The Religion of Modern Education

The topic of education gets a lot of attention, but we seem very much stuck in a rut of discussing education in terms of how our country compares with other countries on certain test scores, or how minorities measure up (or fail to measure up) in academics. But the whole paradigm and belief system of modern education itself receives little questioning.

Yes, we score low on certain tests compared to other countries, but that doesn't seem to change the fact that America continues to be a world leader in innovation, and that many of the greatest innovations and ideas seem to come from people who are relatively unschooled in their chosen professions. This irony suggests something is amiss in our understanding of education, but this is often overlooked or not discussed. Education with its many associated controversies is a vast, complex topic, but worth exploring.

Executive coaching pioneer Julian Moody came to question certain aspects of our current educational paradigm after fifty years of working with companies and corporations in America. We touch on some of these in the topics "Misguided Educators and Parents" and "The Problem of Too Much Education" in our project Dialogues with Julian Moody: On Life, Business, Sustainability, and Other Things. Some of his thoughts and observations may surprise you. Julian also shares his personal experience of high school in the topic "Lost In High School."

(Posted 8/31/2012)