What is really being learned from eight to three every school day? In an article titled “Education for the Twenty-First Century,” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi states that “the world around us is the primary teacher of students, not the schools[...]” (Csikszentmihalyi 1). If one were to really think about it, the majority of a student’s education comes not from the structured learning system required by law, but from the world outside of the school building. From sports to church, people gain worlds of knowledge and develop skills that could not otherwise be learned from a proctor. Personalized, real-life experiences outside of the classroom are the best teachers for teenagers and students of all ages. By developing social skills and maturity in a hands-on, professional situation, our society molds and shapes kids through an environment where they can learn to thrive and grow on their own.
To begin, sports play a major role in teaching …show more content…
Through athletics and religion, kids learn the skills they need to succeed in a working environment as well as in their everyday lives. Consider this question; will knowing the equations vital to successfully solving a right triangle help a student in ten years when he or she is out of school and taking care of a family? Or will the leadership and social skills learned through personal experiences outside of math class be more beneficial to this future employee and family member? When considered, the community around us is a classroom where students will learn, grow, and develop the most important pieces and parts of who they truly are. With the skills and traits developed through real-life experiences, a student can have the assurance that when they need it the most, they have learned the necessities to be triumphant in everyday life, simply by being a part of the world surrounding