An Essay On The Current State Of Education

By Robert V. Longo, J.D. January 2014

The Learning Redux A Back To The Future Approach On

Restructuring Standardized Education Open a newspaper or periodical, watch a business program, listen to a debate or interview or simply visit a college campus and youll routinely read or hear distressing commentary voicing the same concerns and complaints the current education system is greatly lacking, becoming prohibitively expensive and under delivering the very value it purports to provide. Students, faculties, prospective employers, parents and even the very institutions in focus are all in various ways dissatisfied with the current state of affairs. And this critical introspective examination is not only occurring in developing nations throughout Asia, but it is also taking place throughout the Western world, and especially in the United States. How has higher education lost its relevance and steadily declined given that fingertip access to vast quantities of knowledge and information is available in todays internet prevalent age. Given the above raised concerns and this seemingly paradoxical dichotomy, such necessitates the following questions be posited and addressed. Is a college education still relevant and the sine qua non long professed needed to be pursued? If answered yes, deemed so by whom and on what basis? Is the diploma awarded worth the amount of time, effort and money expended on acquiring it? And how can dissatisfied students, educators and employers all obtain what they seek if the current education model is in fact outmoded and no longer delivering what is required for all the above mentioned parties involved and society at large? This essay seeks to address these vexing questions by assessing the involvement of the four principal participants associated with mainstream institutions of higher learning. The student, teachers, prospective employers, the educational institutions, along with the parents of students who are tangentially also involved. The essay will broadly examine the overall educational system with an emphasis on Asia, and specifically why the learning process has been disrupted and no longer delivering expectant results. In conclusion, alternative learning methods will be proposed which can serve to either augment the current system or challenge its very structure and the manner in which learning can best take place and more efficiently be delivered.

The Student The young are inherently drawn to learning, initially by curiosity which later matures into the desire to advance and pursue ambitions. If learning is forced, results will be achieved but its widely acknowledged not at the same rate as when the undertaking stems from personal interest and is accompanied with keen enthusiasm and curiosity. Students have been conditioned by the incumbent system that the primary goal of education is to receive a degree which serves as an entry ticket toward gainful employment, and that any learning that does take place is more a byproduct of the rigid process required to receive that diploma. Jadedly stated, knowledge transfer is the educational process and any real learning that occurs is more of a bonus. Hence most students submit to four years of study, sitting in classrooms (if they even bother to attend) unmotivated by the majority of compulsory courses that have no present relevance or at best are of limited value upon entering the workforce. To be candid, how many of us whove attended university remember anything at all from those lectures so often delivered by uninspired professors who had even less interest being in the class than the students in attendance. Ambitious minded students are left carping about having to take irrelevant courses, taught by dispirited or even unqualified lecturers, deadening any interest initially possessed to learn. Lessening the interest to learn is further exacerbated in Asia as the curricula often adopted by schools is heavily influenced with Western concepts and theory that serves to alienate students and accelerate their demotivation. So why have schools adopted and promulgated the Western centric model as the resulting benefits seem limited at best and at worst appear deleterious to the learning environment? Moreover, its seems anachronistic to locally adopt this model as its now being challenged in the West as an antiquated, detached and moribund way of learning with more students dropping out of school or foregoing a university education all together. This disconnect between whats being taught and whats really needed is a major cause for student frustration and disinterest which forces them to focus only on passing exams through rote memorization (be it in earnest or through cheating) which thwarts the learning process and vitiates the very purpose for which education is intended. Without students being actively engaged by independently discovering things, the learning process is circumvented and in effect inhibits the learning desire which in-turn greatly stifles creative thinking and the ability to innovate. Another serious problem stymying the learning process is the language barrier and that students worldwide have developed a concerning disinterest
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in reading books and articles of serious content; preferring rather to surf the internet for blogs and short articles of limited and trite substance. In Asia, when the curriculum is taught in English, many students are not fluent enough to fully comprehend the content of the lectures, let alone be able to read the accompanying text books and support materials. Its noticeable students worldwide are reading less as attention spans obviously have grown shorter. The library is usually the emptiest room on campus or instead used to facilitate conversation and game playing if an overpriced American coffee shop or burger joint is nowhere near to be found. There have been numerous studies attempting to discover precisely why, but its transparently obvious television, the internet and even the copious amounts of processed food being consumed have all in some measure contributed towards this disturbing occurrence. Knowledge gained from books therefore is unfortunately no longer the traditional way to best convey information. Given the rigid parameters set forth by the present education system, teachers are left struggling to impart knowledge using this out-dated and ill-suited medium. Short of educators along with government launching a campaign to promote more reading, a more contemporary way needs to be implemented to capture and retain the students attention. Compounding this dilemma even further is students have become disillusioned by the value attached to studying at university. Saddled with increasingly large student loans and little chance of repaying the debt amassed as unemployment worsens, the value of the degree has been cheapened and is being questioned en mass. In this age of austerity, government subsidized education is being consigned to the past and access to affordable education is regrettably no longer deemed a right or a necessity to produce a capable and thinking citizenry. For the conspiratorial minded this may be by design and not by default, but whatever the reason there is no denying such is visibly transpiring and indeed generating profound consequences. Society is being stratified, not only economically but also intellectually with the wealthy gaining access to quality education while the financially challenged are left searching to find affordable while acceptable schooling in order to remain competitive and relevant. The Teacher Shifting the focus to the teachers and analyzing the situation through the same educational prism but viewed from a different perspective, their frustrations with the current system are not much different than those encountered by their students.
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Teachers are engaged in a noble profession and throughout history have been either revered and held in high esteem or persecuted and summarily dispensed with depending on whoevers held the reign of power. Regardless, teachers have rarely received compensation commensurate with their contribution and service to society. A look at the salaries awarded investment bankers or corporate executives compared to that of university professors makes it shockingly apparent the relative importance, or lack thereof, each profession is hierarchically accorded. Despite this noticeable pay gap, the majority of teachers choose to teach due to the enjoyment and satisfaction gained from assisting and educating others. Admitted given the poor salaries on offer, many highly qualified and gifted instructors forego teaching to pursue more lucrative professions resulting in high teacher turnover and the hiring of unqualified teachers to fill the void. As an additional affront of working for low wages, many teachers find themselves being asked to shoulder a heavier work load teaching courses they are either unqualified to conduct or are not provided enough lead time to adequately prepare. Regardless who is teaching, if forced to teach irrelevant or redundant subjects to disinterested students and at barely subsistent wages, is it any surprise a large proportion of teachers have become dissatisfied and as jaded as their students sharing the same waning enthusiasm. So as not to apportion all the blame with institutions that have adopted Western curricula peppered with irrelevant subjects coupled with poorly paid wages, many English language speaking lecturers in Asia are also guilty of conducting their courses in a dry, sometimes arrogant theory based only manner. This is not only off-putting and alienates students, but is contrapuntal to cultivating the desired positive learning environment. As previously mentioned, Asian students may not be sufficiently fluent in English to comprehend all that is being taught. Teachers must be sensitive to this critical point and adroit enough to modify their teaching style. Teaching excessive academic theory in combination with impressive but incomprehensible vocabulary and colloquialisms is clearly a misguided classroom strategy - but still many instructors forge ahead seemingly oblivious to their errant ways left wondering why student attendance dwindles and performance remains so poor. Thus with blame being effectively transferred and the subject matter being accredited the sole culprit. As an aside, one student informed me her professor was obviously brilliant because she was unable to understand most of the words he used! For me, this was the clarion call being trumpeted that expatriate teachers in Asia need to be apprised of this seemingly rudimentary but pivotal problem

and that schools should immediately implement remedial training to remedy this cross cultural and academic miscommunication. Aside from the above stated concern, competent teachers find themselves trapped perpetuating an intellectually bankrupt and moribund model that no longer fosters learning but tends to suffocate it. How can conscientious teachers innovate to spark initiative and creativity in students if they are forced to doggedly follow prescribed course material he or she knows to be at cross purpose with whats actually needed and best for the students. Renegade teachers who do find the temerity to challenge the system, no matter how well intentioned or practical, are usually soon found persona non grata at institutionalized schools that follow such dogmatically entrenched doctrine which is never allowed to be questioned. Regrettably the very creativity and innovation teachers are tasked to inculcate their students with, quickly discover their entrepreneurial mindset does not curry favor but is hypocritically perceived a threat prompting admonishments, disciplinary measures or at worst compulsion to resign. Good teachers that do remain in service are schooled to bow - cowed into submission leaving the system unchanged and perpetuating the malignant malaise. Progressive thinking is urgently required to exit this ineffectual paradigm that breeds complacency, discontent and ambivalence for all parties concerned. To sideline or dismiss input from teachers who are well positioned to actually affect beneficial change defies both common sense and logic but such is the dilemma in which teachers have found themselves entangled. The Educational Institution And now to examine the institutions of higher learning, specifically in Asia and why they are unable or possibly recalcitrant to substantially affect any significant change. Asian Institutions are often severely limited, even burdened by the curricula imported from the West which is often rigidly adhered to by both institutions and instructors. Such curricula, developed for the benefit of Western students and thereafter successfully exported internationally is still regarded as the gold template for education to be packaged and sold like other mass manufactured products, so slickly marketed and offered-up to be mindlessly consumed regardless if its in conflict with domestic cultural traditions, beliefs or methods. The problems affiliated with the existent curriculum being provided and taught has been previously addressed from both the student and teacher perspective, but
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other areas such as the institutions organizational structure, their educational ethos along with how said institutions interface with the other relevant parties are to now be examined and the marginal if not compromising impact such has on the learning process. Institutions of higher learning are either state funded (in part or fully) or privately run enterprises. Although both purport to provide education, their motives for doing so may vary and therefore it is necessary to examine each type of schooling separately. State provided schooling is generally more affordable than their privately run counterparts but they usually face greater budgetary constraints and are forced to strictly adhere to standardized government mandates. Very little leeway is granted for any teacher inspired creative innovation to take root as faculty and students must conform to the pre-designated curriculum. Salary levels are prescribed by set pay scales (usually very low salaried) and student enrollment is not that selective thus dictating the quality and interest level of both the faculty members and students attracted. With respect to private institutions, they are primarily run for profit and the bottom line is most justly relevant. It is however many times in conflict with their educational vision and mission statements set forth in their aspirational promotional material. Student enrollment is obviously important but in an attempt to garner tuition fees, the acceptance of less than academically qualified students usually occurs thus compromising the level of course instruction and in-turn affecting the morale of both teachers and the more academically motivated students. Institutional cost concerns are regrettably paramount to any needs the faculty or students may require and this will always be a constant source of friction between all three groups in such privately operated organizations. Regardless whether the school is state or privately run, a high importance is placed on churning out theory schooled graduates without adequately equipping them with the real-life social and practical skills needed to confidently compete in an increasingly internationalized workplace. Turning to the internal organization of the schools, they are comprised primarily of three main components: management/administration, faculty and the student body. In order for schools to operate with productive efficiency, all three areas need to work in harmonious concert along with being interfaced with the educational needs of the business community. Poorly run schools often suffer from directionless, uninspired and/or noninnovative leadership along with an administrative staff that lacks a defined structure or are ill-equipped to carry out their coordinative and/or procedural duties. This routine misalignment of objectives and goals often leads to conflicts over purpose, internal bickering to protect perceived
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departmental interests and the eventual decreasing of overall performance and morale. Poor business practices along with cultural miscommunications is often the source of this dysfunction which many schools could minimize if the management and administrative staff would take the well advised time and effort to attend a few of their own in-school business courses taught to mitigate these very same difficulties experienced. Finally, the importance of the undergraduate degree has been greatly inflated while the actual value of it has been simultaneously reduced, forcing businesses to demand advanced degrees thus further postponing whats really needed by the student on the job practical and experience based learning. This degree treadmill students find themselves running on is unnecessary for the majority unless they are pursuing careers in academia or other highly specialized areas of endeavor. The international race to accumulate degrees like boy scout merit badges has devolved into a cost prohibitive, time consuming competition that has served to bloat the education business (some cynically prefer to label it racket) which provides marginal returns in relation to all thats expended. Business - The Prospective Employer From the business perspective on todays education system, prospective employers routinely state they are in constant search of qualified employees. Worldwide businesses report the pool of suitable candidates to select from is shrinking as demand however for educated workers throughout Asia is rising. Businesses complain that both under and postgraduate students often do not possess the skills required to compete in todays highly competitive and interconnected global environment. Currently in Asia, businesses are in search of employees possessing greater soft skills such as: keen communication and foreign language skills, team working abilities, computer talents along with positive attitudes, initiative, critical thinking and creativity. These requisite real-life social and technical skills are not being taught in tandem with course content or if so, not sufficiently enough forcing companies to take it upon themselves to either train workers directly or hire outside trainers to fill the education void. This incurs considerable costs and time with no guarantee the newly trained employee will remain with the company to justify significant training expenditures. Playing devils advocate, it can be convincingly argued, businesses have no standing to whinge about the poor quality of student being graduated as it is either the student or state that is subsidizing the
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costs to produce their own employees. Its corporate chutzpah to attach all or most of the blame to universities for not manufacturing students to fit their specific work related requirements. If companies do demand certain skill sets, then they should be willingly prepared to go it alone and provide it. Furthermore, why do businesses even attach such inflated importance to the university degree when its widely acknowledged the value of it has substantially diminished thus perpetuating the need to possess advanced degrees. This particular issue has been commented upon in the previous section assessing the educational institution, but it is worth now noting that businesses should reevaluate their own hiring criteria. The exams and testing metrics employed by schools to evaluate students is widely acknowledged to be a rough and inaccurate method in assessing the overall students performance and abilities. Corporates would be better served placing reduced emphasis on seeking only academically titled employees, who may be still unqualified, but instead reevaluate their hiring practices by identifying more suitable and trainable candidates, albeit non or less academically titled for hire. In any event, why has this ongoing disconnect occurred between the academic and business world and why has it still not been adequately addressed given both parties involved are well aware of this existent problem and more importantly how it can be satisfactorily resolved? The Parents Before proposing some solutions to the above critically assessed issues and relevant parties involved, lets examine the parents role in this education equation. Undeniably, education paves the pathway out of poverty toward attaining a better way of life; by whatever subjective metric is used to define such betterment. Caring, well-intentioned parents aspire for their children to attain rewarding and fulfilling lives. However not all children are destined to excel in academics or even suited for the professions which require such formal and disciplined academic study. Children who are gifted and possess innate abilities or passions pertaining to the arts, the hospitality or culinary sector or a myriad of other skilled vocations are remorsefully pressed into higher education and forced to submit to study subjects uncorrelated with their interests for an unsought professional career: which if subsequently entered into is done so with lackluster enthusiasm, and diminished career expectations. This misguided albeit well-intentioned push toward an unwanted course of study weakens the students interest to actively
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participate in the learning process. Feelings of discontent, frustration or even guilt may arise by not being able to direct his or her own future which no doubt drains them of the prerequisite purpose required to successfully embark upon their studies. Eventual conferment of a degree if the studies are in fact successfully completed brings ephemeral satisfaction and pride for the parents but more than likely has succeeded in needlessly postponing what their child will eventually end up doing, making the degree superfluous and at an unwarranted cost. Both parents and child would be better served if the childs aptitude and interests could be ascertained and evaluated early on. If such can be determined and is deemed worthy of development the course of study is made much easier. Granted, most high school students are unsure of where their interests lie or even what it is they precisely wish to pursue. It is however usually most obvious what they clearly do not want to study. If uncertainty does exist, thoughtful and candid discussions should transpire between parent and child including a school counselor if one is available to identify any particular pursuits worthy thus reducing the chance that errant study commences and valuable time and money is wasted. Parents need to be reminded that although the importance of possessing a degree signifies accomplishment and serves as an entry pass into certain professions, it is of limited inherent worth if nothing was actually learned to assist them in advancing thereafter.

The Way forward The Learning Redux

Upon analyzing some of the above highlighted issues currently afflicting the education system, it is time to propose some potential solutions toward reversing the metastasizing learning malaise and chart the way forward. Surprisingly, the overall solution set forth below is neither innovative nor even that creative, but it is bold in that it requires an entire rethink of the education process and how effective learning can be restored and reinvigorated by a grassroots generated bottom-up approach hence lets commence to explore the back to the future learning redux. What Teachers Can Do To begin, despite the prior focus on problems prevalent throughout the education system and teachers in particular, some excellent teachers on university faculties are in fact to be found and often play a positive and
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influential role in student development. The positive effect they contribute towards the learning process, along with the camaraderie and vibrancy to be enjoyed on campus are not to be discounted. Students fortunate enough to be enrolled in a quality school with an engaging faculty and student body should remain as they are probably being well served and attaining what theyve set out and paid to achieve. For those teachers who are not performing at the level that is not only expected but demanded of them, they should take it upon themselves to improve their own abilities and teaching methodology. If their school is not able or willing to offer any training in this vital area, then teachers serious about their profession should seek self-improvement through study, be it by reading a more diverse range of books and current affairs material or by attending specialized teacher training/workshops seminars. At schools offering an adopted Western curriculum, the educational material used as previously noted, is primarily written in English. Regrettably reading is no longer prevalent among the young, be them native English speakers or not, making extensive use of textbooks to cogently impart knowledge most challenging, if not impossible. Alternate methods must be employed, such as the teacher first synthesizing the material and utilizing other mediums; for example tutorial videos or simplified power point presentations to deliver it. The teacher must accompany such presentations with clear explanations and be savvy enough to commingle theory with practical usage of the material. It serves well to remind teachers that instructing in this manner does convey principles which can be learned by memory, but seeking to convey its application and thereby produce learned students is the ultimate and most difficult but rewarding part of the learning process. Study of the humanities, and in particular philosophy are sparingly or rarely offered in Asian schools given the importance placed on math and the sciences, but if the teacher can encourage students to independently explore these areas of study, be it of Western and/or Asian teachings, learners can be transformed into the learned. The difference between the two is vast, for it is the learned who is more apt to create and innovate than merely the learner. Instead of teachers complaining their students dont exhibit creative and innovative talent, along with institutions professing that is what their curricula develops its time for the teachers to actively help develop it and the schools to meaningfully promote it. Teachers who strive to continually improve themselves exhibit personal integrity and professional commitment. To do so without compulsion is exemplary and will result in the reaping of great achievement and reward.
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Colleagues as well as conscientious students will steadily take notice and this should initiate a positive competitive learning environment among both the faculty and student body. This undertaking is the commencement of a process but if the malaise presently maligning the system is to be addressed, then such is one remedy that should be seriously considered to arrest and reverse this disturbing decline. And Parents With respect to parents and the influential role they play as previously discussed, they too should be included in the educational decision making process and defer to whats in their childs best interest. This may be difficult in Asia given the cultural importance attached to obtaining a degree, but if their child does not see the need, harbor the desire or lacks the academic ability or discipline to pursue a university education, then he or she should not be forced to do so. It will be most assuredly a waste of time and money and the source of much future frustration and discontent. Rather, if the child has already discovered his or her interest or passion and mapped out an alternate way to learn other than attending university, parents should be supportive and assist. If the child is unsure how to develop the interest, but clearly does not want to attend university then parents should again assist in sourcing alternative learning methods which will be discussed in greater detail hereafter. It is now saliently worth mentioning to view on You Tube, a TEDx talk titled Hack Schooling given by American teenager Logan Laplante. He eloquently comments on the role his parents played in assisting him on outsourcing his own learning which wildly succeeded in stoking his interests. A childs decision to embark on an alternative learning program is a bold even courageous decision that requires a well thought out plan of study and must be adhered to if success is to be attained. Foregoing traditional educational institutions in no way suggests that learning is abandoned, for the pursuit of knowledge is an odyssey like adventure that if inculcated during ones formative years should continue lifelong. Along With Business The lack of coordinated effort between educational institutions and businesses has been previously addressed and they have to improve their collaboration efforts and take a more active role in determining the curriculum where it is found lacking. Businesses, either collectively through organizations or independently through their respective human resource
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departments should interface with the education ministry or with the academic department heads of selected private schools in order to advance their business related course agenda. Granted, the courses to be included in the curriculum should be of overall benefit for the career minded student while also serving to assist businesses. Course inclusion should not be targeted to specifically assist any particular business or industry, as that undertaking rests solely with businesses and is best provided by conducting in-house corporate training, or outsourcing it to training centers. Corporate training should be commensurate with the benefits expected to be derived and related to such things as improving company organization and procedures, products, sales, customer relations, etc. These are well defined areas of study and can run parallel to the more broadly based business related university courses incorporated into the school curriculum. Short of institutions modernizing their curricula and teaching methods, businesses are advised to take a fresh look at how non-academically titled prospective employees are viewed. To discount the sought for experience and abilities already present in potential hires who do not possess a degree, is an injustice for both employer and employee. The mindset that has taken root over past decades which places the degree paramount to other qualifications, must be reevaluated. Given the myriad of far ranging successful entrepreneurs, corporate executives, politicians, writers, artists, adventurers, film directors, etc. who either didnt finish university or never managed to find its entrance gate thereby abandoning it all together is worth considered reflection. Microsofts Bill Gates recently was surprisingly heard touting the virtue and importance of higher education while he is most famously cited for being himself a Harvard dropout! He is one of thousands who seem to have successfully made it without having the benefit of a university degree but yet the myth that it is de rigueur for a promising career is perpetually promulgated in an attempt to keep classrooms full and tuition fees flowing in to keep this educational Titanic afloat. As For The Institutions Regarding institutions, they will be resistant to change and apparently maybe only forced to do so when their present business model is no longer viable in either the West or export sustainable to the rest of the world. Presently its on the highway towards being bankrupted both intellectually and economically as costs spiral with students being demanded to shoulder increased tuitions for reduced rewards. Students have begun to see the absurdity of the situation and are in revolt by no longer enrolling in large
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numbers along with many refusing to service their financially strangling student debt. It is incumbent upon institutions to take this opportunity while they remain solvent and relevant enough to voluntarily restructure and create a more affordable, accessible and progressive learning platform. Redundant subjects and accompanying support material must be jettisoned in favor of the more current which can easily be compiled and distilled using the copious amounts of information to be easily found on the internet. Modifying the curriculum in coordination with the needs of businesses has been above addressed but it is highlighted that many institutions have been slow, even negligent by failing to incorporate and/or maximize the far reaching benefits that the internet can provide in aiding to compile and assemble a truly internationalized education. Its unbelievable, but too many schools marketed as modern have no or inadequate internet service and even lack the most basic equipment such as projectors. Staid teachers who still conduct rote lectures and whove failed to improve their own level of competence and teaching abilities must be provided remedial training allowing them an opportunity to reinvigorate their lecture methods while regaining the interest as well as confidence of their students. Admittedly reading is in decline but the creative teacher needs to combat this by stimulating reading interest or transferring the information through different technology available mediums. Academic theory should be married with real life practical experience and learning should recommence by students doing and not being lectured to. To paraphrase an appropriate Confucius proverb, if one hears its forgotten, if one reads its remembered but when one does, it is understood. In addition, its worth recounting another proverb attributed to Buddha that counsels, When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Sage advice that the academic world should take heed of as the students are ready, while the institutions for the most part have been derelict and are not. Given the scale on which these institutions in question operate and how out-of-sync they are with whats demanded, it will be challenging, if not impossible for the majority of them to affect timely change. Provided this less than optimistic prospect, such brings us to the remaining and most pivotal participant in this learning redux - the student. And Finally - The Student As the card players adage warns, if you dont know who the patsy is at the poker table its probably you! To ask quite crudely, who is the patsy on
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this educational merry-go-round? It appears the students are and have been unwittingly duped into financing the costs of their education with businesses left bemoaning theyre routinely being required to participate with training expenses needed to remediate any skills found lacking or deficient. As such, the onus to reform this wayward system rests primarily with the students to literally think outside-of- the-school to acquire what is personally and professionally needed. The blame game can be futilely played with each party accusing the other and apportioning their respective guilt, but for change to finally commence it is now incumbent upon the student to take control of his or her learning destiny. No longer are students historically held captive to institutions (be them religious, governmental or educational) that guard knowledge and information to be selectively dispensed to the worthy or wealthy. No longer is access to knowledge the preserve of the powerful and privileged, for in conjunction with todays technology and the internet the barriers to access have been breached but for how long remains uncertain. Numerous reform-minded mavericks have long challenged mainstream education and two individuals noteworthy of mention are John Taylor Gatto and Sir Ken Robinson. Both have authored informative books and delivered equally inspiring lectures on the need to initiate fundamental education reform freeing students to pursue their aspirations with creativity and passion . These two high profile (and controversial) figures no doubt had a profound influence on the above mentioned teenager, Logan Leplante who gave his talk on how he personally bucked the traditional educational system and opted-out early on to pursue his own multi-pronged learning curriculum. The answer seems obvious to all that a better more efficient way presently exists to educate oneself, but as with any entrenched system there are those seeking to extract further profit from the existent system and will attack any change that threatens its continuum. Going back in time to examine how our ancestors learned, and progressing forward to observe in present day how non-formally schooled successful individuals learn to advance, the connecting thread stringing the process together is self-evident. Todays educational institutions have packaged and mass marketed education like a commodity and in the process the individual desire to selflearn has been greatly diminished. It has been widely proclaimed that the internet has changed everything. To some degree this is true but it is also incorrect to accept it without qualifying such a bold claim. Such a claim was similarly made when the radio was first invented and if any technology can lay claim to being a game-changing revolutionary bellwether, it may in fact be the radio. That truly was a momentous event when information became speedily available to the masses
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and made information for the first time in history more universally available. The advent of television visualized information and morphed it into entertainment. The internet has combined both these mediums and accelerated this information transfer. The sheer global volume and diversity of data on demand (including books, movies, documentaries and lectures just to state a snippet of all thats available) that can now be accessed is literally mind-altering. Ambitious and independent minded students, wherever they are located (aside from the remotest of places) can now access anything to be found online that previously would have been physically or economically impossible to obtain. There is no longer the excuse libraries or schools are not nearby to be found It would be however somewhat disingenuous if one proposed that self-education could be achieved by only accessing knowledge from the internet as a couple of shortcomings reveal the internets limitations. Firstly, it would take an extremely disciplined individual to commit to an objective and goal structured internet learning regime without being distracted by the prolific non educational amenities available online. And secondly, it cannot serve as a surrogate for learning that remains best acquired from firsthand experience and from teachers or mentors specifically selected to train targeted areas of interest. Although tremendous knowledge can be gained directly off of the internet and it is one of the major ways prescribed to partially self-educate, to learn solely through this medium would be in fact very sterile. To be successful, ones learning must be well rounded and internet reading and viewing must be accompanied by direct experience along with finding suitable mentorship programs and training courses. As highlighted, experience is the crucial ingredient necessitated to promote growth which is acquired along the path traveled towards wisdom. Learning by doing a range of activities is a time proven method which also faster yields maturity and confidence. This cannot be overemphasized and if a variety of experience producing activities are embarked upon early in life, so much the better. Listen to any of John Taylor Gattos interviews and you will be inundated with anecdotes confirming the very core of this belief. In the pursuit of gaining direct experience, risks will have to be deemed challenges and taken as part of the process. Achievements won will be tempered by failures and setbacks but such is the risk reward balance to be carefully weighed. Over the past decades, young people especially in the United States are noticeably remaining in a prolonged infantile state (according to Gatto and other researchers studying this topic, it is by design so the many will be prevented from challenging the very structure of the system) and coddled to the point that they are hesitant to risk anything for fear of being labeled a nonconformist and not being part of the protective state or corporate
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controlled environment. This is a most controversial subject but it warrants the readers independent investigation if its doubted what has just been suggested. Throughout Asia as well as numerous other regions throughout the world, many entrepreneurial/think tank spirited groups are beginning to mushroom like mini Silicon Valleys. They are comprised of like-minded students all interested in alternative learning, the type that creates synergy through the sharing of theories, ideas and experiences. By doing so these students are cutting their learning curve by not having to submit to time wasting courses and rather devote their energies to the things that get them excited. Many groups seek out mentors, experts in related fields of interest who are willing to donate time or provide assistance for a financial stake in any start-up venture that makes a return. All this builds experience and fuels the learning process. With mentors available to guide and consult with, along with interest targeted courses to be taken, mistakes can be mitigated all furthering the learning process by doing. In addition to the significant savings in tuition fees that are not incurred, some ventures worked on as stated may even be income producing. Tangible results are often more quickly realized than again having to waste time in an unproductive classroom. The Cautionary Optimistic Future Ahead In conclusion, it is without doubt the internet has opened doors to learning that were previously barred. But with opportunities to explore and expand ones educational horizons, caution must also be advised. Information and the ideas that it stimulates, transcend borders and are rightly perceived threatening to established centers of power and nations. The proliferation of this internationally diverse and often dubious information thats disseminated through a wide array of forums, be it on cable TV or the internet is greatly disrupting the metanarratives that schools and nations have purposely constructed over the centuries to ensure both unity and conformity. The internet has unleashed independent thought that no longer serves to unify national interests but is fracturing this metanarrative causing not only independent minded students, but the many accessing it to question and challenge the present structure the world has been operating. Not only students but all free-thinking individuals must remain vigilant and seize this prescient opportunity to prevent reversing all thats currently possible if a glorious new age is to be embarked upon where information is
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available and shared by all and where boundaries to learning are forever breached and eradicated. For if knowledge and information is again restricted to the privileged few (which can easily transpire if governments and powerful corporate interests conspire to do so), such will not bode well for the majority prevented from gaining access to it. No longer should denial to knowledge and information be the stratifying wedge that once again divides peoples, societies and nations into the haves and have-nots. Such would be tragic indeed given we are on the cusp of harnessing a technology that can serve to liberate humanity rather than consign us to a segregated and much dimmer future. In closing, it is my heartfelt belief each of us should indeed be the master of our own destinies. We should remain unfettered to pursue our respective interests to find fulfillment, purpose and pleasure in our lives. Such is the spirit in which this critical and at times strident essay has been written and I wish all of us Godspeed on this lifelong learning odyssey however each decides to explore it. .

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