The present system of education (which is public schools funded by the government at this time) often pressure children to demonstrate the acquirement of knowledge instead of encouraging us to admit our lack of knowledge. Before we can begin learning new things, we must know where we stand. If we admit what we don’t know, then we can easily determine what we must learn to know. Unfortunately, it can be quite difficult to admit what we do not know.
School all boils down to your grades. Grades are supposed to state how much knowledge you have acquired. Nowhere is there a test that proves what you don’t know. How then are we expected to proceed in the acquisition of knowledge without being aware that there are things we don’t know? Public schools are terrible at encouraging us to become aware of what we don’t know.
You might be wondering what I mean when I say, “being aware that there are thing we don’t knowâ€. Here’s an example: I know that I don’t know calculus. I know that calculus exists, but I don’t know how to perform calculus; therefore, I am aware of what I don’t know.
Public schools determine your knowledge based upon grades. They never try to show us where we don’t know things. Those same things are the things we should be learning. To admit your lack of knowledge is to show what you should learn, and public schools do not encourage this.