Child education is the topic I feel very passionate about. Firstly, because education is something I enjoy, and it helped me achieve many things in life. Secondly, I’m looking at my little girl grow, and I want so much for her to become happy and successful in her life. I believe that education is the way she can achieve it.
“Success in life depends on a self-confidence born of a true knowledge of one’s own capacities”. I love this quote by Maria Montessori, a pioneer in the new ways of child education.
Maria was an exceptional woman even by today’s standards. Unwilling to be limited by the traditional expectations of women in 1880s, she decided to become a doctor. After great efforts and perseverance she was eventually admitted to a medical program, and later became one of the Italy’s first female physicians. But as we know, she didn’t stop there. She followed her curiosity, immersed herself in educational theory, and in 1907 opened the first childcare center of its kind in the country, working with children ages 3-7. Despite their underprivileged backgrounds, many of the children thrived and made unexpected gains. The program was proclaimed a success, and by 1910 Montessori schools could be found throughout Western Europe and were being established around the world.
Why was it such a success, and what did Maria do that was so different from other centres?
By observing children, Maria noticed that they (i.e. us, young humans) don’t learn as much or as well by being told what to do and how to do it, and don’t behave well by being restricted and limited by rules that mainly make their carer’s life easier. She noticed that children learn best by observing and trying to do things that they are interested in. Being given the freedom to try and fail, and try again, the children became interested in playing with puzzles, learning to prepare meals, and generally embraced their innate passion for learning.
At the same time they became confident, responsible, and independent, and trusted in their own abilities. Montessori approach supports the full development of the human being by giving children opportunities to engage in spontaneous (i.e. chosen by the children, not their supervisors) yet purposeful activities with the guidance of a trained adult. It prepares them for life, teaches them to become independent and helpful to others from a very young age.
Luckily for our children, there are a few Montessori-style childcare centres around the country these days. But what happens after kids turn 6, when they go to school? What are most schools like, and how do they promote independent thinking in our children, and help them become confident and successful?
I love this narration by Sir Ken Robinson (https://www.ted.com/…/sir_ken_robinson_changing_edu…/up-next), who explains so well that most schools are just versions of factory lines, preparing not creative and happy individuals, but rather a kind of suppressed and compliant factory workers. Moreover, the constant focus on tests and grades creates the environment of stress and fear to fail. Is this an environment, which makes kids joyfully come to school every day and feel excited to learn something new? Is it really the best way to prepare successful and happy people?
I was amazed to find out that, according to the research Sir Ken Robinson references, 98% of children under 6 scored at a genius level in divergent thinking (capacity for creativity) tests. It is very inspiring to know that we, humans, are very creative by nature, and literally everyone has the capabilities of becoming outstanding. Consecutive tests every 5 years, however, (after the children started going to school) showed that divergent thinking dropped by half (!!!) every 5 years. This means that by the end of the school there are hardly any “tall poppies” left, and everyone is trying to come up with just 1 answer that they were told is the right one. Isn’t it depressing that most schools are gradually turning our little geniuses into compliant robots? A revolution in education we need indeed!
Add to that the uncertain future of the jobs, which the World Economic Forum brought to our attention in 2018 (https://www.weforum.org/repo…/the-future-of-jobs-report-2018). If by 2022 over 40% of the jobs that existed in 2018 will be significantly different (requiring new skills), projecting this trend into the future, how can schools with their past-based factory line style of education prepare our kids for success, if no one even knows what the jobs are going to be like by the time they finish school?
What can we do to help our kids become confident and successful?
We have an option.
We are launching a branch of the MINIBOSS business school for children from as young as 6 years of age. The school is the only one in the world, which is based on the internationally recognised and applied for 20 years method of bringing up successful leaders, with an unprecedented success rate of above 90%. The majority of more than 5,000 graduates became entrepreneurs, 2ICs of their family businesses, and managers at corporations at a significantly higher level than their non-MINIBOSS peers.
In a fun environment children at the MINIBOSS school will learn not only about economics and money management, but they’ll become better than most adults in teamwork, leadership and people management. They’ll learn about family and team values, social responsibilities and how to share their knowledge with others. We’ll help the kids embrace their creativity, get to know themselves, be confident, become optimists who see opportunities in any situation.
By the end of the school the kids will have multiple experiences in creating start-ups in various industries. Having the real life experience in the chosen industries, they will know their true interests, abilities and capacities not from career-selection tests, but from practice, and they will consciously select the profession/industry they want to pursue after school.
If the kids decide to pursue a career in medicine, engineering, art, or you name it, the gained people, managerial and entrepreneurial skills will help them become whoever they want. Not only they could be a good doctor or a musician, but also they’d know how to start their own company, how to make a successful business out of a clinic or a recording studio.
Let’s stop our kids’ dependence on someone else’s understanding of what jobs they could do. Let’s give our kids the opportunity and freedom to choose their own path in life, to write their own story, to be successful.
The MiniBoss Brisbane Business School starts in February 2020, and we are collecting interest to set opening dates for the coming schools in Sydney and Melbourne.
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