Rimu's blog

It's pretty clear to most people that kids learn the wrong stuff at school. Tonight I was pleased to come across a succint and clear description of a couple of the gaping holes:

Here's what schools don't teach kids:

1. Anything about money.
2. How businesses work, so that they enter the game with no knowledge of how it's played.
3. Basic psychology, so that even if they understand the game, they can be effectively gamed. Obviously, psychology would be very useful in raising kids.
4. Parenting, other than what they learned by living (courtesy of parents, teachers, ministers, coaches, police ..) so they repeat all prior mistakes.
5. Collaboration and team effort.

Here's what they learn.

1. There is only one right answer to each question.
2. Your success is entirely based on your grades and obedience/attendance.
3. There are no new ideas. Everything you know is in books, according to a curriculum approved by committee.
4. Creativity, taking your time and questioning authority and status quo are punishable offenses.
5. Sharing information with others is punishable by expulsion.
6. Ethics are OK to talk about, but in real life, everything's fair; just don't get caught.

You can see the result. Roughly 10% of people are "successful" and innovation comes from roughly 1%. 90% of work is meant to make the boss happy, and 10% towards customers, teamwork is unheard of and requires expensive consultants to achieve at a minimal level, and you're paid almost entirely for your paper certificates and longevity.

(stolen from the comments section of an interesting blog post)