Do Schools Kill Creativity ? 10 IDEAs to transform the education system from uniformity to personalized education

I stole the last few ideas from previous lists I've done on this subject.

1. Understanding > Memorisation

Schools focus on getting students to memorise pieces in order to pass an exam. Once passes, they can forget and replace it with the next piece of info.

Instead the focus should be on understanding , but how do we know they understand without testing them?

2. Projects > Exams

Exams are tests to see how much you've managed to memorise, but if we're focusing on understanding we need a new way of testing students. I suggest projects. A project is putting their knowledge to use. The more subjects you can combine the better. When we link our knowledge we remember it better. When we put our knowledge to use we remember it better. If we need to use our knowledge we need to have a good understanding of it.

Project -

Publish a book. English skills are required to write it. Understanding of another subject for the content. Art for the cover. Marketing for publishing

Short Film - Film/editing skills, Script writing, acting, marketing, fashion design. makeup.

Conversations - I used this when teaching English. I had students ask/answer questions they knew to each other. This reenforced what they knew and also incorporated acting,

Projects are easy - Think 'How could this be put to practical use?'. If it can why's it being taught? If it can set up a project and judge their understanding based on that.

3. Portfolio > Grades

No-one cares about your grades. They care about your skills. Now that we've dropped exams we have a portfolio of skills to show off. All projects should bereorded. By the end of school all the student has to do is say 'Heres my skills and this is a link to prove I have them'. Employers will have far more confidence.

Portfolio

Every student has a website dedicated to their projects.

Each project can have the skills and knowledge used tagged with it.

Students can state who gets to see what projects (Only show employees relevant ones).

4. Why > No Why

When we know why we are doing something we put in a lot more effort. Students should write a short piece on why they are in this class and what they hope to accomplish with their project. This alone will bring meaning to the boring and hard times.

Why

If NotePd was a class (It should be)

I hope to improve my writing skills.. I hope that I will become happier as a result of writing daily. I want to write lists that I can reuse in other places (Substack, YouTube, ect.). When things get tough (Sickness, busy at work ect.) I'll make the task easier in order to continue my streak.

5. Long Term Happiness > Knowledge

Why is their no focus on the one thing we all seek? Teaching philosophy will help us live a meaningful and happy life. The project for this class will be our life. Teach how different groups found happiness and meaning. What makes a good life? Having a set of guidelines will put people on a better path. Look at the life of those with rules they live by vs those that don't. That should be enough reason to implement this.

6. Self Defence > Weakness

Do kids that know how to defend themselves get bullied? Do kids that are disciplined bully? Does anyone regret their years of Martial Arts training? Forget sports, martial arts will be far more beneficial . Grudges will be quickly dealt with, kids learn discipline, bullying will quickly fall and everyone will gain confidence in themselves. No brainer.

7. No Code > Code > No Code

Teach kids how to code, or use a tool that does it for them. Coding requires a new way of thinking - Here's a problem and here's the steps needed to solve it/make things better. How powerful will they feel knowing that if they can envision something it can become reality?

8. Chice > No Choice

How many skills/bits of knowledge from high school do you use now? Probably not a lot. How much time is wasted learning trigonometry? A language you have no desire to speak? History you can't compare to your own life?

What if you could choose at a much earlier stage what you want to learn? If we make a choice and want to learn, surely we'll learn more. And if other subjects will be of no use, why the push to do well in it anyway?

Knowing why some subjects do better, may help in making better lessons for the less popular subjects.

9. Politics > Idiocracy

As boring as it may be learning about it will lead to better adults. How many times have you seen people mistake immigration with racisim? Minimum wages with communism? People they disagree with, with Hitler? Having a basic knowledge will eliminate 80% of common disputes. Being tuned in may lead to better policies and stronger relationships with other countries

10. Propaganda Awareness > Brainwashed Zombies

Knowing how to spot 'fake news' will make everyone happier. It would end a lot of group think mentality and disputes. It will also make it harder for people to do what you want them to do /what is best for the country. I still believe that letting people make their own judgements is better than being brainwashed into thinking you're making your own judgement (and that's better than having no say whatsoever.

This doesn't even take long to learn. Read this list and you'll be better prepared than most - https://notepd.com/idea/propaganda-351

11. 1 > 20

This comes from @JamesAltucher on my last School 2.0 list.

'Great list. I also think a "Schools 2.0" should allow for changes in HOW we learn as well as what we learn. For instance, maybe a student gets to pick one topic aboev and study Just that for the entire year,.'

Focusing soils on one project for a year could return some great results. Most businesses don't focus on a million unrelated things, they focus on one and make it great. Why would we teach otherwise? Teachers then are no longer their to teach one subject, their their to offer advice on improving projects. Or students can pop into lessons when teachers are explaining concepts related to the subject.

12. Psychology > Trauma

Teaching kids how to deal with their own mental problems will help prevent growth of evil ideas.

This may have a downside, in that psychopaths now have a deeper understanding of people's minds and may lead to more cults/people being used. It may also lead to less as people will be more aware of what to look out for.

Prevention is always better than a cure. Many are psychopathic, but I think this will help prevent overthinkers.

Meditation/journaling - helps clear head.

No Complainig - not allowing yourself to complain stops the artificial growth of problems (dirty dishes, dishes Pilled to the roof, the kitchens a tip, they never clean the house, they're doing this to hurt me, I'll hurt them before they have a chance to hurt me again).