ALERT: 5 things formal schooling doesn't teach us

October 10, 2011

Rrrrrrrrringgggggggg.  Take your seats boys and girls.  Today we're going to learn about (enter subject here).  

Life as a kid was pretty easy because most of the time someone did the thinking for us.  All too often, that sets the tone for the rest of our life.  Formal education doesn't teach us everything we need to succeed in life.  In fact, if you only practice what we're taught in formal education, I'm convinced you won't get very far in life.

The book that brought these ideas to the forefront is Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto.  The book is somewhat controversial as it questions the motives and effectiveness of formalized education.  Give it a read; it might rock your world as it did mine.

After I read the book, I thought about how it pertained to me, and I came up with my own ideas of what formal schooling didn't teach me.  These are things I've learned on my own to succeed in business and the real world.

I realized school either taught me wrong or didn't teach me at all.  There are five main points that I'll elaborate on:

What school doesn't teach us:
1.  Self assessment
2.  Action
3.  To question authority
4.  Money Management
5.  We're producers, not just consumers

You can view it in a sinister manner as Gatto did and say the formal schooling process is purposefully in place to raise workers who don't rock the boat.   Or you can take a more neutral view and say it wasn't purposefully done but is a hazardous accident.  Either way, I believe the points below to be true.
  
1.  Self Assessment
 
School teaches us to be dependent on constant feedback and grading from our teachers to assess how well we've done.

Some kids have the guts to question their teacher and disagree with their grades, but I was never one of those kids.  The teacher was able to pass down their assessment, and I happily (or unhappily) took it.

Now, fast forward to the business world.

If I sat around all day waiting on feedback and grading… well, I'd probably always be sitting and waiting.  You might be one of the few who gets feedback, but just because your manager has that opinion doesn't mean it is the final truth.

It's good to listen to what they're saying, but don't feel you have to drastically change if you don't totally agree.

You must practice self assessment.

Most people know how good of a job they are doing on a task based on how hard they worked and the outcome.   If you've put little effort into something, you know.  The same is true if you're worked really hard and created something great.

This is very important if you have a bad boss who doesn't give you feedback at all or gives you incorrect feedback.   This incorrect feedback could be done purposefully as a power play to keep you in your place.

Bad advice can also come from a 'good person' who is afraid to tell you how to actually improve.  Either way, it's not a good life if you're dependent on them.  Develop a strong self assessment and be honest with yourself.
 
2.  Action
 
We’re taught to wait to be told what to do.

Think about any normal classroom setting and this becomes readily apparent.  We sit down before the class starts, waiting for the teacher to tell us to open our books and what we'll learn for the day.

We work on what they assign and take our homework home with us.  We wait for the bell, and then we switch classes and do it all again.

If you take this same mentality and try to apply it to life after school, you're not going to be very successful!  Life belongs to those who take action.  Starting my career in the world of consulting, I learned we all need to work like consultants and stay proactive. 

I remember my first project when I waited for the instructions for my task.  My boss gave me some general outline of what needed to be done but not the specifics on how to do it.  This was very frustrating, but I later learned she was trying to get me to think on my own.

Many companies suffer greatly due to the lack of action.  When you start work, don’t assume current tasks are performed the optimal way.  Many people just do the same thing over and over because that's how they were taught.  Zig Ziglar tells a story that highlights this:

The bride in a newly married couple cut off the end of the ham before baking it.  Her husband asked why.  The wife responded that her mother always cut of the end of the ham and that was the way it was supposed to be. 

Not accepting “the way it was supposed to be,” the husband called his mother-in-law and asked why she cut of the end of the ham before baking. The response was that her mother cut of the end of the ham. 

More curious than ever, the husband called grandma and asked her why she cut off the end of the ham.   She answered that she cut it off because she had a small oven and that was the only way to get the ham to fit. 

Grandma had a reason for cutting off the end of the ham. The next two generations did not. They were blindly following custom without rhyme or reason. It was the way it was supposed to be. 

Through consulting I learned this and became much more valuable when I learned to take action.  Young minds are incredibly important and valuable to a company because they bring in new insights that create new action.

Gatto wrote, "Invention is the providence of youthful insight; cut that spring of ideas off by embedding the young in a network of rules and judgments, and you should expect important negative consequences.

Take action and the world will be yours.
 
3.  Question Authority
 
We’re conditioned to not question authority.

As kids, we're taught to respect our elders and not to be a pain - which is usually what someone who questions their elders is considered.  The point is not to disrespect elders, but to be brave enough to question what you might be spoon-fed.

We learn time and again that our current assumptions about the world aren't all correct.  Some incorrect assumptions come from a lack of information, purposeful bias, or by the fact that history is written by the winners.

As Garrett Hardin said in Living within Limits, "Language has two purposes: to facilitate thought and to prevent it."

One great way to bring this into light is to read the book 1491.  It tells the story of the Americas before the Europeans and how advanced the Natives really were.  It's definitely worth a read and was a major attention grabber for me.

Your professors, boss, parents, etc might be extremely smart, but they don’t know everything.  Keep in mind if you plan on disagreeing, you better be very informed on the topic.  Most likely, especially in the case of educators, they are well versed on the subject and they've heard arguments before.  Go in unprepared and you'll look like a fool!

It's important to question authority in the business world.  I received this training first hand as a consultant because we were paid to challenge our client's current assumptions and to come in with new ways of doing things.  Imagine trying to tell a Vice President with the company for 20 years that they're wrong when you're only two years out of college!
 
4.  Money
 
We’re not taught about real life money.  I was a Finance major so I should have been completely prepared for the real world, but I wasn't.  I learned a lot more than a non-Finance major, but I still wasn't prepared to take on the debt peddlers that are so good at their jobs.  Most high school students are even worse off.

I had one professor who told us the one thing you should do after college is continue living like you did in college for a few years, so you don't automatically jump to that more expensive life style.  This is definitely good advice that I still push.

As I've mentioned in my breaking point, there are many reasons to live debt free.  You want to be financially healthy so you aren’t stuck doing something you don’t want to do.  Use the OWN IT plan to learn how to manage your money and become debt free.
 
5. We're producers, not just consumers
 
We're taught to be consumers, but we're actually producers.  Consumers don't add value to this world.  They consume food, clothing, and everything else that can be purchased.  We are all producers because we create more than we consume.

This applies to money and education. 

Formal education works off a list or curriculum of items that are shoveled into our brains and we don’t truly learn that way.  When we further explore items we're interested in and truly learn them, then we can become producers.  Don't be afraid to explore alternative learning opportunities.

It's pretty obvious that we're taught to be consumers with money.  Considering it's now a normal term to be called a consumer, I'd say they've done a pretty good job of conditioning us.  As long as you spend less than you earn then you're producing.  Otherwise, you might truly be a consumer.

I've detailed the five points above that formal schooling doesn't teach us.  The good thing is that all of these topics are easily learned and will help us succeed in our real lives.  There are definitely more points and I'd love to hear what you think.  Do you have any points to add?  If so, leave them in the comments!