With adult learning the why is always showcased front and center. They get to see why the time, effort, and money is worth their while. If it’s not explicit, they move on.
Simon Sinek portrays why individuals should start with the reason why instead of the what. This allows the student to buy into the emotion.
Schools have it all wrong. There is the underlying assumption that success is graduating. It should be a love for learning. What if success meant taking what you’re curious about and then moving on? Imagine you were a 30-year-old going through high school. Why would they go through the normal curriculum, if they weren’t transferring over to your interests or project.
What’s the point for students though? After all these steps, the implied definition of success is graduation. It is tunnel vision until the end but what about semester reviews? How will what I learned apply elsewhere. Even if I did remember how to write a proof in geometry, I wouldn’t have context around how to link it something else. I was compliant and checked the box.
The disconnect between schools and students is that success implies finishing. Success isn’t always finishing in real life though. There needs to be a clear roadmap with learning objectives for students. Why is it actually worth their time? School is a transaction of time from students for services from teachers. What is the ROI for students? Apart from the rules of society that it is necessary why do we have to graduate? Aren’t there other more creative versions of success to be defined yet?