Let’s go deeper into that.
Recently on Facebook, I posted a video excerpt of Michael Moore’s documentary on Finnish Schools, and how they have surpassed the quality of all education systems in the world. Michael Moore interviewed teachers on the new classroom model.
Learners learn for themselves and are engaged in their own learning. They learn through experience and think for themselves.
Michael Moore, in that short excerpt, was able to simplify how the Finnish School System has evolved.
As the education system transforms into one that simulates how humans are learning and assimilating information in the world, teachers will, more and more emulate the entrepreneurial mindset.
What am I trying to say?
There are parallelisms in the classroom and business models.
In the world today, that makes so much sense. Students master real-world skills that they can and will apply in the real world.
Let’s look at this more closely.
Students and Consumers
In the classroom, learners gain authentic understanding of lessons when they learn for themselves. When they make connections, and make sense of their learning, it is when they are able to understand and retain new information. They are engaged in their learning when they learn by doing, and decide whether or not they will make use of the information; whether or not it is relevant to them.
In business, the learners are the consumers. As a consumer myself, I only patronize products I relate with. I would think most consumers, like me, are drawn to products that they need, (or think they need) and products that make sense to them. They experience a certain degree of satisfaction from the purchase of a product when they make a connection with the product; when the product becomes relevant to them; when they realized it’s what they need or what they’ve been needing.
Teachers and Entrepreneurs
Learning is no longer one size fits all, mass production, as it was during the industrial revolution. Students nowadays do not learn via step-by-step procedures anymore. They dive in and absorb, and gather ideas from the experiences (take for example how students learn more from actually using something, anything, than listening to a long-drawn-out lecture on how to use it). Teachers know this about the new breed of learners. They know to take a step back, and trust that students learn experientially.
With a lot of planning and preparation, teachers set up the learning environment and let the learners take a dive. Teachers assess their students’ learning and learning styles, and change the environment for their optimal understanding.
The job of the entrepreneur is similar. They study the market, look for a need or a problem, create a product, set up the environment for the ultimate user experience, step back and watch while the consumers receive and use these products they created. Entrepreneurs gather ideas from the user experience and alter and improve products based on consumer’s needs.
After posting the Michael Moore excerpt on FB, my dad posted a comment. He said that Finnish Schools are applying the idea of a workplace like that of Google. That is exactly why both Finland’s school system and Google are successful. They recognize the needs of our changing world and adapt to the evolution of learning.
As school systems take on this educational mind shift, teachers will more and more resemble the entrepreneur, and have the entrepreneurial mindset to serve not just their students, but the global marketplace.
Let me know what you think. Do you see these parallelisms emerging in your school? Leave a message in the comments section below. I would love to hear from you!
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