of venturing into the unknown; the
second is that they have not learned
how to take the much more powerful
leap into the exponential learning and
understanding of humanity that comes
only when a person learns with others.
Let’s first look at individualized
learning. Much of the impetus in the
educational realm comes from fearful
parents and teachers who want to be
certain that their own child or student
succeeds. The second driver is the
clarity and sense of comfort that pre-
described tests give to people. Put
these two together and you have
societies looking for the simplest way
to teach to tests, and parents who
seek the fastest and easiest way to get
their child to succeed in a test. The
result is a very skewed educational
system based on rote learning: the
most basic type of learning, requiring
the least amount of skills. Knowledge
for oneself and success on a test is
achieved, but the learning and the
critical thinking skills of a person have
been stunted. Individualized learning
is very much like watching a black-
and-white television show: not only is
the experience limited, but so is the
information that comes your way.
For years and years, I have observed
students in Spirit of Math classrooms
and am in constant awe with the
incredible mature thinking that many of
the students demonstrate. Then, when I
watch people from all over the world
enter these classrooms, I see the same
look of awe, followed by conversations
filled with excitement. For a long time,
I thought what we were seeing was a
product of the curriculum itself, and
the good teachers, but now I realize
that it is the collaborative teamwork
that is truly the magic. The teamwork
is organic as there is a curriculum
that inherently requires collaboration
for success and there are teachers
who are strong enough to bring in the
complexities of collaborative teamwork
into their classroom.
LEARNING HOW
TO COLLABORATE
WELL REQUIRES
THAT THE
COLLABORATORS
HAVE AN INTENSE
CURIOSITY: THEY
WANT TO LEARN
FROM OTHERS
AS MUCH AS TO
SHARE THEIR
OWN IDEAS.
They are open to allowing new ideas
to enter into their thinking and, at
the same time, training their brains
on how to see what was blind to them
before. This allows a child to enter
a whole new realm of learning and
understanding that they could not even
start to achieve if their learning was
just for themselves.
When you learn how to work this way,
you have learned how to not just work
towards a pre-described outcome that
you can see. You learn how to learn
so that if something unforeseen, or not
predicted, comes your way, you have a
set of tools that you can take out and
use, combined with the ability to use
the skills and understanding of others
to collectively solve any problem.
The ability to do this is exponentially
more powerful than the alternative of
learning for yourself.
The most recent and current extreme
global problem is the coronavirus.
The world knows that the realm of
microorganisms is going to be one of
the greatest problems for the human
race. We can predict the future to a
certain amount and be prepared to a
limited extent, but for us to tackle the
unknown, we desperately need people
who have the ability to properly define
a problem that has not been defined to
them before, and who have the ability
to use the knowledge and skills of
others to solve the problem. If we do
not teach students how to be intensely
curious as the core of their learning,
rather than working to a predestined
end point, and combine that with the
ability to use the collective power of the
many, then we will not be able to solve
the gargantuan unforeseen problems of
the future. Learning the intricacies of
building relationships is foundational.
Perhaps we could all learn how to do
this by watching the sophisticated web
of relationship building in cultures like
those found in Pakistan.
It is often said that it takes a community
to build a child and it takes a child to
learn how to work within a community,
to build that community. Which comes
first?
KIM LANGEN
Kim Langen's mission is to
inspire parents and teachers,
schools, school divisions,
employees and partners
to cultivate the potential
of today’s youth to solve
tomorrow’s problems. Kim
founded Releasing the
Genius Inc., to build a strong
community of people who
have the imagination and
courage to change the world.
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