Some of the smartest people I know (or just know of) didn’t go to university or bother to graduate. Many think the school system is broken, and there are better ways to learn. The question is, if the way we’re supposed to learn isn’t effective, then what is?
Dale Stephens, writing for CNN, believes university is a waste of time because it promotes all the wrong things:
I left college two months ago because it rewards conformity rather than independence, competition rather than collaboration, regurgitation rather than learning and theory rather than application. Our creativity, innovation and curiosity are schooled out of us. Failure is punished instead of seen as a learning opportunity. We think of college as a stepping-stone to success rather than a means to gain knowledge. College fails to empower us with the skills necessary to become productive members of today’s global entrepreneurial economy.
Stephens believes that university was a primary means of identifying good, new workers to the companies seeking them. He suggests that the internet is replacing this function of tertiary education and rendering it mostly useless. This certainly seems to be the case for some people, but it is currently no majority.
What do you think is the most effective means of education today? Is it the system we have in place, a reformed version of it, or something else entirely? Share your thoughts in the comments.
College is a waste of time [CNN Opinion]
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