the school system sucks: outdated learning

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, an 18 y/o always up to something in social good x tech.

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btw, feel free to reply with topic ideas you want me to write about for future posts.

onto today’s topic: outdated learning 🕰️ 

i remember when my grade 11 bio teacher told me that stem cells can never revert back after differentiating.

i immediately thought, “um, what about iPSCs?”

a recent research paper i skimmed came to mind and refuted her entire point. the fact that stem cells can’t revert back was a core part of the textbook’s idea of a stem cell. i literally had to write incorrect information on my unit test so i could get the mark. it was so bizarre.

school curriculums are criminally outdated. 👮 there’s little to no content around emerging technologies and current events, besides the rare teacher that’s genuinely interested in the topic and shares mini knowledge drops every now and then.

in school, what we learn prepares us for the past rather than the future, which is exactly why so much of us play catch up when we enter the real world. schools had no problem implementing anti-ai cheating policies in classrooms as soon as chatgpt blew up. why not replicate that urgency in order to incorporate ai into the curriculum?

i’m not even asking for a curriculum overhaul. just dedicating one hour a week to teaching content around current events would help prepare students for the future industry immensely.

i’ve found that i don’t need that much depth in a certain new technology or concept to be able to use it as inspiration for new ideas. just knowing something exists and its applications opens up a whole new world of interest and exploration that students can then take on individually. 🚀 

a common point in favour of high school education structure i hear is that it gives students breadth and opportunities to explore all subjects. but, where is the breadth in innovation? students are only exploring the archives of these subjects and not what will create the jobs of the future.

policy and rules are following current events in schools, so curriculum should too. have you been taught outdated lessons?

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