Elon Musk has some thoughts about education, and because he's Very Rich, Fortune Magazine decided it should share some of those thoughts, despite Musk's utter lack of qualifications to talk about education. Reporter Christiaan Hetzner mostly covers business in Europe, so it's not clear how he stumbled into this particular brief piece, which appears to be lifting a piece of a larger conversation into an article. I'd love a new rule that says every time an outlet gives space to a rich guy's musings about areas in which he has no expertise, the outlet also publishes a piece about the musings of some ordinary human on the topic--maybe even an ordinary human who is an expert in the area.
Why is it that the opinions of rich assholes merit publication? They seem to emphasize that they are rich over they are assholes. And, what does Musk suggest we do, spend a great deal of time, money, and effort training our very best to work in low paying, low esteem jobs (which he is working on lowering the esteem of)?
I’m reluctantly giving Musk a smidgeon of credit for hinting at a valid point. Much of the time the education system does a poor job of linking classroom academics to “real-life”. The “why do I have to learn this?” question isn’t answered convincingly. If Musk was half as smart as he thinks he is, he could have made this point clearly himself. Maybe we should pity someone so blinded by his ego.
His wrenches & screwdriver analogy, when taken just a bare step beyond his simplicity, would perfectly explain the role of a teacher. The teacher would help students discover the different types - Phillips vs Star vs straight, Allen vs crescent vs socket. Understand when and why each are used and give the students the vocabulary to communicate with each other. Every competent teacher recognizes that their job is to help kids learn, not dispense material.
Why is it that the opinions of rich assholes merit publication? They seem to emphasize that they are rich over they are assholes. And, what does Musk suggest we do, spend a great deal of time, money, and effort training our very best to work in low paying, low esteem jobs (which he is working on lowering the esteem of)?
I’m reluctantly giving Musk a smidgeon of credit for hinting at a valid point. Much of the time the education system does a poor job of linking classroom academics to “real-life”. The “why do I have to learn this?” question isn’t answered convincingly. If Musk was half as smart as he thinks he is, he could have made this point clearly himself. Maybe we should pity someone so blinded by his ego.
His wrenches & screwdriver analogy, when taken just a bare step beyond his simplicity, would perfectly explain the role of a teacher. The teacher would help students discover the different types - Phillips vs Star vs straight, Allen vs crescent vs socket. Understand when and why each are used and give the students the vocabulary to communicate with each other. Every competent teacher recognizes that their job is to help kids learn, not dispense material.