5 insights on the future of education

The transformation of our school system has never been so close

The future of education is being built before our eyes. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a parent or a student, you have the power to be part of the transformation.

That sense of possibility is what I felt when I published my first article online at 15 years old:

My first article published online

This was the seed leading me to some wonderful adventures, like…

• Working in an EdTech startup at 16 years old,

• Co-founding a program for young creators alongside a startup accelerator,

• Publishing my first book, Hack Your Education, at 18 years old,

• Speaking at top high schools and universities in my home country, France

• Choosing my own learning curriculum and studying by practicing in fields ranging from entrepreneurship to dance to shamanism in Mexico…

Today is the 3rd year anniversary of the publication of my book. 🎉 To celebrate, let me share 5 insights after spending 6+ years in the education industry.

1/ Artists and scientists will drive the changes in our education system.

Artists and scientists' minds are the ones that suffer the most from today’s system, because school was built to shut down creativity and experimentation. Yet they will be the ones we need most for building the future of schooling.

Education, more than any other industry, needs new symbols, vocabularies and structures that the artists will build.

And scientists will ensure that we build a system based on the fallibilism principle, a system designed to never fall into dogmas while being constantly improved.

2/ Building a new education system will require educating parents, too.

With John Danner, serial entrepreneur and investor in multiple EdTech companies such as Synthesis, Primer and Maven, we asked ourselves last week…

“How do you convince parents to let their child make the switch to some alternative system of education?”

It’s hard to crack the code. I believe the best long-term bet is to educate the parents, too. Parents have the most power over their child’s education but at the same time they are powerless because they lack the Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) to be good mentors for their kids. I can’t wait for someone to tackle this problem.

Naomi Fisher, clinical psychologist

3/ When building the future of education, intentionality is key.

You won’t build anything that pushes the world in the right direction if you do it from a place of weakness. The education industry has the potential to transform our society. As an entrepreneur, the culture of your company and the way you treat yourself will always be reflected in the way you build the future of schooling. Be self-aware.

Naval

4/ Decentralization is needed to solve our certification challenges.

Here are some of the many problems coming with how we certify people:

• There’s a certification’s monopoly owned by college institutions, which marginalize people who don’t go through this system

• Diplomas don’t mean much when it comes to actual skills

• We lack a way to certify off-system learning experiences

Web3 technologies will allow us to solve these problems. NFTs will permit us to assess the value of a credential, students will own their accomplishments through an education digital wallet, and we’ll even be able to capture moments in time to represent strong qualifications in a domain.

5/ There will be multiple Education winners.

A single educational structure that “has it all right” and whose full stack system fits “all students”… Sounds like the education system we’re stuck in.

Monopolies belong to another era. Whether we’re talking about hardware or education, we’re heading toward highly diversified offers to fit individual needs.

Chrisman Frank, CEO of Synthesis, about building a full-stack educational system

Think of the future of education with many actors and entities accessible to parents and students, to modulate and personalize their learning experience. The winning education companies will be the ones that join forces with other collaborators to facilitate that global experience.

2019, Signing session of my book, Hack your Education (published in 🇫🇷, Hack ton Bac)

2 weeks ago, I came across a Hack your education reader who recognized me in the streets of Paris. She thanked me for the work I put out for teenagers.

Last week, I chatted both with a top EdTech investor living in the Silicon Valley and an Indian mom homeschooling her son and writing about her journey.

We live in a crazy, amazing world.

Let’s build.

Thanks for reading! Any insights that you would add to this article?

Zelda

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Yo! It’s me, Zelda- I like to smile a lot and to write about education since I’m a teenager. Share with me your thoughts here: zeldapoem@gmail.com

Back to Paris. Here’s a glimpse in my book, Hack your Education

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Article’s art cover: @Qingyi33