Ignite the virtuous cycle of education
What would a learning environment look like if every kid stepped into school with sparkling eyes, eager to learn and with the ability to focus and absorb information?
Have you had such a child in your class? Did it make your teaching easier? I bet it did and I believe there is a way for the rest of your students to join as well in the future.
Engagement from parents is the key to a child’s upbringing and we have the knowledge on what parents should do to raise their child with the appropriate skill to absorb education. How can we then, in the best way, get this information to the parents so that they can prepare their kids to be passionate learners before they step into school for the first time?
Have you had such a child in your class? Did it make your teaching easier? I bet it did and I believe there is a way for the rest of your students to join as well in the future.
Engagement from parents is the key to a child’s upbringing and we have the knowledge on what parents should do to raise their child with the appropriate skill to absorb education. How can we then, in the best way, get this information to the parents so that they can prepare their kids to be passionate learners before they step into school for the first time?
It is somewhat difficult to teach parents how they should raise their children. First, you need the parents to volunteer for parenting classes. But even if they do, a lot of parents are carrying too much load to be able to change their ways.
It is not easy for an 18-year old single mom in parenting class, if she lacks the ability to focus on learning, to absorb information, and later on practice how to raise her child to become a passionate learner at the age of six.
Therefore, we need to pass this information on to the parents earlier than that and also make sure that it reaches all parents before they get their first child. You are right, the only institution we have for this is school.
Parenting in the curriculum
If we can get every 16-year old person in the nation to understand that becoming a parent means an obligation to raise a child to become a passionate learner, with the knowledge of how to do it, imagine what that can do to a future society.
Teaching will be driven by the children’s curiosity and passion for learning, guided by teachers to lead them onto the right tracks. This will stimulate personalized learning and give each student better options for their future.
Without any deeper analysis, I estimate that a focused passionate learner in a daily environment with mainly equals can easily absorb 12 years of regular education in 9 years. This means that we in our K-12 can add 3 more years of knowledge in a stimulating environment.
By prioritizing parenting, focused on the raising of passionate learners as main knowledge in our K-12 curriculum (not necessarily as a separate subject), we ignite a virtuous cycle which will empower a population, be easy to pass along, and generate even better results for every generation to come.
You can compare math scores with other countries as much as you like and discuss if new technology is the future of education, but the first nation to embrace the virtuous cycle of raising passionate learners will take a giant leap ahead of others and produce a very well educated population.
November 19, 2040 - Today was a historic day for Iceland when their President this morning at a symbolic ceremony officially shut down the last gasoline pump in the country. Iceland is a model country when it comes to the fuel transition from gasoline to hydrogen and became today the first country in the world to complete it.
September 21, 2050 - At a press conference today it was announced that the first tourist heading for Mars will be the 38-year-old US businessman Patrick Clifford. He will leave the earth in the launching window of June 2052 and set his foot on the surface of Mars in November, together with the other 6 astronauts assigned for the mission to further explore the planet.
September 12, 2035 - Are you kidding? Is it possible to beam myself? No, of course not, but you can now make a 3-D projection of yourself anywhere in the world. The first product for real teleimmersion has been released, the Telebeamer.
September 5, 2035 - More than 20,000 quadriplegics around the world have now got a BCI, a Brain Computer Interface. It gives them the ability to control their environment, from driving their own electric wheelchairs outside their house, to make their own dinner.
September 1, 2040 - From today you have your own therapist available 24 hours a day, always there if you need someone to talk to, always in a good mood, and remembers every word you have ever said. This is the first automated therapist, with the best knowledge known to mankind on treatment and rehabilitation. 
August 24, 2020 - The first full-length animated movie with realistic-looking humans, "Tickle" opens tonight. It is an intriguing thriller about a woman who gets framed by her husband, but the most intriguing is to see if you can spot the difference between real actors and these created by computers.
August 23, 2025 - Today a new chapter in space tourism was written. Rod Markham and his wife-to-be Susan Millster arrived safely to the moon to spend 5 days as the first guests at the Starbright Hotel that was set up for this purpose two years ago.
August 16, 2020 - For the first time a court case is based on a multi voice recognition transcript as the main evidence. It was when Frank Levin took part in a dispute with four people that resulted in a fired gun that killed Adam Denny. The three other all testified that Frank had pulled the trigger, while Frank claims that according to the transcript, it clearly states that he was not the one holding the gun.
June 6, 2040 - For the first time ever, in-atmosphere passenger kilometers have passed 8,000 billion per year worldwide, according to the latest statistics, which is an increase by three times during the last 30 years. The introduction of the super-jumbo (600-seat airliners) combined with the low price level for flight traveling has kept the numbers steadily increasing.
