What’s Up with Education

I was speaking with someone yesterday, and they were describing some issues that they had with what was being learnt in school.  And it occurred to me that perhaps what was lacking wasn’t more content.  Maybe it was a little more than that.

Sometimes the problem is that things don’t link up like they should.  That can be neurological and such, but it can be as simple as not believing that you can succeed.

Anyone with enough encouragement and positive reinforcement can believe that they are brilliant.  They will believe that so much, that they will do whatever it takes to keep that self-belief – like, for example, study until their eyes hurt, badger their teacher for extra help, or get a tutor.

However, anyone with enough negative reinforcement can believe that they are ‘dumb’.  They will also believe that so much that they will sabotage themselves to keep that self-belief – for example, going to sleep in class and spending too much time on Facebook or other social media sites.

What’s wrong isn’t the content.  It’s the self-belief.  Change that, and you can change a child.

A book that helped me was The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teens, which was authored by the son of Stephen Covey (who wrote the original 7 Habits book).  It showed the benefits of principles, how they don’t let you down, and how you can rely on them to forge a life worth living.  With these as a foundation, these seven habits can make success a habit – both in class and in life.

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• Disclaimer: Part of the way that I support my income is through these affiliate links.  However, I would never plug a product that I didn’t believe in.  For example, I have two copies of 7 Habits in my collection of books – one that I bought and one that I was given.  It’s through reading it that I can endorse this product – because I know it works.