NOBODY LIKES A KNOW-IT-ALL . . . so why do so many of us fall into the trap of pretending to be one? It seems that no one is totally immune to this pitfall. In the sound bite culture in which we live, it's all too easy to spout off some sort of nonsense that we hardly know about just to gain a foothold . . . to prove our social capital at the latest dinner party . . . or to sound impressive in front of our family / friends / colleagues / strangers.  

While we talk about this partly in jest, there is a bigger underlying issue: Education (with a capital 'E') is too often being valued as a commodity these days. This particular form of cultural capital is now approached as a transaction, rather than a philosophy. People expect to pay X dollars (usually in the tens of thousands) to obtain Y degree (which they can use to display their worth on a resume or in casual conversation).

We all know the result of the 'new normal' in education. People focus more on checking the boxes (exams, good grades, required courses, degrees) than on the spirit of LEARNING. Instead of instilling curiosity, many programs are teaching to the tests. And subsequently, many students (and teachers, for that matter) are less willing to speak up when they don't know the answers, less determined to ask the right questions, and more hesitant to try things they don't think they'll immediately master.

We hate the idea that 'school' (in whatever form that might take - be it public school / private school / home-schooling / un-schooling / pre-school / high school / community college / university / or any other educational program, whether organized or self-directed) becomes less of an adventure in exploration, and more of a burden or liability. In our effort to codify / quantify / categorize people's performance, have we oversimplified the process and stripped education of its true meaning? Our fear is that the emphasis on sound bites and buzzwords have rewarded the superficial aspects of education in a way that hurts us all.

We'll admit, we've fallen pray to the higher education sound bite ourselves, culturally conditioned to spin our educational experiences to provide meaning to the audience at hand, at any given time. We hate that we know how and when dropping the Ivy League education or Masters degree will immediately elevate our status - it seems to cheapen the parts of our education that we value most. 

So this month we're on an unofficial crusade to change the conversation. 

For the rest of April, we're highlighting all matter of 'alternative education'. This will include paid programs, free resources, interesting articles, stories, and other ideas that subscribe to the ethos: value learning over appearing learned.  

For this first week we'd like to issue a simple challenge.

CHALLENGE
Every time someone uses a word that you don't know, a term that you don't understand, or references something that you don't know about, ask them to explain it. All too often we nod our heads in agreement and continue the conversation, for fear that people will know that we're not up to speed. But sometimes simply the act of asking creates a more fertile environment for everyone to learn.

Lastly, let's wrap up some unfinished business. As promised, we've pressed the magic button, which randomly chose two winners to our World Domination Summit ticket giveaway.* A hearty congratulations to Willoughby and Michael, who have both graciously accepted their winnings. And a huge thank you to all of those that participated. We hope that even if you did not win, that the experience sparked some good conversation, rekindled some long lost connections, gave motivation for new meet ups, and opened you up to the idea of adventure.

We look forward to redefining Education in the weeks to come. Check out this week's blog post, from a recent grad of Eco Practicum, which is quickly becoming one of our favorite 'alternative education' programs (hint, they have a deadline on April 15th for their summertime session in the Catskills). 

   Taylor & Dorothy
   Co-Founders, Good Food Jobs

*For those of you who are curious, the winners had 21 entries, and 31 entries, respectively. The person with the most total entries in the contest topped out at 251, which was about 4% of the total number of entries. The more entries each person had, the more it increased their chances of winning, but ultimately the drawing was still chosen at random.