There seems to be some confusion. We think that telling people how to learn is more effective than letting them learn. I’m here to clear the smoke.

I’m assuming you’re a grown adult. What would you do if someone walked into your home and told you that you were now obligated to spend years studying things they decided were the things you were going to need for the rest of your life? Why, you’d think that’s ridiculous! Absurd! Why would I spend time learning things that are of no utility to me?

And yet, this is exactly what we’re seeing with public education, almost universally. We believe there is utility in obtaining knowledge just for the sake of knowledge so we spend sixteen or more years on a delusional quest for knowledge, when knowledge unapplied is worthless. We can seek knowledge but see its limitations. Knowledge alone does not suffice. It demands action if it is to come alive. Drowning in facts does nothing for oneself or anyone else.

Curiosity and creativity are ingrained in our brains. Innovation is as integral to who we are as breathing and thinking. We don’t realize it, but we engage in self-directed learning every day. You may have noticed that you didn’t just stop learning when you graduated high school or college. In fact, you’ve probably learned more since you got of school than while you were in it. Every time you Google something and learn on your own, you engage in self-directed learning. Every time you seek our knowledge for a specific purpose, you engage in self-directed learning. 

The principal of self-directed learning is the idea that human curiosity and innovation will drive us to acquire knowledge as necessary. We aren’t bears, we don’t need to stuff our butts with useless knowledge in preparation to hibernate for some learning winter. Education doesn’t come to an immediate halt when school ends; it lasts forever and you will always be able to learn something when you need it.

Children need to be given options, infinitely more than they are now. When you allow curiosity to manifest, you will find that they learn at supersonic speeds. Learning is the most pleasurable acitivity, and placing children in a room and allowing them to choose when and what to learn will result in faster education. Seating them in orderly desks and giving them annual assessments is possibly the worst way to do it. It’s instinctual to want to learn; it doesn’t need to be forced.

The common worry seems to be that if children are not given intensive structure, they won’t be prepared to handle the world. What? Humans are the most innovative and resilient creatures in the world. We don’t need to be seasoned like turkeys for the big bad “real world.” It’s a part of who we are to use creativity to defeat any circumstance. We are always learning and the only thing the current school structure is doing is standing in the way. 

Self learning is the future of education. It encourages independence, creativity, innovation, introspection, and so much more. If we hope to maintain our forward tilt as a species, it’s time to consider options other than the fundamentally flawed system we have now.