Posted by Luke in The answer to this question may seem very simple. University lecturers (like me) should not be responsible for teaching students how to manage real problems. However, I disagree. Why?
High school does not teaching practical skills as such
While I admit there are a lot of useful ideas for reaching teenagers and getting them to cope with real life issues and problems, there is still a long way to go. What happens is that students leave high school and then go into university then go into the workforce. Some, do trades or just get a job. Yet the process of learning is exactly the same. They go from high school to the outside world and then that’s it.
University courses are not that practical in general they are specific
Most university courses I have taught will not teach you how build great responses to problems. One of the reasons I started this blog was because I noticed people who were coming through university courses with no life skills. Yes, they could read and write (and do maths) but where were their problem solving skills? What about creative thinking skills? What about learning how to cope with relationships? If life is all about work then what do we do the rest of our time?
90% of what you do at work is NOT academic
This is hard to admit but how often do you reach for your economics book? Or wonder what Maslow would have thought about your jerky boss. It’s time for bone dry honesty… how useful is the information you get at university, high school or college (TAFE included)? Theories are wonderful… I have a lot of them. But unless something helps me to solve a problem I throw it away. What good is knowledge that doesn’t work? It’s like having a Porsche with no motor OR a Monet with a hole in the centre of it.
Once upon a time university was a place where people expanded their minds. Now, I think it’s a sausage factory. People go out to work after studying and I wonder all the time just how useful this knowledge is? I have written papers in the past and then thought… is this even meaningful… I mean is this ever going to change our lives? I doubt it. We should be teaching people at University, high school and other places of education how to manage and cope with life. Why? I think there is a responsibility here for educators to realise that a portion of what we teach should be how to manage real life problems. If it isn’t then we are not preparing people for a life in the business world where learning curves are steep and lessons are harshly learned.
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I love what you are saying, however you should really work out the typo’s in this post. It hurts to read.
This is so true! They say there’s a difference between book-smarts and street-smarts. I think schools are starting to slowly realize the value of “street-smarts” by having more dynamic and interactive classroom settings, but in general they are still vastly behind.
@Ace thanks for that. As for the typos, ouch! I will re-edit immediately.
@Al Thanks for the comment. I hope so. I think there is a big difference between book smarts and street smarts. I think the key is learning how to apply it and learn. Thanks Al!
Great post Luke!
I agree fully. In fact, there are so many life skills that we don’t learn from school. That prompted me to write Why School Should Teach Personal Finance:
http://lawrencecheok.com/111/school-teach-personal-finance.html
I have no good idea how to do this, but it’s true that many of my life skills are learned about I stopped schooling.
[...] Houghton presents Why should we teach students how to manage real life problems? posted at Luke Houghton saying, “As a university lecturer, I am constantly wondering if what [...]