Cross-posted
Based on this snip by Will Richardson today, I researched Seth Godin’s book, Linchpin: Are you Indispensable. The following segment grabbed my attention enough to make download the book to my iPad:
‘I am Good at School.’
This is a fundamentally different statement from ‘I did well in school and therefore I will do a great job working for you.’ The essential thing measured by school is whether or not you are good at school.
Being good at school is a fine skill if you intend to do school forever. For the rest of us, being good at school is a little like being good at Frisbee. It’s nice, but it’s not relevant unless your career involves homework assignments, looking through textbooks for answers that are already known to your supervisors, complying with instructions, and then, in high-pressure settings, regurgitating those facts with little processing on your part.
I was really good at the game of school. I see many of my generation who were not good at school who are really good at their professional life.
My kids are really good at school. I’m going to read Godin with the following question:
Should I be teaching my kids how NOT to be good at school?
Tony Baldasaro
Latest posts by Tony Baldasaro (see all)
- Throwaway Lessons - November 21, 2011
- My ISTE11 Experience: Confessions of an Introvert - July 1, 2011
- 3 Big Ideas from Leadership Bootcamp - June 1, 2011
Maybe we need to change school so that “Being good at school” means being a problem solver, critical thinker and has skills that are transferable to any task a person chooses to take on in life.
I really like that Terry. I think we should.
evolving what it means to be good at school – i like that — it’s so much more productive than just rebelling or disengaging