In a recent post, I talked about how I think standardized tests are both biased and they don’t offer a full picture of a child’s potential, as they only assess one way of learning … which is linear and logical.
Not everyone is a linear (or logical) thinker.
And, as I shared, those with an undefined Head and Ajna Center in their Human Design may struggle mightily on tests like these.
I cannot stress enough the importance of reevaluating our perception of learning and development, both for our children, and as adults.
Because, let’s face it … a cookie-cutter approach is NOT the answer.
Nor does it serve to help many tap into their full potential. It’s stifling, limited, and highly outdated. It also is void of creativity, imagination, and innovation. Not to mention, the very definition of insanity.
As Einstein famously said:
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
We keep teaching the same way expecting different results. I did a workshop at Duke University a fews years back, and I was shocked to see they still had blackboards in most of their classrooms. You know, the old-school kind with chalk and erasers.
We still are teaching through outdated methods and setting up our learning environments in old-school, traditional ways. Often, we also are only teaching to lowest (and cheapest) style of learning.
And, we need to do better.
Let me give you another example of where this played out for me, personally, in my life. Enter my college years, and engineering school …
Ah, the epitome of linear thinking.
I was taking Business Law at the time as one of my prerequisite courses. I actually really liked this class, as I found the content fascinating.
However, I didn’t feel like I really got to engage in it in a deep and meaningful way, at times. There was a lack of deeper discussions around the various topics, and I didn’t feel like I was really being challenged to see how well I had a grasp and understanding of what was being taught.
Our exams always were true/false and multiple choice. They were a bit dry and sterile, if you ask me. I can remember getting my first exam back and feeling shocked a my low grade (I think it might have been a “D”).
I was flabbergasted as I KNEW this material, inside and out, and walked away from taking the exam initially feeling as if I had done very well.
As we starting to review the questions in class, I found myself struggling with the rationale for nearly every answer. So, after class, I stopped my professor and began asking questions to seek more understanding.
I challenged every question on the test.
My professor gave me the response, something along the lines of the answer was “C” for yadda, yadda reason. But, for me, it didn’t make sense. Or, while I got that that was one acceptable answer, I also found there to be validity in several of the other options, as well.
One being the one I selected on my exam.
To which, I then proceeded to make my case. I would give a very well-thought out example of why answer “B” could be just as probable.
My professor would then offer, “Yes, but (don’t even get me started on that phrase), that is not how most people see it. Therefore, the answer is “C” … and, in general, this is the “right” answer.”
Now, if you know me … you know that I personally could care less about a “general” or “right” answer.
I mean, isn’t that the very point of the study of law, to be able to present and challenge different scenarios and perspectives. Law is one of the most (if not the most) subjective topics on the planet. Meaning, there is NEVER just one way of looking at something or one answer to a question.
Ok, I need to take a tangent here for just a moment … have you ever looked at the number 6? Couldn’t it also be the number 9, if you look at it from another angle. And, I would argue, that it also could be a lowercase “g”, depending on how you write it.
Therefore, isn’t it possible, that there could be multiple answers or solutions to one problem?
The “right” answer to this is: YES (it was a rhetorical question).
So, based on that logic (or better yet, perspective), I would stand there in the hallway and state my case, for EVERY single question.
Eventually, my grade would get changed, as I would powerfully and very effectively make my point. Afterwards, I would walk away with an A as my final score on the exam, versus the low grade I initially received.
We did this after EVERY test.
Until we reached a point where my professor got exasperated with me, and say he was getting tired of our weekly hallway chats. To which, I chuckled and my response was, “then test my knowledge and understanding of the content, not whether or not I can think in a box. If you want to see if we know this material, challenge us with short answer and essay questions, instead. This is a law class, for crying out loud.”
I must have hit a nerve, because come our next exam that was exactly what he did. We no longer had hallway chats afterwards. Now, mind you, the rest of the class wasn’t so thrilled because now they had to actual study and understand the material, and think for themselves, rather than just memorize and regurgitate answers.
Oh well, it saved me the time and hassle of needing argue my point after every exam in the hallway. Plus, it gave me practice as a lawyer (which at the time I thought was my future calling … engineering, than environmental law. Needless to say, life had a different plan for me). So, win for me!
As someone who has a photographic memory, I took a lot of exams just memorizing information then puking and regurgitating it out later. It’s another function of having a fully wide open Head and Ajna Center: sometimes you are also blessed with a photographic memory.
I hated learning this way. I still do.
It doesn’t challenge me, and there is no path for real integration and meaningful, impactful insight along the way.
To this day, I acknowledge most of my learning has not come from memorizing facts, dates, and nonsense that’s not useful.
Rather, it has come from the teachers who invested in me and challenged me to think, to write, to share ideas, to debate, along with my love affair and obsession with books.
I am an avid and voracious reader. Much of my education is a testament to my desire and motivation to learn, to seek knowledge and greater understanding, and to explore different perspectives and ideals.
That passion and curiosity led me down some incredible paths to great literature, business books, personal development, and Human Design.
I love when I can engage with the authors directly myself. I get to have conversations with writers and others who love to learn, and seek to gain greater insights and wisdom. I get to take time and care to implement and integrate the ideas that push against me.
THIS is learning. And, it is as individual a path as I am an individual.
Learning is NOT a one-size-fits all box.
The idea of actually learning was far removed from this equation, and sentiment. I found school to be more a matter of whether you fit in, and simply stayed on track to go with the “flow”.
The flow being very dry, static spaces where it was all about how much data you could input into your brain, how well you could puke it back out to pass a standardized test, or achieve certain test scores, and how well blended in.
Ugh! No wonder the United States continues to fall behind, and keeps ranking lower and lower in the areas of math, science, language, reading comprehension, and literally every other topic that is taught.
I share this because it’s another facet I came to better understand about myself as I explored my Human Design, my unique energetic blueprint.
Through that lens, I realized that I am designed to disrupt, to be a tree-shaker, and a catalyst for change. I am here to help shift consciousness, and not only raise the level of leadership, but to redefine it, as well.
No wonder fitting into a box and the cookie-cutter approach always left me feeling out-of-sorts and like I stood on an island all by myself.
I’m not wired to fit in! Newsflash … neither are YOU!
As I made more and more sense of what my map illuminated for me, these insights started to shed greater clarity on how I get to show up in world, how I get to lead versus how I am told I should.
It’s also why I bumped up against (and continue to bump against) the standard way of learning and the prescribed expectation.
Teaching from a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all approach DOES NOT work.
Period. Hard stop.
Nor, does it open up any kind of space for us to tap into the infinite potential and possibilities available to us.
Now, imagine if, instead, we leaned in and began to understand human wiring more, accessed our individual charts, and we modeled our learning environments to better reflect the different ways in which we learn.
Imagine if we actually had a say in what and how we learned.
Talk about a revelation and revolution!
Imagine if we also brought those different styles together in ways where we could collaborate more, communicate better, and build stronger bridges.
Wouldn’t we find we were more engaged, both individually and collectively? Wouldn’t we find learning was sexy and exciting? Wouldn’t we seek for more understanding, thus yielding greater compassion, kindness, empathy, and grace? Wouldn’t we feel more connected, as a result?
Oh, imagine if, indeed!
I’m here for it,a nd ready to create a movement around it.
I’m curious … who’s with me in this quest?