If I Want to LEARN

... The place I avoid is SCHOOL.

Why?

Because SCHOOL is about credentials. It's not about LEARNING.

If I want to learn, I ask a friend, I read a book, I visit the web, I go to the library, I ask questions of people who might know something. I try stuff out. I fail a few times. Ok, I fail a lot of times. Eventually I figure it out and move on. I've learned something.

If I go to SCHOOL I have to apply. I have to be approved. I have to get permission. I have to wait until the course is offered again. I have to be graded. I have to play the transcript game. I get a credential. I may not have learned a damn thing, but I've gotten the credential. By the time I get to even begin with SCHOOL, whatever I wanted to learn is moot.

WTF is wrong with this picture???

How do we fix it?

[Note: I posted this over on the School 2.0 group in Ning. Got no traction there. Maybe it'll get a little more interest outside of the walls.]