Let's stop asking kids what they want to be when they grow up. Let's stop teaching toward occupations and career paths. Let's stop leading with the need to make money and start leading with discovering your purpose.
Instead, let's start asking kids (and adults) what they want to do when they grow up.
"I want to help people."
"I want to make things."
"I want to travel."
"I want to race cars."
"I want to feed people."
"I want to teach."
This one change in how we approach education, shifts curriculum to be more proactive and fluid. It becomes less about teaching for production and more about instilling critical thinking skills that will benefit any life circumstance.
We should teach kids finances, problem-solving and design thinking. Teach them compassion and art and how to build things. Lets teach each other languages and cultures and how to communicate effectively. In school, we should learn how to negotiate, how to market and how to empathize. When we teach each other how to process the world around us, we are empowering one another to form a voice, to follow our passions and to give the best part of both to the world.
I'm not naive as to why education is in its current state. I'm also not naive to the relationship between the current education system and the systematic racism and inequality that exists in the world today. But I want to believe that we as humans see that helping one another is the true purpose of our time on Earth together. I want to believe that we will come to understand that money and control and power aren't the answer, but empathy and compassion and shared empowerment are.
Basic Life Skills Curriculum
Creativity - Using your unique perspective to both think and express thoughts.
Confidence - Showing up as your best self and respecting that version of you.
Communication - Effectively interacting with others based on mutual understanding.
Finances - Making, saving, prioritizing and spending money.
Curiosity - Exploring the world and letting it teach you its beauty and power.
Problem Solving - Uncovering underlying problems and ideating solutions to address it.
Empathy - Understanding and utilizing the human connection we all share.
At Project More Happy, we're going to do our part to educate toward happier and more productive lifestyles. Because only when we accept a systematic shift from power to purpose will we be able to truly live happier lives.
