I believe schools have more than required onus of making or breaking our lives. To explain you in the swiftest way possible here is the proof
- When we are mentally most open/flexible (that is when we are kids) we spend more than a decade in schools
- We learn meeting and collaborating with strangers the first time at school
- We learn to be in and surviving an uncomfortable position (away from loved ones) and still perform and achieve things the first time in schools
And once we are out of these so called factories which are expected to create the best out of us, we are supposed to earn, make a living, create families and change world!
Schools than need to be taken more seriously compared to the current scenario.
Here is a list of 6 things I was taught in school which was later understood were pure lie!
Getting good grades will land you good jobs
Complete crap! Most of my friends who earn more than me either are less educated or have lower grades. Please note – some are not just with less grades, they are the ones who didn’t even complete their degrees. They didn’t learn the algorithms and the thesis, they learnt how to impress others, be an opportunist and make hay while the sun shines. Take any country, any stream of professionals and compare their grades with the top billionaires and you will be up for a surprise.
Getting good jobs will make you happy
Yes what you do can make you happy. But by good job, parents and teachers always meant high paying jobs. Which school will proudly showcase weird looking painters who make no sense as their alumni? Or will they showcase the Ivy League suit clad honchos? Money is means to happiness but not happiness in itself. More precisely if mismanaged money can really screw you, your habits and your life style. Money makes you lazy too. You feel a better PC or costlier mobile will make you more productive, a car will make you reach office on time (where as the reality is you are not an early riser). If only schools taught us to find the intersection between what we like and what can be monetized, we would have been a lot happier.
Always obey the rules
You know who follows the rules whole heartedly? The average man. Leaders break rules, they believe in challenging the most things we consider as common sense to follow. Following rules bind you in to not thinking out of box, not messing around. Which means not facing fear once things mess up and which means never thinking innovatively when you are in deep sh*t. Leader break rules, bend rules and the best ones make rules completely futile.
Backbenchers are bad
Yes they were to some extent. But aren’t schools and teachers largely responsible for that? By the way one of the most innovative thinking that I saw was in backbenchers. Yes they used to argue a lot with teachers but that same technique helped me in cross questioning things I usually just obeyed. Backbenchers challenged status quo, were trend setters and took risks. Yes they were punished, but once thrown out of the class they used to leave the room like a man! A lion roaring and moving out of the jungle! Not a mama’s boy rubbing nose in the first row.
Your Teacher is your Guru
Yes this will raise your eye brows but please give me a moment to justify. When I completed my computer course (at a private institute) the first job I was offered was teaching fellow students. We know that teachers should be the ones committed enough and passionate on a topic. OR are they the ones who are normal (at times dumb) individuals who couldn’t get a decent job. Yeah a few smart teachers do it on part time basis, passion basis etc.; but I would leave them aside as of now. A Guru changes your life. Some of the most influential teachers of my life were my teachers but most of my teachers sucked big time. I am ready to do anything for the selected few but the rest huh they were just making a living out of it. Your Guru is one of the key ingredient of your future, chose one wisely.
Bonus! – Good things happen to good people
This is a partial truth, hence more dangerous than a lie. Behave nicely, talk softly, be honest, do this and do that and things will go well. These teachings are not wrong. Yes we need to be honest. But we even need to understand that though you follow all the advice, things will still f*ck up. And you would be required to again get up and perform. Life as a stage is not as accommodating as a mediocre school. Life is harsh. What it takes to win is not the tricks of how to do things, what it takes is the perseverance to keep unlearning and relearning when things screw. Even bad things happen to good people but for them its just a staircase to keep trying hard and change from Good to Great.
Don’t know whether you agree to this or not. Or whether you think the post was inflammatory just think about this – Did schools make you a happier person? Satisfied? Are more educated people rich? Or are the bloody dropouts who are enjoying their lives? Will not attending schools have a huge impact if all we are there is to suck as much as possible and end up a pithy day job?
I do agree at the same time that –
If right upbringing is clubbed with schooling,
If more than teaching about the external world; we are taught to understand and manage ourselves; we could have been a much better person today
Life itself is a school and whatever be the case expect much better from your life…
Nice article Definitely, there needs a big reform in Education Sector..They can make or break a student’s career
Good one..!!
Wot. That wasn’t 5 that wos 3 and some notes. Not bad but wouldn’t pass if I wos a teacher… lol. C wot I did there, I lied as a teacher… Bravo!!!