TLDR:
- Accelerate a diversity of experiences and the self-discovery of passions.
- Teach a kid curiosity, experimentation with execution, history and human nature.
Preamble
I am not a teacher. And I never have been - aside from a couple of volunteering stints here and there. But every now and then, I come across two running commentaries that keep popping up on the topic of education.
First, is a narrative that lavishes praise on the academics of some Asian countries, including China, Korea, and Singapore. Often, it prompts self-reflection in Western media, probably stemming from a fear of competition, or soul-searching on how they might do better.
Second, is a narrative that speaks of the oppression of young children enslaved to grades. It often happens in Asian countries, like China, Korea and Singapore (waow coincidence). At least, in a country like Singapore it provokes a sense of angst towards the over-competitiveness of the system and sympathies towards children, while being cognisant that most parents would want the best chance of success for their children - whether for parental love or, more cynically, personal bragging rights.
Which model is right? Well as with anything and as per my usual philosophy - it requires a good balance of both: a western freedom to explore one’s passions and a eastern system that promotes academic rigour. Again, I am not a teacher nor an expert in education, and there is a definite stereotype to what I am saying, but anecdotally I don’t believe it is too far from the truth.
As a confused Singaporean, I’ve had the privilege of having a couple of years of schooling in the “local” system, and subsequently, the majority of my schooling in a western “international” system. This, combined with my observations of what the future holds and a personal reflection on my journey - which some would consider a “success” (though not without the privilege of having my education paid for by my parents) - grants me a self-appointed licence to ramble about it. Here goes:
Over-education and an Over-obsession with grades
This will speak largely from the Singaporean perspective.
The current education served us very well at a time when Singapore was still developing and needed a baseline of skills to learn and develop. This required great academic rigour - to prove ourselves to foreign investors and prospective employers.
While effective for its time, it has since been criticised for being to narrowly focused on attaining grades. To take it further - it is perhaps a precursor of a mentality I see commonly in those around and older than myself. It is a mentality that is hyper focused on KPIs and output, with a less nuanced appreciation of the intended outcome. In my own view, it is subtly wrapped around the concept of Meritocracy in Singapore - that is (again in my own rough defintion): if one’s merits are proven by hitting these predefined KPIs, success awaits the individual.
It is, perhaps rightly, cited as a reason why there is not enough innovation / risk taking, amongst Singaporeans. That said, I feel the situation is improving.
These days, there is a greater awareness of not just hitting our “KPIs” in life, but to live a life meaningfully and well. On this, I’ve come think that the “richest” people that I tend to admire (across all senses of the word: mentally, emotionally and materially) are those who exhibit two critical traits.
The first is a great diversity of experiences. These could tangibly have arisen through careers in different places; supported by an appreciation of the unknown, a worldliness and a natural inclination to being open-minded. There is an inherent element of risk-taking in this, since by definition, one has to constantly be put out of their comfort zone for diversity to be realised.
The second is self-discovery. And by self-discovery, I mean a journey where an individual - on their own will and volition - puts in great interest and effort in a domain or field. This I believe, cannot be taught in an academic classroom sense. Self-discovery entails a true and genuine interest on a topic - to make sense of it on one’s own terms, and taking ownership of it both heart and mind. This is a little decoupled and possibly even at odds with the traditional meritocratic view, measurement and value at the forefront.
To illustrate, for me, my experience in music was largely borne out of a need to attain Grade 5 and Grade 8 Piano…again with the intent to bolster my UCAS points to get into university. This I would say added to my diversity of experiences, but little in the ways of actual desire to continue. It was (post-exams) the ability to play the music I wanted to play that unlocked a much deeper and greater interest in music and was something I could only do due to my intrinsic curioisty - not because I was tempted by qualifications.
I can’t say I’ve executed this too well, but again, it is enough to put me in the top quartile of the world for music composition. Hell, basic jazz improvisations is hard enough.
To summarise, I think that the sooner someone personally invests through self discovery in a variety of topics, the sooner that person’s great potential in an area that society might be uncovered. And this is optimal - for an individual, for an employer, for a society. So, an idealised education system would be one that accelerates this path of diversity, and to subsequently - with a little heart - to extract the most out of these new experiences.
Not forgetting of course, that human beings are not static, and that our passions and relevance to society will continue to ebb and flow with time.
Idealising an Education System: If I had to teach a kid…
To best model and summarise what I believe the education of the future could look like, I have penned down what my view of the priorities would be, if given the reins to teach a young kiddo.
If I had to teach a kid, I would want them explore human nature and the suffering of past generations.
We currently live in age where many (but not all), has not seen extensive death due to war, conflict and more. How can one best develop resilience in an age of relative abundance? Could it be a comparative appreciation of not what is around you, but what came before you?
History would certainly be mandatory - the grimier, the better. (age dependent of course)
If I had to teach a kid, I would encourage experimentation but ensure it is applied deeply
I would by no means compel a kid to be the “best” in their class, but rather through the use of well-paced and thoughtful lessons perhaps provoke an outcome: would the kid do this themselves without an external force?
Mass and unintentional experimentation is not ideal either. Self-directed execution is better.
More broadly - I’d give a kid 10 fishing rods, let him/her decide which are their favorite and which bites. It is desirable that at least one of these fishing rods or a combination of several fishing rods that would also allow the kid to be well employed.
Case in point, building this website and blog is a way to execute what I learned. This I believe, would put me in the top 20% of the world’s population in web development. Does that make me an expert or employable? Of course not! But it is “good enough” for me to connect the dots with other fields, and build a strong sense of ownership around it. It is myself that would spur me to continue building on this capability.
Application without passion is painful; just as passion without application is often useless and, easily lost.
and most important of all, If I had to teach a kid, I would want them to be everlastingly curious.
I reflect that an insatiable curiosity of mine (which I hope is hereditary) is an incredible driving force for success in this day and age.
- It breeds knowledge gathering - in an age where knowledge is far more abundant than man would have ever known
- It breeds a appreciation of both sides of the argument and a tolerance for ambiguity. Curiosity may lead to the path of a non-answer. There are many things in this world that are neither wrong nor right. These are critical thinking skills needed far more in this day and age.
- It breeds multidisciplinary interests which I feel is the general future of education, and contribution to society.
Again, I am by no means an expert, and the hypotheses above would be worth revisiting. Only time will tell. Similar and related reading on my post on career strategy [to link here later**], which has some of its points embedded in the thinking above.