Why our schools miss genius

Vibha Sharma

The value of education is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think. — Albert Einstein

Right from the very early on, our education system has been modelled in order to cater to the needs of individuals with average skills and capabilities. It so turned out that since the whole system could not be customised to meet the needs of a few at the peak and a few at the bottom; best way was to formulate it for the average majority. On a practical level, perhaps this may be the right approach but where is that spark to keep those motivated and inspired, who are bright and curious? Clearly there is some gap between how education system works vs how a human mind perceives and understands. The approach of ‘one solution fits all’ hasn’t worked beyond promoting the averages.

Well acclaimed and well known geniuses of human race — Albert Einstein and Thomas Alva Edison found less in formal education in school. The system was found to be ill equipped to spot their aptitude in order to steer it accordingly. Einstein was tagged as a foolish dreamer and was asked to drop out of his class. Edison, whose mind often wandered beyond the proceedings of the class, soon got an epithet by his teacher — addled. He dropped out of school after only three months of formal education.

From time to time there have been ample examples who have found the education system suffocating and binding. They want to break free from it and have actually done so. Who doesn’t know the life stories of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs? Though college dropouts, they ended up changing the whole world. Henry Ford (Ford), Larry Ellison (Oracle), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Larry Page (Google), Michael Dell (Dell), Jan Koum (Whatsapp), Walt Disney (Disney) — chose their own paths of learning. Closer home business tycoon Dhirubhai Ambani was a high school dropout and so were Azim Premji of Wipro and Subhash Chandra Goel of Zee TV.

The attempt here is not to prove a point for dropping out of school or college, rather it is to say that from time to time individuals have found the education system not in synch with their individual temperament, ability and pace of learning.

Information explosion

Every aspect of our world is undergoing a transformation, thanks to the changes that technology has brought in which are even hard to comprehend. Over the past couple of decades, we have witnessed an explosion of information all around us. There are ample resources of information these days that are accessible to all those who have inclination for it. A click of a button repeals all geographic boundaries. Social networking, online retailing, e-books, online courses, online study material, tutorials and much more have almost revolutionised how we learn and work. Renowned educationists say, ‘the aptitude and skills of an individual in 21st century are quite different from those that his/her predecessors required and possessed.’

Earlier the role of education providers was to dish out the concepts that they used to carry in their brains, to the students and the course books were there to fill up the gaps. However, the scene is quite different now. We have reached a stage where we just need to lead the children to the sources of information and there is a huge repository of knowledge ready to be unravelled for these learning minds.

However, if teachers continue with the earlier style of teaching, it can only work to cripple the curiosity of students and limit their knowledge. Our evaluation-driven education system is already doing the damage of curbing the curiosity in young minds. Learning to get good grades, to crack certain competitive exams, to secure jobs in the market has robbed the joy from the process of procuring knowledge.

It is, perhaps, time to question ourselves; do we need the same amount of invasive and intensive teaching even now? Do ‘A1’ grades actually mean a well-equipped individual, an expert of that particular field?

Technology and us

A well-known education researcher, Sugatha Mitra, came up with an amazing experiment — ‘Hole in the Wall’, in 1999. He, along with his colleagues, dug a hole in a wall bordering an urban slum in New Delhi, installed an internet-connected PC and left it there with a hidden camera filming the area. What they saw was kids from the slum playing around with the computer and in the process learning how to use it and how to go online, and then teaching each other. Through this experiment, he emphasised that, "in the absence of supervision or formal teaching, children can teach themselves and each other, if they’re motivated by curiosity and peer interest.” What is required is an environment that stimulates curiosity, which can cause learning through self-instruction and peer-shared knowledge. Mitra calls it ‘minimally invasive education’. Furthermore, he envisages a ‘school in the cloud’ in not so distant future. At TED2013, Sugata Mitra made a bold TED Prize Wish: “Help me build a place where children can explore and learn on their own and teach one another — using resources from the worldwide cloud.” Watching the technological trend which is only going to make more and more information, knowledge and wisdom readily available, it is time to realise that different kind of skills would be more valued in the coming times. Harvard psychologist Howards Gardner states that five kinds of minds will be valued in the future. Gardner argues that experts in particular domains or disciplines will play important roles. Second, as we are bombarded with information from diverse media, the mind that can gather information from various sources and synthesise it in a meaningful way will be critical. Third, as routine jobs get automated, the mind that can extend knowledge or understanding in creative ways will be esteemed. As the world gets more interconnected through the web of globalisation, we need to learn to tolerate and respect difference, be it in the form of language, religion or culture. Finally, we need to nurture an ethical mindset in students so that they learn to think beyond individual self-interests.

Fundamental brass tacks

Beginning at school level, if we watch the curriculum closely, a lot of stress is laid on introduction of grammar and its rules. It is believed that in some countries grammar teaching is already been done away with, perhaps rightly so. Instead of clouding the mind of children with complex terminology, innumerable rules and anomalies, the focus should shift to formation of meaningful sentences right from early schooling years. This can help empower the children to express themselves confidently. While teaching mathematics, always more emphasis is given on learning the methods to solve a problem. While this has its own benefits, it should not take away the focus from problem solving and application of concepts.

In life sciences, technology can turn out to be a handy tool in depicting concepts and phenomena through simulation of life like models. Social sciences fail to hold the attention and interest of students as we still tend to dwell in the archaic times and mindsets and miss out on latest updates and comparisons to encourage relatable understanding. Specialisations in disciplines can be brought in a little earlier than these are offered at present.

Additionally, different disciplines should not have that strict boundaries, rather inter-disciplinary areas hold great potential going forward. These measures would, surely, do well in the expectations that the industry has from fresh graduates too. Mohit Chandra, a partner with KPMG, observes that our students need to work on five areas - communication, creative problem-solving, resourcefulness, curiosity and professionalism.

The bottom line is to continue to fuel one’s curiosity and the inherent urge to learn. As long as it is retained, there is always hope to create and build new. If curious human mind and efficiencies of technology are made to work in tandem, the unison can turn out to be a huge boon for the mankind.

A clean slate

We need to clean our minds’ slate first, start thinking from ground zero and revamp the whole education system. It is high time to check back — Is our education system becoming anachronistic as it rigidly holds on to the same processes, functioning and expectations. System needs to wake up to the fact that ‘a notebook does not necessarily have to be made of paper.’