In his hit graphic novel series “The Sandman” Neil Gaiman writes:
“I’ve been making a list of the things they don’t teach you at school. They don’t teach you how to love somebody. They don’t teach you how to be famous. They don’t teach you how to be rich or how to be poor. They don’t teach you how to walk away from someone you don’t love any longer. They don’t teach you how to know what’s going on in someone else’s mind. They don’t teach you what to say to someone who’s dying. They don’t teach you anything worth knowing.”
– Neil Gaiman, “The Sandman”
Very poetic and maybe a tad too melodramatic, I know. However, it does convey an interesting message. It touches on the topic of what schools should teach from a critical point of view.
I’d like to extend this thought to whether and rather to what extent schools prepare their alumni to become excellent employees (and employers).
It is a well known fact that success in one’s professional life doesn’t mainly require “talent” or “knowledge”. Most success is based on either sheer dumb luck and / or knowing the right people.
The secret ingredient here are soft skills. Socializing, connecting, acting professionally, having good manners and work ethics. That’s all there is to the secret sauce, maybe sprinkling in a bit of luck like I mentioned earlier.
Time for a pop quiz:
Which of these aspects does school give us?
…
That’s right, none!
One might argue that school does teach us soft skills because it is a social environment. Well guess what? For those having problems with these kinds of things, it mostly isn’t. “That quiet kid” is probably not very active in other social environments either. Who’s to blame? The child? The parents? The school? Society? The liberals? Probably the latter, since they’re always the root of all problems.
Anyways, school is neither the place nor offers the time to combat such challenges. We have concluded it doesn’t teach the fundamental things most students need. However, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t play a vital rule in one’s development. School needs to be an open environment for students to engage socially in.
I am not saying this is per se negative. As long as school offers an open space, a blank canvas so to speak students will develop on their own, given they bring in the needed requirements.
This brings me to my final point. Most, lets call it “unfortunate” development is a result of poor parenting.
You see, society is a powerful construct. People can’t be everywhere, but society is. That’s why we as a community need to make sure children get not only good education, but also that parents make sure their children learn fundamental soft skills early on. And if that isn’t possible, then external help is always an option.
Thank you.