Thoughts on the objectives of school education
A young friend, who currently attends school, recently asked me: "Will I be using this derivation of Electric Field due to a Dipole any time in my life?
I thought for a second or two and replied: "No, you won't".
Later on, I thought a little more. Perhaps it might help him later on in carrying out mathematical manipulations when he starts working - but I believe most jobs do not require much more than simple algebra, if that. Maybe it would help him develop analytical skills - but this too appeared far-fetched; my young friend was only required to know how to set up the "apparatus" for the derivation, and follow its implications more or less mechanically. It might help him progress a bit in his knowledge of physics - but I doubt if, five or ten years down the line, he would remember this derivation as anything more than the faintest impression in his ocean of memories.
Having eliminated these possibilities, I was left with one conclusion. The only reason he had to study the derivation of Electric Field due to a Dipole was, to echo Sir Edmund Hillary's words upon his ascent of the Everest: Because it is there. This set off a stream of thoughts on the question: What should be the objectives of school education?
My hypothesis is: school education should equip you with the skills you require in order to earn a living. Anything over and above this is great, but this ought to be the primary purpose.
From what I have seen, I believe the following are the important general skills to have in a typical white-collar workplace. Unfortunately, most schools do not work at developing these skills among students. But fortunately, parents could try to set up things at home so that their children pick up these skills regardless.
1. The ability to read textual material; and to be able to understand its essence and nuance
If you are a computer programmer, you will need to read documentation manuals. Similar is the case for lawyers (case briefs, law books), doctors (medical journals), managers (e-mail memos, operational and strategy documents), and nearly every other professional one can think of. Come to think of it, even for an offbeat line of work like professional acting, you need to be able to read your lines and understand not only what's written, but also the emotion behind it.
Regardless of the career one pursues, the ability to read and understand written material is an indispensable skill to have.
How to build these skills: Children could be assigned various types of demanding reading material, and be asked to present their thoughts on what they have understood. Textual material from various subjects - history, philosophy, science, etc. - could be assigned to children, and a discussion could follow. Some example material - Thomas Paine's Common Sense (political philosophy); John Stuart Mill's On Liberty (philosophy); Richard Feynman's What do You Care What Other People Think? (part-science, part-autobiography); Robert Kanigel's The Man who Knew Infinity (biography of Srinivasa Ramanujan, the mathematician); Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel (multi-disciplinary, but mainly related to geography).
You might also be interested in reading this.
2. The ability to write clearly
Similar to Point 1. The ability to write well is an important aspect of most lines of work. For some reason, this skill hasn't been given as much importance (at least in India, and at least amongst engineers) as it deserves.
Writing, in a a workplace context, means more than just the communication of content. It is equally important to understand the emotions you wish to convey, and to convey it to just the right degree. For example, it is a skill to register one's disappointment over e-mail in a way that doesn't sound aggressive, but instead touches the right chord within the recipient. It is a skill to send an e-mail to one's team, exhorting everyone to pull up their socks without causing resentment. It is a skill to structure arguments clearly so as to create maximum impact.
Basab Pradhan of Infosys has an interesting take on this subject. See here. Also see the thoughts of David Ogilvy (one of the founders of advertising agency O&M), on the subject of writing in the workplace context, here.
How to build these skills: Something similar to the previous section will work, but with writing exercises to supplement debates. Also, I think children should be encouraged to view writing as an act of self-expression (be it with respect to arguments or emotions), rather than as an exercise in tedium.
3. The ability to understand and retain what is spoken over telephone; the ability to speak well over telephone
In most workplaces, team members work in distributed offices, so they often have conference calls to keep everyone informed. You need to have the ability to understand what's being spoken, and the ability to speak clearly when required. Some people are naturally blessed with this ability. But if you're not, you will need to develop this skill.
How to build these skills: My hunch is that something similar to Section 1 will work, i.e. you could assign a child some reading material, ask him/her to take notes and organize his/her thoughts, and have a telephone conversation to discuss the material. I agree this sounds somewhat tacky and artificial. But perhaps there are other ways that work better - it will be interesting to hear from people who might have ideas on this.
5. The ability to focus, even on unpleasant tasks
Working on boring or painful tasks is unavoidable in office. So one needs to have the ability to withstand boredom and focus on the work at hand. I guess much of school education today focuses (by default rather than design, I might add) on this particular skill.
How to build these skills: I think school already builds this, so I wouldn't think of adding anything special to the usual regimen.
6. The ability to withstand a fair amount of pressure in order to get things done
At most workplaces, it is necessary to expect the unexpected, and to have the ability to withstand pressure. Pressure comes from various sources - strict deadlines, lack of resources, lack of skills etc. Whatever be the source, pressure is unavoidable. So one needs to learn how to cope and get things done.
How to build these skills: Perhaps children could be assigned projects to make things, such as building robots or computer programs. They could be given a deadline, with incentives in case they manage to complete them on time. This is by no means a perfect idea - for instance, there remain questions such as how to create the right kind and right amount of pressure. Here again, it will be good to hear some creative ideas.
7. Taking initiative and seeing the bigger picture
This skill is often the distinguishing characteristic of people who "get ahead" in the workplace. People who think ahead, and think of the bigger picture rather than their own restricted sphere of work, are usually the kind of employees who are valued the most. If you are self-employed, this is even more necessary.
I guess the children who naturally have this talent end up being House Captains, Sports Captains etc. For the rest, however, this skill ought to be developed.
How to build these skills: Perhaps children could be asked to build a stamp or coin collection; perhaps they could be asked to form a children's book club in the neighbourhood. Based on the interests of the child, suitable projects ought to be found which help them develop initiative.
8. Understanding the motivations of people; ability to influence people
Any organization is an ecosystem where you will, at various points, need to seek help from colleagues, and get work done through peers or subordinates. In this context, it is important to know what it is that motivates people. It is also important to have the ability to convince people of your viewpoints - in other words, to influence people. By influence, I do not imply manipulation. Rather, I mean the ability to make others see your viewpoint.
For example, you might have a great idea about how to improve the state of affairs in your corporate division. But nobody ever accepts ideas just like that. You will need to convince your colleagues and superiors of the merit of your ideas, persuade them, cajole them, make them see reason, perhaps plead with them, in order to get them to come around. Sometimes this means swallowing your ego and defending your ideas from various lines of criticism. It also means you need to see other people's point of view, if for nothing else than to help you shift their perspective.
How to build these skills:I think this cannot be simulated, so some real life action is the way to go. For example, children could be taken along during grocery shopping so that they can observe the way adults hold commercial discussions. Children from business families have a huge headstart in this regard, for they get to see their family members engaging in business discussions quite often. Somehow, parents from non-business families will need to provide this sort of exposure to their children as well. And I suppose children will also learn a little about influence based on their observations of how their parents try to cajole and convince them.
10. Ability to give presentations to audiences
In most lines of work today, one is expected to give presentations (usually in PowerPoint) to an audience of several people. For this, one needs to have the ability to structure a presentation, and present it in a way that's not terribly boring. Few people possess this skill. If you do, you will have a big advantage over the rest of the crowd.
How to build these skills: Similar similar to the points made for Skills 1 to 3 would work here, but with a larger audience. Perhaps one could get 2-3 neighbours - adults as well as kids - to attend these presentations.
11. Ability to calculate things using Excel and other tools; the ability to do everything using computers
I suppose most children (at least those who belong to the middle-class and above) these days will be familiar with how to operate computers. But only some will know how to use computers the right way, and use computers to the maximum.
It is necessary to possess an intimate familiarity with computers. This means being able to use a computer to manage your schedule, tasks, calendar, e-mails. documents, etc. Most people do this unthinkingly in a default manner, with poor productivity as a result. Those who possess the skills to use computers optimally to organize and get things done, will possess a big advantage over everyone else.
For example, one manager whom I greatly admire, would drill into each of his subordinates the necessity to sort their e-mails into separate folders in Outlook. With this discipline, it was easy for all of his team members to easily retrieve any e-mail they wanted. Similarly, I have found it greatly beneficial to use Google Calendar and Google Docs to keep track of my goals and tasks.
How to build these skills: Parents could share with their children how they work and organize things in office. To the extent possible, they could get children to incorporate some elements (e.g. Google Calendar, online TODO lists) into their daily life so that it becomes second nature to them.
12. Basic discipline - being neat and clean
Yes, there are many tech companies that now have a casual dress code - T-shirts and jeans are acceptable in these workplaces. However, it is a fact that in pretty much every other type of workplace, one's sense of dressing and overall bearing matter a great deal. So it is important to appear presentable and natty at all times. This is a discipline, and ought to be learned. I would also say that this is one of those things that, if neglected early on in life, is hard to undo later on.
How to build these skills: The only way to do this is to insist on cleanliness and presentability as non-negotiable aspects of life, on a par with brushing one's teeth. Children of course learn by example, so parents will need to be impeccable in this regard.
15. To understand your own emotions; to use them to your benefit; and to protect yourself from the worst of their effects
Humans are by nature prone to emotion. Anger, sadness, jealousy, disappointment - all of these and more are bound to strike you at one point or another, as are happiness, enthusiasm and excitement. Of course, it is impossible to be so perfectly level-headed. But it is very helpful if you can understand your emotions, use them to your benefit and reduce the worst of their ill-effects.
How to build these skills: This will be the subject of a separate note sometime in the future.
A computer science professor from MIT was in the city recently. He noted, during the course of a lecture, that in order to explain things, one must start by building a model - any model. The model will be wrong, he pointed out. But without the model, you will have nothing. The professor said this in relation to certain types of technical problems. But the idea seems useful in other contexts as well. It is in the spirit of the professor's words that these objectives are meant to be read.
I do not presume that the above objectives are exhaustive or perfect. However, I do believe it is a start.
