Why Doesn't Theeducat ion syst emal l ow kids
and adul t s t o l ear n about ent r epr eneur ism?
factories of the industrial revolution. Schools
and factories are similar even to the point
where the bells at these schools were
modeled on the shift-time sounds in factories.
Schools operate similarly to assembly lines.
The school assembly line is segmented into
years. Students enter the schools and are
sorted by age. Each day during the year
students receive instruction on particular
subjects and skill sets. Every subject is taught
during a fixed time period in the day. Students
are then tested on each subject to see if they
meet the standards, so they can move along
the line. Finally they receive their stamp of
approval (diploma) at the end of the line.
Then and Now
Recently I found myself at a dinner party
where the discussion turned to education ?
especially to what schools are doing to
encourage more kids to go to college. I chose
to keep quiet, because I have strong opinions
on this subject, and I?ve found that my ideas
are definitely not mainstream. Despite my
good intentions, I was eventually asked point
blank to share my thoughts. So I gave it to the
dinner guests straight and said, ?I don?t plan
to pay for my kids to go to college, and I am
not going to push them to go either.? You
should have seen their faces.
What kind of blasphemy was I saying? They
couldn?t seem to comprehend, because they
had all been indoctrinated with the same
?truth? I had growing up, that college is the
singular gateway to a fulfilling and successful
life. Why wouldn?t any decent parent do all he
could to assure his kids went to college? You
might be thinking that yourself.
Please allow me to explain why college is not
the gateway to better opportunities it once
was.
First, I recommend you read this blog post, Is
College Necessary, or Even Desirable?, by a
well-known real estate blogger named Rob
Hahn. It has nothing to do with real estate, but
rather it?s a personal discussion about college
plans for his kids. Rob struggles with the same
dilemma I have with education in regards to
my children.
The root of the problem with education has
nothing to do with the teachers or a lack of
funding (the issues that get the most media
attention). The problem stems from how
64
education is designed and administered, and
what is mysteriously MISSING from the
curriculum.
I bel ieve Sir Ken Robinson art icul at ed t his
probl em best in his 2010 TED Tal k, Bring on
t he l earning revol ut ion.
You can see a real l if e exampl e of t his idea at
work in t his TEDx Tal k, Hack school ing makes
me happy by Logan LaPl ant e, who at the time
was 13 years old. But the solution that worked
for him doesn?t necessarily help fix our
outdated education system.
Consider this excerpt from geopolitical.com?s
Why Our School s Syst em is Broken:
Our current school system was set up in the
late 1800s and early 1900s, to meet the needs
of the industrial economy.
Public schools supplied factories with a
skilled labor force, and provided basic literacy
to the masses. This was the education that the
vast majority of the population received.
Secondary education supplied the managerial
and professional leadership of the industrial
economy. It provided more flexible and
widely applicable skills that could be
transferred across firms, industries, and
occupations. While only a fraction of the
population in America attended high school ?
about 40% in 1935 ? no other nation in the
world had such widespread coverage at the
time.
Higher education supplied the engineers,
doctors, and scientists which facilitated rapid
urbanization and technological advancement
for the economy. Still, less than 5% of the
population attained this level of education by
the 1940s.
Our school system was modeled after the
The schools believed in a model of education
where one mold fits all, and turned learning
into a dull, repetitive, and tedious process.
Yet, our school system provided education for
a large segment of the population that did not
have the resources to be educated in any
other way.
There was also a good rationale for children to
want to go to school. Public schools
effectively provided the skills necessary to
succeed in the industrial economy. Public
school graduates could expect to find a job
with relative ease, and have job security for
the rest of their lives.
Today we live in a post-industrial economy,
and a rapidly globalizing world. The job
security that previous generations enjoyed no
longer exists. Today a person changes jobs
every three years on average.
We can hardly anticipate what the economy
would look like in a month, or what set of
skills it would require. Our indu