Curiosity hasn't killed this cat

yet... it got him places...
I was invited for a breakfast session by Harry Starren yesterday. With some people in some way related to education we were going to talk about rosters. Rosters for schooling and courses and why they are so bad. Everyone presented some personal insights into the subject by telling a short story.

Empirical (pun intended) studies have shown that if you really intrinsically want to learn something, you can do so in one week instead of what schools get you to learn in two years using their rosters. The basic idea behind this is that if you set your mind to it you can make your brain really perceptive and it will become sponge. But if you get fed information about stuff you don't particularly are interested in (like the regular school stuff I guess) it take will take you quite some more time to get it in your system.

The former director of the innovative Dutch high school, The Hyperion Lyceum, Ilja Klink was present as well and she added that this particular fact was the reason for her school to use a fresh approach for the school roster. The students are not taught all the obligatory classes, but only a few of those every x weeks, thereby compressing the amount of hours of the individual classes and intensifying the contact moments with the teachers.

But the main outtake was that the 'when?' and 'what?' are very personal when it comes to the ideal way and momentum of learning new things.

Another story from one of the attendees was about that until she actually finished high school she had not been aware of all the study options she could choose from. The basic studies she knew, but in classes she had never stumbled across topics covered by: Psychology, Anthropology, Political Sciences etc. and if you come to think of it, even very mainstream studies like Law and Communications are not really part of the curriculum at high school.

Practically all the attendees were agreeing that the silo-based way classes were taught was very outdated and uninspiring. Why not combine learning about history with languages or physics with sports.

Mika, my 7-year old son, provides some living proof. He's really great at maths, but lags with reading. This is a problem, because school at the moment in 4th but especially 5th grade is becoming a lot about reading.

But if a book he has to read at school is boring, which the basic books there actually are, he won't get enthusiastic and I totally understand this.
"John buys milk. Milk comes from cows. Cows eat grass. Grass is green." - any boring writer

Mika, at the moment, really likes volcanos, dragons, iPads, climbing in trees and doing stuff he's not allowed to. He's got a big imagination, is very clever and funny. (not biased at all here)
He is receptive for this kind of stuff.

If we want him to learn how to read, at least let him read about these kind of things!
(We're reading Blitz with him right now and he is making great progress.)

Then it was my turn to tell a small story about this topic, I started by stating that I actually never did anything in school. I tricked the homework coach, I skipped classes regularly and in my last two years I even struck a deal with my Maths teacher that it was okay if I didn't attend his classes so I would not distract other students with my immature behaviour.
I did graduate from high school with nice grades though and when I enrolled in Astronomy for University I knew that I had to pick a study which I really liked because otherwise I wouldn't do anything for it. 

That was my nature and it still is.

The first Astronomy class, Maths, I got was terrible. The teacher presented with his back to the class, started talking to his blackboard while chalking a formula from the left top corner all the way to the bottom right. Then he cleaned the board and started all over. Totally uninspiring and ego-centric. I never finished Astronomy and started my first company at the age of 20. 

I never regretted my decision. I was too curious to follow a four year paved ancient road. Hipsters might call it Wanderlust.

I concluded by saying that I think the most important task as a parent is to help kids find their talents.
And basically if you want to find your talents two things are really important and those you have to try to embed in your (kids) behaviour and will help find happiness:

1. Be curious
If you are curious you open your mind and can learn really really fast. The way I try to do this is by deep diving, not surfacing. Schools often surface and offer kids a lot of basic knowledge about many different things. Curiosity will get you places and find your talents.

2. Be Initiating
By taking the initiative you open the door for serendipity. Start conversations. Have no prejudice. 

I will conclude with two quotes I just stumbled upon by a high school 'dropout'.

"I have no special talents, I'm only passionately curious" - Albert Einstein
"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by his ability to climb a tree it will live it's whole life believing it is stupid." - Albert Einstein
Picture: Amélie on the roof of the UvA observatory waiting for the 2015 eclipse. Check the AT5 report of our experience starting at 20:20 minutes below. (dutch) 
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