Thanks for the post, this is a well framed article. YNH touches on the implications for schools and students, but I feel this is one of the critical takeaways from a year of COVID. Instead of forcing students into a learning environment, we must find a way to free education.
There is no reason that learning must take place at a certain time or place, in fact learning should be a constant pursuit by everyone regardless of whether they are a student.
This requires no additional facilities or staff, it will actually require less infrastructure if executed correctly. What is needed for this transition is a change in messaging.
Graduation is a myth.
There is no point where you have learned everything you need to know for your entire life. Everyone should be learning their current interests, indefinitely. As those interests evolve, they should evolve with them. This would lead to a population of individuals with unique perspectives.
While learning can be removed from the classroom, there are multiple services schools are providing that cannot be sacrificed. A year of COVID has demonstrated the urgent needs for childcare, nutrition and healthcare (among others, such as connectivity).
These are critical areas of support for children that should be expanded, but need not be tied to their learning process.
Havent read something from NYH yet that hasn't been a 10 for me. We are such stunningly capable creatures, with so much amazingness within our grasp, if we can just stop getting in our own way!
No surprise, Yuval Noah Hurari does an excellent job of summarizing this year of Covid pandemic in this article.
So many good takeaways here, but one that stands out for me wherein he perfectly summarizes a very complex issue:
Thanks for the post, this is a well framed article. YNH touches on the implications for schools and students, but I feel this is one of the critical takeaways from a year of COVID. Instead of forcing students into a learning environment, we must find a way to free education.
There is no reason that learning must take place at a certain time or place, in fact learning should be a constant pursuit by everyone regardless of whether they are a student.
This requires no additional facilities or staff, it will actually require less infrastructure if executed correctly. What is needed for this transition is a change in messaging.
Graduation is a myth.
There is no point where you have learned everything you need to know for your entire life. Everyone should be learning their current interests, indefinitely. As those interests evolve, they should evolve with them. This would lead to a population of individuals with unique perspectives.
While learning can be removed from the classroom, there are multiple services schools are providing that cannot be sacrificed. A year of COVID has demonstrated the urgent needs for childcare, nutrition and healthcare (among others, such as connectivity).
These are critical areas of support for children that should be expanded, but need not be tied to their learning process.
Havent read something from NYH yet that hasn't been a 10 for me. We are such stunningly capable creatures, with so much amazingness within our grasp, if we can just stop getting in our own way!
Absolutely bang on. Harari will be remembered as one of the clearest thinkers and most lucid writers of our time.