The aim of formal education or schooling is for students to gain knowledge, learn new skills and prepare them for the future. This will enable them to be successful or productive members of society.
What is a Successful Member of Society?
In terms of education, being a successful member of society would mean you can find and hold a good job or profession and support yourself financially. For many this is a status symbol and success in life is very closely related to your professional and financial status.
Education has become highly focused on achieving good school results which means you can memorise and retain a vast amount of knowledge. Those who have a better school education, have a better chance to further their education through a university or college degree. Having higher education gives you a competitive advantage in many areas of life.
But is that all we should aim for? This view of success does not take into consideration social skills nor does it teach emotional intelligence or general well being for society or individuals.
With the rise in mental health issues across all professions and nations, it may be time to revalue what we deem as a successful member of society.
How has the Professional World Changed?
With the introduction of the internet, the education and professional world have been turned upside down. It is not necessary anymore to go to a physical building to learn. You can learn about any subject from anywhere in the world. And if you are not interested in a formal certificate, you can learn this without spending a cent.
With this change, there is also a change in the professional world. In the formal work place the skillsets you need has changed. In the past your success heavily relied on your knowledge. But knowledge is now easily obtainable and therefore if you want to be successful today, you need more soft skills.
The internet also created more job opportunities outside of the formal workplace. Today we have teenagers who became millionaires simply by learning how to use the internet and social media to earn an income. Not only do they not need a formal education, they are sitting in their pajamas, working from home, often not even working a full 8 hours a day.
What Skills are Necessary Today?
Almost more important than knowledge, is soft skills. These are non-technical skills that help with conflict resolution, employee motivation and commitment. These skills are transferable and needed across all industries and at every level in the workplace.
People with better soft skills are shown to have higher quality of life and earn more than their peers. If you want to stand out in the ever increasing competitiveness of the workplace you need skills to show you are different and can offer more than knowledge.
Unfortunately due to the restrictive setup of the traditional education system, very few of these skills are taught effectively in schools. Not because of a lack of trying. Educators are limited in time and resources and have a curriculum to teach.
Some of the top skills necessary to succeed are
- Emotional Intelligence
- Communication
- Team work
- Problem-solving
- Dependability
- Critical thinking
- Positive Attitude
- Adaptability
- Resilience
- Conflict resolution
Are There Better Ways of Schooling?
As the world is changing at a fast pace, the education system is having a hard time keeping up. When you have a formal system, it is expensive and time consuming to regularly change what is being taught and how to teach it.
And so, many smaller independent schools and learning centers are on the rise. With less red tape it is much easier to adapt to the changing times. It is also easier for these schools to focus on the individual child and allow them to develop according to their own strengths.
There are many different new models of schooling to choose from. For many parents who are not ready or cannot homeschool, a more natural school environment, focusing on the individual, is the ideal solution.
Schooling at Animalia
At Animalia we focus on self-directed learning. This gives children the opportunity to gain knowledge in a natural way and integrate developing of soft skills with the learning process.
Through natural play with little to no adult interference, children learn to handle conflict amongst themselves, work in teams to find new solutions and communicate their grievances effectively.
We believe education is a natural experience of life.
Animalia Learning Center 