School Should Be Boring

But it shouldn't be boring to everyone all of the time.

If your school experience was anything like mine, you must remember sitting through a lot of classes that bored the heck out of you. I specifically remember sitting there as the teacher tried to coax the intricacies of meiosis and mitosis through my head. I had no interest, I was bored.

However, if you'd caught me an hour later as I was sitting in my history class, you would have seen a completely different student. I was absolutely enthralled by the intricacies of Rome, Carthage and Ancient Egypt. I really enjoyed that class, it provided me with my first affair with history, one that has matured into a healthy passion for the subject in adult life.

I think a key function that school serves is to filter students into their general areas of interest. Providing that initial spark of inspiration that could lead a student in the second row of a biology class to on on to research genetics at a top international research institute.

Perhaps we should restructure classes to give students taster classes to asses how interested they naturally are in various subjects, then carefully direct the most interested students into the classes that interest them most. I'm not suggesting that we don't give children a broad education, but really, why the heck did I need to lean about meiosis? It would have been better for me to spend a few more hours in history class. I would have enjoyed it more. Especially surrounded with other kids that shared my passion. Imagine how enjoyable it would be for a teacher to teach a class of such enthusiastic kids.

I'm sure this idea has flaws, but shouldn't we start to take a serious look at fundamentally restructuring education. I mean come on, we're still following the same fundamental footsteps set out in Victorian times.