The Best Time In History To Be A Learner

When I was growing up and going through my Dinosaur phase (I believe almost all of us had a dinosaur phase), I remember asking my teacher when we would learn about dinosaurs.

It was September and she mentioned that we would have a unit on dinosaurs in February. I had already checked out all of the dinosaur books in our local library and the school library. I’d watched “Land of Time” too many times to count.

Flash forward to my son going through his Dinosaur phase. I caught him on a Youtube Livestream, watching a Q&A show with one of the best paleontologists in the world at an actual dig site.

Talk about a difference in learning opportunities. Same subject. Different time. World changed.

Let’s call it for what it is: The best time in history to be a learner.

We’ve never had as much access to quality information, skill acquisition, coaching, mentoring, teaching, and learning experiences as we do right now.

The opportunities to learn what you want, when you want, and how you want are abundant if you have internet access at home, at school, at a local library, or on your mobile device.

In Trevor Ragan’s latest article, “Learning is the answer”, he puts it this way:

For centuries, being a knower was enough. You learned a trade, mastered a skill, and did it for life. The blacksmith, the tailor, the banker – each one a knower, each one secure in their place.

Not anymore.

The world is changing and it’s changing fast. Technology is reshaping industries. Automation is replacing repetitive tasks. Information is limitless. What worked yesterday might be obsolete next year. The job we trained for at 22 might not exist at 42. The age of knowing is over. The safety of a single skill is gone.

“In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” – Eric Hoffer

Now, we don’t need knowers. We need learners.

Think about your best learning experience. Think and remember what it looked like. If you are a teacher, educator, coach, or parent: Think about your best moment when you lead a learning experience.

I’d bet you are not thinking about a worksheet, or multiple-choice assessment. It probably wasn’t a PowerPoint that inspired you or a textbook that changed your life.

It was most likely a human, social, and meaning-centered experience that was relevant in some way to your life, or goals, or interests.

We all know that learning is a natural process. Yet, our systems often get in the way of that process.

Now, more than ever, many of our systems are getting in the way of accessing the wide world of learning opportunities available to kids (and adults).

If the age of knowing is over, how do we change our systems so we focus on developing learners instead of “knowers”?

Curriculum needs to be changed.

Standards need to be adapted and modified.

Assessments have to be updated.

And it takes a lot of work. But so many places around the world are already doing this work. I’ve seen school after school that is changing along with the world, instead of fighting back to keep the same system in place.

You may wonder, as John Spencer and I asked in our book Empower, “What happens when our students own their learning?”

Well I’m hear to tell you, that my new podcast and Youtube series is all about those schools that have changed the system. Schools that are doing things differently for the benefit of their students. Schools that have made tough choices and decisions in the name of learning.

Look out for the first episode of NEXT GEN SCHOOLS dropping this Sunday. I can’t wait to share more about this work and highlight all the amazing schools doing it.