This is a guest blog post by Hannah Shearer
“EVERYONE has been to school, right? I’ve been to one once. I’m in one now!”
Parents send their children to school intending to prepare them for the real world, but schools have remained largely unchanged for centuries while society continuously evolves. The school experience involves approximately 5 hours of work daily with only two brief breaks, plus additional homework afterward.
Industrial Age Values
Schools were designed during the industrial era to produce factory workers. Students learn compliance — “Sit down,” “Get your writing books” — and respond to bells signaling transitions. Rewards follow obedience rather than initiative.
“The modern world values people who are more creative and unique or can communicate and collaborate,” yet schools provide limited opportunities to develop these contemporary skills.
Inauthentic Learning
Much school learning relies on memorisation rather than understanding. Knowing how to solve problems differs from memorising facts quickly enough to complete timed worksheets. Grades measure recall capacity rather than comprehension.
No Room for Passion
Schools enforce standardised curricula, requiring identical learning for all students simultaneously. This approach ignores individual differences and fails to address fundamental questions: “What am I good at?” and “What do I want to do in life?”
Historical examples demonstrate this system’s limitations — figures like Winston Churchill and Albert Einstein struggled within traditional education.
Conclusion
Hannah expresses frustration with the emphasis on structure and memorisation — neither matching her interests — and hopes for systemic improvement.
Hannah Shearer was 11 years old at publication, enjoys fun facts and drawing. She shares: “it would take roughly 357,462,856 chicken nuggets minimum to break your fall from a ten story building.”