, adjust, then retighten the little knob on the end. Some have lights…
This is what school does and it’s boring! They rarely mention what a screwdriver can be used for.
It's like math. You start when you're young and as you get older the problems just get harder and more complicated.
I was good at math. Who knows, maybe I would have been interested in a career that involved math (hell no) if I were taught in a way that at least insinuated it as useful by showing how and why certain careers required it. However, no one is taught math from that angle. It's only “Here are the problems. You have to figure them out but you'll never use them again”
The truth is, each tool you learn in school has a use and somebody somewhere uses it again. The problem is twofold. First, those people are few and far between for any given subject, so in any given class, you are wasting 95% of the kids’ time, no matter what the topic is.
The second problem is that teachers want kids to pay attention in their class but most of the time, they don’t even know where the kids will use the material again.
As a result the teachers themselves tell the kids that they'll never use the information again. Then the kids get bored and tune out. They have no incentive to listen, which is really unfortunate because (I want to believe) each skill taught in school has value in some field somewhere.
It's just that nobody knows what it is.
The education system is too focused on the tools as opposed to what problems can be solved with certain tools, or, a combination of tools.
What if, instead of teaching a kid everything there was to know about a screwdriver, they were faced with solving the problem of changing the batteries on a remote control car? A screwdriver would suddenly become a lot more interesting.
It's the same way in school. Instead of learning the Pythagorean Theorem in 7th grade and then just plugging in different numbers, letters, and formulas until you graduate, what if you took THE PEOPLE INTERESTED IN MATH and faced them with real situations that need the theorem in order to be solved (I can’t even give an example of one of these situations because this isn’t how school currently works.).
Boring subjects like math could be made more interesting because people would actually have a reason to listen. But also take note of the first part of that. THE PEOPLE INTERESTED IN MATH. Students (past a basic understanding level) should get to choose what they study. If students aren’t interested in a subject, then no amount of real-world application is going to change the fact that their time is being wasted.
Time is limited, especially youth so people shouldn’t be forced to waste years of it learning things they are either not interested in or will never use.
The way the education system is set up now, not only do we teach the mechanic all about the screwdriver; we also teach them about the scalpel, the hairdryer, the computer, and the stapler.
It sounds somewhat comical but it’s what we all go through.
Much of our schooling is pointless. So what can you do about this? Well, if you have a better option and your parents will let you, then take it. If not, then follow these steps:
Identify the subject or subjects you are interested in.
Find real situations and real problems that require the tools that those classes teach.
Pay attention in class and listen for the stuff you need.
What you are doing is essentially doing the legwork yourself in terms of identifying uses for the tools and ensuring that your time (at least in those courses) isn’t wasted.
In the end, much of what you experience in the educational system will be irrelevant and many of the tools they teach you about will have no clear use.
However, if they would flip the script and teach the problem as opposed to the tool, then, as Elon said, “the relevance of the tool becomes apparent.”
Since none of us will probably live to see this type of reform, the best we can do is be aware of it and use it in our self-education and in any situation where we would be responsible for teaching someone.
Athlete-Student
BucketsoverBooks
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