Life school vs. School life

So what if the reason our kids are doing their schoolwork is not just for a grade, or to impress their mates or to make their relatives proud? When I was a kid, my dad always liked to repeat: "If you want to be a successful man in the future, you must be able to take advantage from the life of school and the school of life". Obviously, at that juvenile age, my lack of wisdom and the comfort zone of having family around prevented me from understanding the deepness of such statement.

As I grew up, facing the world and its daily challenges helped me understand it. Someone's work is more valuable when it impacts the person's himself and the community in which it lives and when that work is built on its own or with others. I am not talking about building the next app that will change the way we live or see things; it will not be cognitive to think that technology can solve everything. I am talking about those authentic, traditional, creative and magical acts that students can produce and learn from. Some instances include: Getting involved in clubs and associations, doing community service or volunteering, traveling the world, learning from their teachers' experience, taking part to school activities (competitions/games) or panel discussions.

Despite the effort of school in formalizing the understanding of life's aspects through numerous well-concise degrees, some skills are best learned when life is your teacher: emotional intelligence, open-mindedness, pressure and time management, collaboration, wisdom in choice making, relationship building, facts like: there is no shame in saying "i don't know", or you can't please everyone or failures are stepping stones to success when you learn from your mistakes.

What if, instead of having the evolution of students at school being evaluated via a bunch of multiples entries on a question sheet, we have their growth being evaluated on their knack in designing and sharing information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes using the theoretical concepts learnt in class.

What if school was more than defining students capabilities through corruptible grades, but through how they can impact the world or themselves, both in a positive way.

I don't know about you, but for me, I’d rather know that my kids are going to school learning something meaningful, valuable that will empower their identity or can create opportunities for them to live in a better world.

 "Real work for real audience" - one said.