Education is typically based around a syllabus and exams to test learning against the syllabus but how effective is top down learning?
Throughout the history of mankind it has been important to train large numbers of people to be able to work to predetermined instructions. First in the fields, then in the factories, then in the offices. Top down learning as employed by our schools and most universities is a great way of doing this.
The world has changed and is changing at an increasing rate but or methods of top down learning are still very similar to when mass education first started. Many jobs that required large numbers of people, some of whom needed to be highly qualified have now gone away. To start with it was repetitive jobs which could be automated but now with the advent of AI we are seeing the same thing happening in jobs that even five years ago it was unimaginable to think would ever be anything but human based. Medical analysis, operations, diagnostics, taxi driving and even writing blogs!! Where next?
In his book The Science Of Self Learning Peter Hollis makes the point that in the past (and in most cases currently) we were told what to learn. Now the information is easily available to enable us to decide what to learn and we don’t need formal institutions to enable us to do it.
Most people accept that lifelong learning is a critical requirement of all of us. Top down learning is no longer the effective way to do it, self learning is taking over. All the information required is easily and often freely available.
Top down learning is unwell but self learning for those who choose to go down that road is alive, kicking and effective for both employee, employer and the self employed.
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