We want every learner to succeed. Period.

Education has been in a state of flux now, it seems, more than ever. The pandemic highlighted this turmoil as students oscillated between on-line, hybrid, and in person learning forcing parents to scramble to support their children while they tried to work. For some, this raised the question of what is the purpose of schools?

Photo by Chris Curry on Unsplash

Interestingly, the Freakonomics Radio podcast recently had an episode entitled What exactly is College for? that explored this very question of higher education. In the episode, Ruth Simmons, the president of Prairie View A&M University outside Houston, Texas, was quoted as saying “I want students to succeed. Period. I understand the value of education. It doesn’t all have to be the same.” Simmons has pointed out a glaring flaw of many educational institutions; that the experience and learning in most schools has to be the same for everyone.

Part of her argument of putting student success first goes counter to the understanding that schools and learning are competitive. In essence, the goal of these types of institutions is to weed out those who can’t cope or succeed.

Self-directed learning, by definition, prioritizes an individualized learning experience based on the needs and wants of the learner. The learning is not institution defined, it is individual defined. The goal is not to eliminate, but to celebrate. Perhaps the motto for SDL should be “We want all learners to succeed. Period.”

Written by: Ivan Beeckmans