I was reflecting on an exchange I had at a recent event I was at (teaching mini-conference at a prominent business school). I was the keynote speaker. During my talk, I asked the group if their graduates were being prepared to change the world, and the response (amidst some laughs) was along the lines of “they can barely get through their exams “.
As is usual when I speak, I talk about the quality of lectures as learning events (the poorest type of learning event available). During the questions after my talk, one of the participants noted that all the other business schools she was aware of lecture exactly the same way they did at their school.
As I thought about this, I thought, “I’ll bet that is one thought that has never entered the head of anyone who has awakened in the morning with the intention of changing the world”.We’re not going to change the world by doing exactly the same thing that everyone else does. Education today is all about conformity and passing exams. If we want our children and students to conform and pass exams, then we should be doing exactly what everyone else is doing. If we want our children and students to change the world, we need to prepare them to change the world.
I suppose this only matters to those of us who believe that there are things in the world that need changing.
I, for one, am not satisfied with striving for mediocrity. I try to inspire my students to change the world!