Startucation not Edutainment Part 1.

Let's launch a new education this year!

Spoiler: this is a several long-rids about the fact that a graduate of a new educational system should not be a student, but a start-up and how we can do it. You can consider this a policy statement if you want.

Let’s go!

Many articles have been written already by many clever people, and Sir Ken Robinson confirms, that current throwing in education is a convulsion of an industrial educational model. The need for standardized specialists to work at the machine is reduced - (it doesn't matter if it is a lathe or an interface for an accounting program), and with robotization it will be completely zeroed out.

This is connected with the fact that the requirements for such specialists are reduced too (there is no real need), and therefore the quality of the educational system’s work is also decreasing. What we see is the mass of highly motivated low-educated graduates ...

That is, in reality, such “education” becomes unnecessary for anyone, except as a certificate of graduation from the university. As a result, existing educational institutions are rapidly sliding towards “edutainment”, trying to lure a student - here we have from gamification to beauty contests, and so on.

But this is not easier - such an approach does not add to the motivation to acquire knowledge, and on the average education level decreases. Why do they need to mine knowledge if everything is so fun? Bachelor and masters graduates (except for those who are built into dynastic chains) are out of work - they can make funny videos and high-quality presentations, which is not bad, but ... they are offered for this by low positions in corporations ... or sales managers in retail networks . This further demotivates the following students to learn ... That is, a “loop of positive feedback” is launched, which in this case, excuse the pun, is negative. Therefore, the quality of education in the industrial educational institutions will fall further. Cumbersome industrial educational institutions simply do not have time for changes in the requirements for professions, students, for life.

So, you need to build a new model that meets the needs of society.

And what is it mean? There are many contradictory trends in our world, but in order to understand how to set sail, you need to look at the “best practices”. Today we see how teams of tiny, by the old standards of start-up companies, serve billions of users with the help of software systems and, therefore, compete in value with industrial giants of a country scale. How such companies for several grow from 5-7 people into  enterprises with global reach. And we see the giants of the last century go bankrupt and lose markets. So, do we want to prepare “children” to work in a corporation that can go bankrupt and they can end up on the street at 30 with their child, mortgage and other loans ... or ...?

All these little “Davidians” beating “Goliaths” are all created using the technology of a startup. This is a relatively new phenomenon in the economy, it is not yet 50 years old.

Startup research is still awaiting its Nobel Prize winners, who are researching, calculating, justifying, and failing the scientific base. I will not write here about the Valley and the role of the Pentagon in development. But results are important for us: one company selling Chinese gadgets under its brand is more expensive in the stock market than a company supplying half the world with gas. A company that sells electric cars from Chinese parts has been working at a loss for many years, and this suits everyone, while the classical auto industry giants are going bankrupt one after another, time after time.

Again, we see that “industrial giants” are no longer the best way to develop business.

So what then? How can the educational model be rebuilt?

If we need startups, then at release it should not provide a set of specialists for an industrial  factory or plant, as an industrial educational institution does, but teams for startups. Better yet, the real startups. Then everything falls into place - venture investors pay good money for good startups. The guys immediately get (!) Their business, and the teachers get a share in the equity profits (!!) - a chance to become a co-founder of the future unicorn. And the  better is to start preparing startup teams right from school.

(to be continued soon)