Education In This Age: What Should It Be Like
Dear Friend,
I can’t say I’m exactly qualified to give you this advice as I’m still on the journey of becoming myself. I learn daily and try to apply those learnings. I have my flaws and make a lot of mistakes too.
However, I have come to develop some interest in education over the years. Perhaps because both of my parents are teachers, or perhaps because I’ve taught for so long (5 uninterrupted years from NYSC). Maybe it’s because it’s thrilling to simplify a topic you really understand or the fact that it hurts me to see young people drift away from noble ambitions today — how the dysfunction in our governance tear us apart and how we’ve come to worship money and neglect real value.
In any case, I hope to create a hierarchical model that will help the average person fight the odds today. It’s one of the things I long to do.
In the immortal words of Nita Ambani, “Education is the bedrock of any sustainable society.”
“Education makes a people easy to lead but difficult to drive; easy to govern but impossible to enslave.” — Henry Peter Brougham
And if I can show you the exact things to focus on through your journey, perhaps you will better leverage schooling for genuine education. Perhaps you won’t call school a scam, and perhaps this will someway refine our society.
My lessons here will be on five pointers:
1. The Essence of Formal Education
2. What We Want Education to Do for Us Today
3. The Current Challenges the Average Learner Must Battle
4. How to Position Yourself as a Student
5. How to Position Your Child as a Parent
Let’s get to it.
- The Essence of Formal Education
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You see, before the advent of structured learning, education was done through apprenticeships. People most likely take on the occupation of their parents. If your father is a farmer or a hunter, you will most likely become the same.
The trade secrets of craftsmanship run in the family. There were no big ambitions and the primary desire was to just survive. And as fortune would have it, they were happy through it. They love the applause and make fun of themselves.
In some rare cases, however, if you show some interest and talent in another craft (different from the primary one in your family), you can go intern with another craftsman in town. A careful study of the Yoruba culture proves this. And some products of the old money in Europe, a brand like Louis Vuitton, proves how craftsmanship is handed down within a family.
While this made the early society function, this approach to learning is flawed:
- You are only as good as the best person around you (there is no standard/reference point)
- There are usually some gaps in knowledge
- There is a limit to the trainees every master can handle
- The process lacks structure and takes great time.
Further, as the population grew and the demand for competent labour increased, so did the quest for better, faster, and more effective ways to learn. Thus, the advent of formal education. Today, you now know step-by-step how to become a builder (civil engineer) and the current best practices in the industry.
So, in simple terms:
“Formal education plays into a larger role of making our society work. It presents a structured and more effective way to learn. It builds the workforce and creative capacity of a country.”
Never let your schooling interfere with your education.
2. What We Want Education to Do for Us Today
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As said earlier, education used to be a quest for survival. There were no big dreams or fancy ambitions, just a simple will for food and applause. People took pride in their uniforms and worked well into their late years. And they saw nothing wrong with it.
Until recently.
The average worker today has suddenly realized that he WORKS A LOT. Of the 80+ years he has to live on earth (current life expectancy is actually 73.6 years), two-thirds of those years will be spent at work. So he wants to get the FULL reward for it.
Not only does he want to do work that matters (to him), he wants to work in a progressive environment that cares for him. He wants to make a fortune at it. And he wants to be happy and impactful at work.
The COVID-19 pandemic is great proof of this. Following this tragedy was an event known as The Great Resignation. People resigned in droves from their jobs.
Another vital difference is that the worker today wants to retire early. He wants to have time for his family, having amassed adequate fortune to see him through life.
This is what we WANT education to deliver for us today.
And if you are lucky to do work that matters, work that fits your skillset and rewards you abundantly, work that fits your values and personality, YOU WILL TAP DANCE TO WORK.
A different wave of life will fill you. You would have found your PURPOSE.
This brings us to the BIG question:
How do you achieve this? How do you do work that aligns with your natural ability and talent and make a ton of money at it?
Is there some formula?
Well, let’s see.
3. Firstly, The Prevailing Challenges
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For the average person today, the path to success is riddled with adversity.
But being born in Nigeria is a disadvantage. Our educational system relegates not-so-smart/not-so-interested people to become teachers, most students study a different course than they intended, and we’ve made teaching and lecturing professions as unattractive as possible. Most teachers struggle through life and are not themselves models of excellence. The few committed ones earn little respect from the masses. Try as we may, these are not vanguards of the change we seek.
Unless we change our collective approach — perhaps through better respect for our teachers, better pay and re-education (including financial education) for all stakeholders, access to GOOD credit for teachers, and provision of infrastructure (laptops, public libraries, and internet) that will make the education sector as attractive as possible. This will require the generous donation of individuals, businesses, organizations, and progressive stakeholders.
Now further down, being born in a poor home in Nigeria is a MAJOR disadvantage. The onus of getting quality education today has shifted from the public sector across all tiers of education (primary, secondary, and sadly, tertiary levels) to the private sector. This is bad because the quality of information differs. This naturally creates unequal opportunities.
This means, there will NEVER be equal opportunities and the POOR learner has to do MORE WORK to access the same amount of information that will change his life. This adds to the inherent challenges that come with poverty. Some of these include:
* Low self-esteem and lack of verbal confidence
* Fearful approach to authority and regulations
* Fearful approach to life in general
* Poor ambitions with a mentality to just survive
* And poor physical appearance from stress and malnutrition.
Then people judge him on these attributes.
All these become worse if you are born in a remote area in a poor home in Nigeria. This is the GREATEST disadvantage the dreamy learner can face. He wakes up clutching his schoolbag to the scorn of the dregs of the society. He fights the abysmal pull of the environment.
But the earlier the average learner realizes he has work to do, that he will teach HIMSELF the bulk of what he needs to know (at least until our society works), that he must fight tooth and nail to get the information he needs, and that good opportunities abound contrary to what is sold, so he can ultimately extend this good to his counterparts, the better for him.
This brings us to the lesson you’ve been waiting for —
How to position yourself as a student.
4. How to Position Yourself as a Student
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“The means for learning are abundant, it is the desire to learn that’s scarce.” — Naval
At this point, I will assume you are in secondary school. You’ve probably heard some talks around career but still can’t decide on what to do. So I will be helping you to decide right now: DONT FOCUS ON A CAREER PATH, FOCUS ON BUILDING SKILLS.
This is because the average person today will work between 4–6 careers in his lifetime. Careers are ever-changing. They seem to evolve with an individual’s new learnings and I could tell you how better exposure changed many people’s careers. But you know what doesn’t leave you through this process?
Your skills.
This brings me to the five, most important skills which every secondary school student must know right now. These are:
1. Reading: You need certain principles to guide your decision-making process. This information is readily available in books and blogs, and you only need to read the right ones (recommendations below). The faster you can access and utilize information today, the better your leverage. Start by reading what you love until you love what you read.
2. Writing: Through life, your words will always go before you long before your feet step many places. Most times, you will do this through your writing. The more compelling you can write, the more lasting the effect and impact. Writing also sharpens your thought and clarifies your decision-making process.
3. Arithmetic: Gone are the days when literacy was defined by reading and writing. Today, Mathematics is the language of literacy. To understand business and money, you must be good with numbers. Maths helps you think and get a good handle on life.
4. Persuasion: View this as verbal persuasion. Or simply, selling. You must learn how to win people to your cause through compelling, psychological arguments.
5. Coding: This means giving a series of instructions to computers. The world is evolving and you must learn to speak the language of the machines.
If you are well-grounded in these basics, very little will scare you in life. You would have the mental framework (and confidence) for sound decision-making. You can leverage opportunities as they come.
This ultimately dispels into what every advanced level student must know to thrive today. Before you complete your higher education, you must learn:
1. How to sell online: Getting random strangers to trust you with their money encompasses a broad range of skills that will shape your world. These include copywriting, media buying, basic design skills, content creation, and video creation. The beauty of the world today is that you can go on the internet, you can find your audience and you can build a unique list of people who trust you and your products. The internet is media leverage and you must learn how it works.
2. Basic accounting skills: It’s the trend of many young people to want to own their business today. But without accounting, you can’t go very far. Accounting, as Warren Buffet puts it, is the language of business. Imagine going to a foreign country where you don’t speak the language. How will you survive? This is why you need accounting. You must be able to analyse the financial information and profitability of a venture. It is a key skill that differentiates business leaders. I have a video below that will indoctrinate you proper.
3. At least one vocational skill: Vocational skills like barbing, photography, carpentry, and fashion design are useful skills for the smart student. You can be a mobile barber or create stunning documentaries with your smartphone (better than idle tik-tok dances). You can build foldable bookshelves and study desks for your friends (Youtube standard). Vocations build hand-eye coordination and sharpen your social skills. They make you interact with real people and come in handy when you least expect. You just need to find the right one.
4. The foundations of product creation: Product here refers to books, courses and software that solve people’s problem. Learn to document your experiences and sell the solution. The goal when creating products is to meet the needs of ENOUGH people and satisfy business objectives. This will teach you enterprise. The mistake our parents make is to see enterprise as a simple means for survival (often a last resort). This is why they open shops in front of their homes selling the same thing to ten people on the street. They care little for traffic or innovation.
You, however, must be different. You must learn the sequence of steps involved in bringing useful products to the market. You must be innovative and pursue large markets.
5. How to leverage platforms: These include platforms to build your social capital (like Facebook, LinkedIn, & Twitter), platforms to access free courses (like Udemy, CFI, Hubspot, Canva and Y-combinator), platforms to locate smart events around you (like Eventbrite & Konference) and platforms to access worthwhile opportunities (like opportunitydesk for essay competitions, scholarships, internships, training, and fellowships).
Using platforms correctly builds you media leverage and keeps you separate. It leaves you a distinct footprint on the internet.
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Reading through the above A-level skills, you will see the relevance of the five most, important skills I mentioned earlier. If any of these is shaky, keep a journal and perfect it right now.
In addition to the aforementioned, learn to make data-driven decisions. Never gamble your options. Any time you are presented with a list of unfamiliar options, do a simple Google research to select the best fit. Never, ever guess your choices.
Finally, learn a programming language if you can, learn to drive if you can, learn a foreign language where possible, play chess and scrabble like a god, and fan any natural flame of curiosity that ruptures within you.
This just might be the difference —
Your difference.
5. How to Position Your Child as a Parent
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“If you are a parent, you are the first natural hero of your child. There you are and there is this little thing wholly dependent on you for everything. 90% of a child’s success depends on the parent.” — Warren Buffet.
As a parent, the defence you offer your child ranges from protection to provision to SOUND guidance. Your ultimate goal should be to give him the best exposure in his early years and spark a genuine interest in personal learning. This helps him make informed decisions.
And maybe in this process, he will discover something to give himself to that he will be thankful for all his life.
But to make this more practicable, say I give birth to Vincent today (I hope she likes that name), here are some exact things I would do to position my child for massive success:
1. Never outsource your child’s education: I will take this as my personal maxim. It will ring in the deepest corners of my mind that I have a responsibility to TEACH my child. I may hire tutors at many points or pay for worthwhile experiences but ultimately, I am available to answer questions smartly. This brings on me a responsibility to know A LOT. I will personally teach him (or help him learn) the five, most important skills every child must know today.
2. Invest in good experiences and exposure: I understand that my primary goal is to lead my child to a point where he ENJOYS learning and can learn new things by himself. I understand the world changes FAST and he must match that speed. So I will gift GOOD books for every birthday and special occasion, read to him from a baby, attend events that will guide my upbringing, and push him towards such people, events, and boot camps even when they are paid.
3. Create the systems: I will carve a library or special learning environment at home. I will provide learning resources like a study desk, home computer, diaries and journals, vision boards, bookshelf, sticky notes, and a decent reward culture. We will frame his favorite quotes together.
4. Lead yourself effectively: Rose Blumkin (Mrs. B) was one of the partners of Warren Buffet. She sold Nebraska Furniture Mart to him for $55.3 Million and ran the business till she was 103 years old. But Mrs. B used to be an immigrant who never heard a word of English. She began the business 15 years after she arrived in the US, but before this time, she would sit with her daughter every night to LEARN English from the lesson she learned in school.
You see, proper parenting brings on you a responsibility to lead yourself.
I want my child to emulate a trait, I start by doing it myself. I see a skill I want; I take good steps to learn it. I see a flaw I hate; I work on it. My responsibility transcends providing food and shelter.
I will teach my child discipline to see dignity in labor and empathy to recognize and solve societal problems.
Should he have any flaw (say he fears public speaking), I will support him through it till he overcomes. Should I spot an interest, I will fan the flames.
This all boils down to that old, Biblical wisdom:
“Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
The Conclusion
Education is a lifelong process. It transforms the individual and makes the society work. If there is anything you don’t know in your journey, the best approach is to begin from the foundations. Simply ask yourself: What is the foundation required for me to learn this? Commit to this foundation and you will have good judgment.
“Judgement requires experience but can be built faster when you learn foundational skills.” — Naval Ravikant.
Now here’s my final lesson:
When you finally get what you want, throw down the ramp to foster smarter ways to advance knowledge. Invest in ways, which to your best judgment, provide the most beneficial returns for the society.
- The Othmers died with a fortune of $800M and donated $160M to the University of Nebraska…
- Andrew Carnegie built over 2500 libraries across America…
- Naval Ravikant chose not to make money from his tweets when they were compiled into: The Almanac of Naval Ravikant…
- Bill Ackman shot a video that simplified Finance and Investing…
- Strive Masiyiwa teaches pertinent lessons across business and governance through his weekly Facebook posts…
- And Tony Elumelu is teaching African entrepreneurs to build a proper structure around their business (and giving them a way to begin) through TEF.
This, I believe, is the core of genuine education today: to play into a larger role of making the society work.
The future is brighter than you imagine, my friend.
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I wish you good success.
Best regards,
Theophilus Adeyinka Babalola.
