Every so often an article like ‘Monolingual Kiwis a risk to the economy’ pops up in the news media that can be quickly fixed if only something was taught in school.
It seems awfully dehumanizing to me that an educational system is there to service the needs of the economy by producing humans with relevant skills.
Shouldn’t it be there to serve the needs of the children within it? Of which gainful employment is only one part of the package.
But if we start basing decisions purely on the needs of today’s economy, the kids leaving the system will be 10-15 years dated by the time they finish schooling. It’s one part of the puzzle for why education forever feels like it is catch-up mode.
However underlying this system is unspoken an assumption that education is a one time opportunity. That our learning stops the moment we leave the system. Get it wrong and you’ve ruined a life.
Why do we limit ourselves to such a narrow conception of learning?
Teaching the Teacher 
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