Education and self directed learning
Oct 20, 2013 4:56:27 GMT 7
candy188, hyom, and 1 more like this
Post by oldman on Oct 20, 2013 4:56:27 GMT 7
Recently, I looked through my old school magazine to try to trace my old classmates and to find out what has happened to each of them, 30 years on. The top student became an accountant and is doing well. The second top student is a doctor in the UK and although doctors are not paid that well there, he enjoys what he is doing. The other outstanding students became doctors, lawyers, university lecturers or are working for MNCs.
What is more interesting are those who did not do that well in their studies. Two of my classmates surprised all of us. One, built up a listed company in Malaysia and the other, build up his business in the US. Both sold their businesses and have since retired. One common streak in both of them is that they are street smart and have the gift of the gap. Yes, both of them were born marketeers.
All in all, I think the traditional education system still works. Those who are good at studies do tend to become professionals and will be financially comfortable working at their professions. Those in the middle of the class tend to become employees and will probably continue working for others. They also lead fairly comfortable lives though they may face challenges as they grow older and their skills may not be as relevant anymore.
Those who are not so good in their studies had to struggle earlier on in their adult lives. As their minds are not wired to study the traditional way, they have to be street smart, learn on the job and practice self directed learning. If they make it, they become multi millionaires earlier than the rest of us. If they don't, they are likely to continue struggling in life.
Though our formal education system produces professionals and employees, I doubt it will produce entrepreneurs as the career path for professionals are usually cast in concrete. It appears that in order to excel, we have to put ourselves out of our comfort zones and face challenges and learn from these experiences. Rarely, a few like me will fall through the cracks and leave our professions to take on the risks of being a businessman.
For me, I really don't want my kids to excel in school. I just want them to be average and to enjoy their childhood. But what I try to do is to make them think out of the box. I like challenging them to think laterally ... to speak their mind ... to find their own solutions to problems and to have the lust for life... the sparkle that makes life worth living.
Sadly, I don't think that these skills can be taught by others and this is why I don't believe in sending my kids to seminars. Sure, this makes the parent feel like he is doing something good for the kid but you and I know that no seminar can replace the daily guidance that is needed to institute real change. We as parents, need to spend as much time as we can with our kids as only we will have the time and patience to teach, comfort and guide them throughout their childhood.
Too many parents do not spend enough quality time with their kids. They leave it to their care takers to take care of their kids. Not surprisingly, their kids look to their care takers for guidance and they eventually become more like their care takers than their parents.
If our kids are truly the centre of our lives, then we should not be spending most of our time trying to make all the money in this world. Instead, we should spend as much time with our kids to teach about life and to become role models and friends to them.
Yes, I am a strange parent as I discourage my kids from being top students as I think that this will limit their horizons. I want them to be in the middle but yet, I like to stimulate the survival instincts that are so obvious in students who do not do well academically in school and know that they have to fight to survive. If they are smart and have the fighting and learning spirit, they are more likely to excel in whatever they choose to do.
Formal education can only impart you with a certain set of knowledge. The new world is constantly changing and kids need to have the lust for life to keep learning new things. They must learn for the sheer joy of learning how things work as life is really a never ending journey of learning and re-learning. What better joy than to be able to learn for the sheer joy of learning.
When I studied medicine, I was fed information by attending tutorials and lectures. This was the form of learning that we all expected when we attend universities as this is usually how students are brought up from the time we attend primary school. We were all spoon fed and we know of no other forms of learning.
Outside of medicine, I was interested in business and I picked up books and tried to learn these through reading. It was not easy as I realised that it was the experience and the making of mistakes that was the key to learning. Books can only be a guide but the real essence of learning is in the experience and the only way one can gain experience is to immerse ourselves in it ... to make the mistakes ourselves and to learn from these.
My first business was in trading cars. I bought cars and then fixed these up to be sold. Once, I got a lemon of a car and had to remove the entire engine to fix it before I can onsell the car. I knew next to nothing about cars and bought the Haynes car manual, stripped the car engine, removed the cylinder head and got the valves regrinded and gaskets replaced. I then spent sleepless nights fixing up the rest of the car including the body work and I learnt all these from reading the Haynes manual. This is my first lesson in self directed learning.
It was tough as this requires mental discipline that schools did not teach me. But I can tell you this. This is the best form of learning. Today, I can still remember how I put the engine back together even after 30 odd years. This is the power of self directed learning.
No one taught me computing either. I bought my first Sinclair ZX-81 computer and learnt computing by simply reading the manual. Then, I upgraded to the Commodore 64 and again, learnt coding by making the mistakes and figuring out the problems that I faced.
It was also self directed learning that taught me the foundations of investing. I knew next to nothing about accounting. What I did was to simply pick up an annual report and realised how little I knew about the accounts. Whatever I did not know, I searched the internet and learnt from it. Today, this is still the foundation of my learning. It is the most powerful form of learning as one is learning from the urge to solve a problem or simply the urge to know more.
Books are ideal for those who practice self directed learning. Books can show you the way but eventually, it is you yourself who has to take the initiative and direct your own learning. I feel that the best way to learn is to empower oneself. If you are fed information, your mind takes a back seat and knowledge gained will be easily forgotten. If you search for information yourself, you go through difficulties and each hurdle that you cross becomes etched into your memory and this knowledge gained will last a lifetime.
When self directed learning becomes a habit, you will see in yourself a whole new person with the desire and ability to excel in whatever you want to do. This is why the most important lesson for my kids is not the content of the learning but the process and the desire for continual learning which is only possible if learning becomes a joy and is self directed.
What is more interesting are those who did not do that well in their studies. Two of my classmates surprised all of us. One, built up a listed company in Malaysia and the other, build up his business in the US. Both sold their businesses and have since retired. One common streak in both of them is that they are street smart and have the gift of the gap. Yes, both of them were born marketeers.
All in all, I think the traditional education system still works. Those who are good at studies do tend to become professionals and will be financially comfortable working at their professions. Those in the middle of the class tend to become employees and will probably continue working for others. They also lead fairly comfortable lives though they may face challenges as they grow older and their skills may not be as relevant anymore.
Those who are not so good in their studies had to struggle earlier on in their adult lives. As their minds are not wired to study the traditional way, they have to be street smart, learn on the job and practice self directed learning. If they make it, they become multi millionaires earlier than the rest of us. If they don't, they are likely to continue struggling in life.
Though our formal education system produces professionals and employees, I doubt it will produce entrepreneurs as the career path for professionals are usually cast in concrete. It appears that in order to excel, we have to put ourselves out of our comfort zones and face challenges and learn from these experiences. Rarely, a few like me will fall through the cracks and leave our professions to take on the risks of being a businessman.
For me, I really don't want my kids to excel in school. I just want them to be average and to enjoy their childhood. But what I try to do is to make them think out of the box. I like challenging them to think laterally ... to speak their mind ... to find their own solutions to problems and to have the lust for life... the sparkle that makes life worth living.
Sadly, I don't think that these skills can be taught by others and this is why I don't believe in sending my kids to seminars. Sure, this makes the parent feel like he is doing something good for the kid but you and I know that no seminar can replace the daily guidance that is needed to institute real change. We as parents, need to spend as much time as we can with our kids as only we will have the time and patience to teach, comfort and guide them throughout their childhood.
Too many parents do not spend enough quality time with their kids. They leave it to their care takers to take care of their kids. Not surprisingly, their kids look to their care takers for guidance and they eventually become more like their care takers than their parents.
If our kids are truly the centre of our lives, then we should not be spending most of our time trying to make all the money in this world. Instead, we should spend as much time with our kids to teach about life and to become role models and friends to them.
Yes, I am a strange parent as I discourage my kids from being top students as I think that this will limit their horizons. I want them to be in the middle but yet, I like to stimulate the survival instincts that are so obvious in students who do not do well academically in school and know that they have to fight to survive. If they are smart and have the fighting and learning spirit, they are more likely to excel in whatever they choose to do.
Formal education can only impart you with a certain set of knowledge. The new world is constantly changing and kids need to have the lust for life to keep learning new things. They must learn for the sheer joy of learning how things work as life is really a never ending journey of learning and re-learning. What better joy than to be able to learn for the sheer joy of learning.
When I studied medicine, I was fed information by attending tutorials and lectures. This was the form of learning that we all expected when we attend universities as this is usually how students are brought up from the time we attend primary school. We were all spoon fed and we know of no other forms of learning.
Outside of medicine, I was interested in business and I picked up books and tried to learn these through reading. It was not easy as I realised that it was the experience and the making of mistakes that was the key to learning. Books can only be a guide but the real essence of learning is in the experience and the only way one can gain experience is to immerse ourselves in it ... to make the mistakes ourselves and to learn from these.
My first business was in trading cars. I bought cars and then fixed these up to be sold. Once, I got a lemon of a car and had to remove the entire engine to fix it before I can onsell the car. I knew next to nothing about cars and bought the Haynes car manual, stripped the car engine, removed the cylinder head and got the valves regrinded and gaskets replaced. I then spent sleepless nights fixing up the rest of the car including the body work and I learnt all these from reading the Haynes manual. This is my first lesson in self directed learning.
It was tough as this requires mental discipline that schools did not teach me. But I can tell you this. This is the best form of learning. Today, I can still remember how I put the engine back together even after 30 odd years. This is the power of self directed learning.
No one taught me computing either. I bought my first Sinclair ZX-81 computer and learnt computing by simply reading the manual. Then, I upgraded to the Commodore 64 and again, learnt coding by making the mistakes and figuring out the problems that I faced.
It was also self directed learning that taught me the foundations of investing. I knew next to nothing about accounting. What I did was to simply pick up an annual report and realised how little I knew about the accounts. Whatever I did not know, I searched the internet and learnt from it. Today, this is still the foundation of my learning. It is the most powerful form of learning as one is learning from the urge to solve a problem or simply the urge to know more.
Books are ideal for those who practice self directed learning. Books can show you the way but eventually, it is you yourself who has to take the initiative and direct your own learning. I feel that the best way to learn is to empower oneself. If you are fed information, your mind takes a back seat and knowledge gained will be easily forgotten. If you search for information yourself, you go through difficulties and each hurdle that you cross becomes etched into your memory and this knowledge gained will last a lifetime.
When self directed learning becomes a habit, you will see in yourself a whole new person with the desire and ability to excel in whatever you want to do. This is why the most important lesson for my kids is not the content of the learning but the process and the desire for continual learning which is only possible if learning becomes a joy and is self directed.