A New Approach To Education

How We Lost the Purpose of Education — and How to Get It Back.

The way education is being taught needs to change.

Currently, the purpose of education is so that the student is able to pass an exam at the end of the academic process. This results in many years being lost — or dare I say, wasted — for both students and teachers. Education and learning should serve one core purpose: to change a person’s behaviour in how they do or approach something.

All the subjects in the curriculum, from primary through to the end of secondary school, are crucial to our development as human beings. But that sentiment begins to fade around the middle to end of primary school and becomes virtually non-existent throughout secondary education. The reason is simple: children adopt the idea that this seemingly laborious process exists solely to get good grades. Good grades lead to a good college. Good college leads to further laborious education at a good university. And that university degree will then lead to a good job in the future when they’re adults.

The problem with this narrative is profound. The actual benefits of learning subjects like calculus, science, literature, and history are completely missed. These subjects become just another chore to be completed to avoid punishment — boxes to tick rather than tools to master.

I myself didn’t particularly enjoy my secondary school experience, although I was a fairly good student. But as I grew older and had the freedom to explore different things, I began to realise what the true purpose of these subjects were. I’ve since made it my mission to relay this understanding to my children.

The Hidden Power of School Subjects

Take mathematics, for example. Calculus isn’t simply about learning how to find answers to equations. It teaches the brain how to process complex problems and develop formulas to solve them. The skill isn’t in memorising the quadratic formula — it’s in training your mind to break down complexity into manageable parts.

History is another misunderstood subject. It trains you to spot patterns and identify consistencies in human and physical nature, allowing you to predict future outcomes. When you study history, you learn to develop solutions to existing problems because you understand the causes that led to the current state of things. To study history is to widen one’s scope on humanity’s existence, tapping into knowledge that has already gone through trials and errors.

Then there’s science. Science trains us to experiment, to tweak variables, and to be patient in arriving at answers. It teaches us to identify relationships between the forces that make this world work. More broadly, science is the ability to study and observe patterns, develop a thesis based on those observations, test that thesis, and draw conclusions that can be applied to real-world problems. It’s a way of thinking that extends far beyond the three main sciences taught in schools.

I could go on until I’ve covered all the fundamental subjects in the curriculum, but that’s not necessary for the scope of this piece. If you want a more detailed breakdown — based on my observations and with assistance from ChatGPT — you can view the full breakdown here, where you’ll have the ability to comment, discuss, and contribute to this idea.

The Real Problem We Need to Solve

Here’s what I’m attempting to address: education, as it currently stands, is not stimulating for many students going through the curriculum. This is simply because they’re not taught why learning these things is crucial or how they’ll benefit from them beyond eventually becoming employed in what seems like an unmotivating, unfulfilling, and non-progressive working environment.

But if we begin to teach these subjects in ways that demonstrate their true power and what mastering them can achieve, we stand a far better chance of developing intelligence, creativity, and critical thinking from younger ages. We can harness the mind’s natural desire for stimulation rather than letting it lead to distraction and disengagement.

The world we live in is changing at a rapid, exponential pace. The things demanding our attention on the surface will likely continue to evolve. But the fundamentals will always remain the same, and these fundamentals are embedded within the core subjects taught in education.

The trick is approaching the teaching in a way that connects to modern interests. Want to be an influencer or streamer? Science can help you spot patterns to build a bigger following and create better content. History can teach you what types of narratives resonate with people and why. Mathematics can help you understand algorithms and optimize your posting schedule. These aren’t separate from “real life” — they’re the foundation of it.

When we help students see the connection between what they’re learning and what they care about, education stops being a chore and starts being a superpower.