Why do schools penalize innovators and how can we raise resilient thinkers instead?

Is your child stuck in the “game of school” or actually learning to think?

Rethink education with Ana Lorena Fábrega’s The Learning Game. Discover how to foster innovation, “elastic” thinking, and resilience in children by moving beyond standardized tests and embracing gamification and antifragility. Read the full review to learn the “Four Stoic Virtues” and gamification strategies that will transform your child’s approach to learning today.

Recommendation

Humanity needs innovative thinkers with fresh perspectives to solve complex problems. Yet the US education system is failing children who exhibit these types of minds, says “edupreneur” and former elementary school teacher Ana Lorena Fábrega. Whether you’re a teacher or a student, young or old, Fábrega’s powerful treatise on the failure of institutional education will help you approach the “learning game” more effectively. Under Fábrega’s tutelage, learn to harness approaches such as gamification and experimentation, and start updating your mental models about learning today.

Take-Aways

• The world needs innovators and problem solvers, yet schools penalize free thinkers.
• Educators often inadvertently hinder children’s learning, creativity, and development.
• Spark a love of learning by eliminating standardized tests and unlocking students’ “intrinsic motivation” to learn.
• Encourage learners to explore their existing knowledge in a fresh light.
• Make learning feel more like play than work through gamification.
• “Antifragile” children have a healthy attitude toward failure.
• Instill children with the “Four Stoic Virtues” — “courage, temperance, justice” and “wisdom” — to build their moral character.
• Adopt various “mental models” to make sense of complexity and achieve better learning outcomes.
• Schools fail to teach “elastic” learning, which humanity needs to drive innovation.

Summary

The world needs innovators and problem solvers, yet schools penalize free thinkers.

The “game of school” and the “game of learning” are not analogous. Learning is something that children do naturally, and it occurs when they play, explore the world around them, and experiment. The game of school, on the other hand, unfolds in the classroom, and it does not typically align with the ways that humans learn naturally. When playing the game of school, children learn to please adults by engaging in the “imitation of learning”— that is, executing the behaviors for which adults reward them — for example, raising their hands to win approval, despite not feeling engaged or interested in the lesson.

“Kids are stuck in the game of school, imitating their teachers instead of thinking for themselves, losing points for mistakes instead of learning from them, coloring inside the lines instead of thinking outside the box, and waiting for instructions instead of figuring things out.”

The students who choose the game of learning over the game of school often get typecast as rebels. The best learners may struggle to follow instructions and question the purpose of assignments. But the kids who make up their own rules and aren’t afraid to think differently are likely the ones who will achieve the most success as adults. In fact, some of the most innovative minds — including Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Oprah Winfrey — dropped out of their degree programs because they felt their time could be better used elsewhere. If you’re an educator — of children or of adults — give your students space to achieve their potential by letting them figure things out for themselves. Shift away from “paint-by-numbers thinking” and give learners the building blocks they need to create and problem-solve on their own terms.

Educators often inadvertently hinder children’s learning, creativity, and development.

According to New York City public school teacher John Taylor Gatto, the education system is failing students in seven ways:

1. “Confusion” — Children learn lessons out of context, which doesn’t reflect the way humans naturally absorb information. In the real world, you learn coding, for example, when you want to accomplish something specific, such as building a website.
2. “Class position” — Adults teach children that they must compete with one another academically and keep pace with their peers. In reality, every child develops at a different rate and has different interests and talents. Children should feel empowered to define success on their own terms.
3. “Indifference” — Teachers expect children to turn their interest in a subject “on and off like a light switch,” seamlessly switching focus when the bell rings for the next class. Children can’t gain deep knowledge when they must switch contexts rapidly.
4. “Emotional dependency” — “Students are taught to feel shame when their teachers want them to feel shame, and pride when their teachers want them to feel pride.” This is not the pathway to learning how to self-regulate and manage emotions.
5. “Intellectual dependency” — Educators reward children when they regurgitate “the ideologies of the school system.” Meanwhile, they label children who behave like individualists as “troublemakers.” This is unfortunate, given that the world needs innovative minds who can think independently.
6. “Provisional self-esteem” — Children learn to gauge their self-worth based on how authority figures view them and evaluate their performance. Instead of looking for flaws in students, help them take ownership of their learning, life choices, and behavior.
7. “Students can’t hide” — Schools teach children that constant surveillance by authority figures is normal, which hinders creativity. Give children more freedom and privacy to develop their creativity.

Spark a love of learning by eliminating standardized tests and unlocking students’ “intrinsic motivation” to learn.

Standardized tests provide a yardstick for measuring children’s capabilities, but excelling at standardized tests has become the goal of the education system. Such tests remove kids’ freedom to pursue their passions, and the pressure to score well impinges on kids’ mental well-being. Moreover, the tests aren’t realistic indicators of how an individual will manage in the real world. Sadly, the emphasis on test scores incentivizes schools to weed out weaker students. Schools ought to de-emphasize the importance of test scores and diversify the way they measure academic progress in ways that more accurately reflect individuals’ potential.

“Children who perceive they are in control are more likely to engage in their learning.”

Rewards warp children’s motivation to learn. Children should want to engage in learning for learning’s sake, not to earn a treat. Instead, spark students’ inner desire to learn. Empower them with choices — such as which book to read — and responsibilities — such as classroom chores. Seek their input when making learning decisions, letting them feel in control. Don’t mete out generic praise, like “good work.” Specify what they did well, and praise their efforts, not their achievements. Have conversations about why they need to learn something, providing context for each lesson. Prioritize fun in the classroom.

Thriving in the real world entails unlearning five lessons that schools impart:

1. The fear of erring — In the real world, adults learn through mistakes.
2. The need to fit the mold — In reality, outside-the-box thinkers reap rewards.
3. The need to await instruction — Success comes to those who are self-directed and self-motivated.
4. “Just in case” learning — Children will never apply a huge chunk of information they learn at school. Those who succeed in life know how to find relevant information “on demand.”
5. The fear of questioning authority — High achievers are skeptical and prepared to challenge anyone. Innovation is born through questioning.

Encourage learners to explore their existing knowledge in a fresh light.

To support learners in developing innovative ideas, help them experience moments of vuja de: Déjà vu is a feeling of familiarity upon encountering something novel, but vuja de refers to the opposite phenomenon, in which something familiar feels new because your perception of it changes. Though institutional educators tend to quash vuja de, which occurs naturally in children, they should encourage it, because the ability to see familiar topics with a fresh perspective is a skill that drives innovation. Support moments of vuja de by encouraging healthy skepticism, practicing mental distancing to broaden perspectives, and encouraging learners to approach their “default” perspectives with curiosity.

“The hallmark of originality is rejecting the default and exploring whether a better option exists.”

If you lecture children with an onslaught of dry facts and data, you won’t achieve optimal learning outcomes. Instead, take inspiration from prehistoric humans, who taught children by painting cave drawings that told stories of dramatic hunting trips. Use narrative to bring subjects alive. While it may be tempting to encourage children to memorize lists of factual information by rote, they’re unlikely to cultivate a deep knowledge of their subject this way. When you do need children to retain information, consider using the “memory palace” technique: To memorize a grocery list, for example, imagine a familiar place (for example, a childhood home) then visually place each item somewhere you can remember (for instance, picture the apples on the kitchen counter), making the information easier to retrieve.

Make learning feel more like play than work through gamification.

Engage students by incorporating the following five gamification principles into your lesson plans:

1. Identify a goal — Specify a challenge that aligns with students’ genuine interests.
2. Embed player choice into your game’s design — Choose a challenge that players can volunteer to take on, because learning feels more like play (and less like work) when you’re not doing it by force.
3. Choose an appropriate difficulty level — You don’t want students to get bored when playing your game, but you don’t want to overwhelm them by making it too difficult either.
4. Design a feedback system — Enable players to learn from their mistakes by creating effective ways to provide feedback. For example, maybe you ask them what they think they could have done better, prompting them to self-reflect and give themselves feedback.
5. Choose the right reward — Motivate children’s learning by identifying incentives that relate to the task at hand and their genuine interests.

“Antifragile” children have a healthy attitude toward failure.

Help children build “antifragility,” a word coined by mathematical statistician Nassim Nicholas Taleb to describe “things that become stronger when exposed to stress and randomness.” Children become more resilient when you give them permission to fail, providing them with the space they need to tackle challenges and experience low-stakes conflicts on their own. In fact, children are naturally antifragile, and will continue to be so if you create safe environments in which they can deal with discomfort and learn to navigate relationships with difficult peers. Resist the temptation to intervene too much in children’s affairs in order to insulate them from failure and moderate stress. Remember: “antifragile adults will thank us in the future.”

“Overprotected children can’t handle disappointments without adult intervention. Used to being helped, they get discouraged at the sight of a challenge.”

Teach children to have “grit” and to develop a healthy attitude toward failure by helping them understand when it’s wise to quit and when they should see something through, even though it’s hard. For example, if a child wants to quit because they believe they’re “not good enough,” you might encourage them to persevere. But if they have become bored with a topic, you could support them in finding a new interest. When you give children a degree of control over their learning journey, you encourage them to try new things, as they discover their own aptitudes and specific interests. To support children in becoming adults who embrace experimentation throughout their lives, stop asking them, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” This question limits a child’s potential. Maybe they’ll hold a number of professional roles when they grow up. Also, it’s possible their future job doesn’t even exist yet.

Instill children with the “Four Stoic Virtues” — “courage, temperance, justice” and “wisdom” — to build their moral character.

Support children in adopting the following four qualities to help them become adults with a strong ethical and moral compass:

1. Courage — It’s natural to feel scared, but when you’re courageous, you muster up the bravery and willpower to face your biggest challenges.
2. Temperance — When you possess temperance, you strike the right balance between cravenness and recklessness: You don’t cower in fear, nor do you take foolhardy risks.
3. Justice — When you’re just, you exist to serve the common good — not your own self-interests. You treat others the way you would want others to treat you.
4. Wisdom — With wisdom, you understand the long-term consequences of your actions, and you consider your impact on others.

Adopt various “mental models” to make sense of complexity and achieve better learning outcomes.

Bear in mind the following heuristics, or “rules of thumb,” to help you better understand and support the human learning process:

• “Maslow’s Hammer” — Psychologist Abraham Maslow famously said, “If the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail.” If a child misbehaves, a parent often believes the answer is more punishments or rewards. In reality, the child needs a new solution, not more of the status quo.
• “Reactance” — If you pressure people into doing an activity, they’ll grow to hate it, since humans crave choice and independence.
• “Nudges” — Behavioral change occurs when you design environments that make the desired choice the path of least resistance. For example, if you put fruit within arm’s reach and store candy in a high cupboard, children will opt for the healthy choice.
• “Reframing” — Crises occur when you frame an issue negatively. Approaching a challenge from a more constructive perspective can help children and adults understand that they can’t control life, but they can control their response to it.
• “Inversion” — As investor Charlie Munger explains, problems tend to get easier when you look at them from the reverse perspective, focusing on the outcome you don’t want, as opposed to what you want. Entrepreneur Andrew Wilkinson applies this tactic with his strategy of “anti-goals”; that is, make a rule for yourself, such as not setting unnecessary in-person meetings, then stick with it.

Schools fail to teach “elastic” learning, which humanity needs to drive innovation.

According to physicist Leonard Mlodinow, humans perform three kinds of thinking: “Automatic” thinking is your knee-jerk response to stimuli; “analytical” thinking is that which requires considerate analysis; and “elastic” thinking occurs when you make “creative, spontaneous connections.” Animals tend to leverage only automatic thought processes, which humans sometimes use too: If someone extends generosity toward you, for example, your natural reflex is to reciprocate. You can override your natural impulses with your analytical mind. For example, if a salesperson shows you generosity, you might rationally withhold the impulse to please the person by making a purchase. A computer is also capable of analytical thinking, as it can follow a logical series of steps and rules, sometimes better than a person can.

“Kids are capable of much more than we give them credit for, if we let them be.”

However, computers can’t perform elastic thinking, which is precisely the kind of thinking humanity needs to solve complex problems as it moves into an uncertain future. Alas, the education system emphasizes analytical thought processes by teaching children to follow rules, memorize answers, and solve simple problems. Encourage elastic thinking by allowing learners to follow their intuition, giving them space for unstructured play and self-directed experimentation. Let learners focus intensely on their interests, as true learning occurs when people deeply engage with their subject matter. Don’t underestimate children, as they’re capable of far more than most adults imagine: “You just need to create room for them to show you and the world.”

About the Author

Ana Lorena Fábrega is a former elementary school educator and the chief evangelist at Synthesis, an online learning platform that helps children learn to build a better future.