9 Ideas For The Future of Education

What’s most obvious to me about education today is that we are still operating on an Industrial Era model meant more to produce factory workers than free thinking members of an advanced society. Kids are measured against averages and moulded into workers in one of a handful of fields, stratified by income brackets.

This model produces bored and boring people.

I think children should get much more choice and autonomy in their studies from an early age. Most curriculums now are so focused on being “balanced” that students have to sit through years of dreadfully boring material. This kills the will to learn in many bright people.

Curriculums of the future should be designed to help students identify what sparks their curiosity and go as deep as possible in the areas of life that fascinate them.

Academia is designed to funnel people into the workforce. Personally, I believe the future of work is entrepreneurship. Every year, millions more are quitting their 9-to-5 jobs to start businesses. I don’t see that trend slowing any time soon.

Education of the future should be focused on getting students ready for the world of the future. We are an evolving species with changing needs.

Here are 9 suggestions off the top of my head for making the education of the future better than the education of the present:

1. Education should go “minimalist” on traditional subjects: we spend over a decade building a foundation of knowledge in subjects that don’t have much practical use in our life (thanks, Trigonometry). That time should be given back to students and filled with more relevant material.
2. Coding, web development and programming should be prioritized: these subjects should replace much of the traditional academic foundation. It’s the most important area of human knowledge right now, as these areas are powering nearly everything else.
3. Foreign language is a must (especially for lazy Americans): the world talks to itself now. If you can’t speak more than one language, do you even human?
4. Entrepreneurship focus first: students should be taught to understand how business works, not just how to work for one. This gives them the tools to be self sufficient.
5. Personal finance: education of the future must teach students how money actually works, and how to make it work for you.
6. Emotional management and other “life skills”: lots of kids probably need therapy they aren’t getting. That should be part of school.
7. Human body basics, nutritional guidance: the “sex talk” has to happen earlier and we have to stop being so prude. It’s not serving the students, who often are misinformed about their own bodies. And teach them to stop eating trash.
8. Meditation and brain training: students should begin meditating at 5 years old. No exceptions.
9. Teach jiu jitsu in school: it’s a natural confidence booster.

Any other suggestions I should add to this list?

Daniel DiPiazza is the bestselling author of Rich20Something: Ditch Your Average Job, Start an Epic Business & Score the Life You Want and the founder of Alpha Mentorship where he directs Profit Paradigm: The Growth Engine For Digital Agencies.

PS — we worked with the entrepreneurs in our program to complete an exhaustive analysis of everything it takes to build an agency that generates $50k/month. Then we streamlined all that info and made it into a 1-page diagram. Want to see? Grab it here.