The Secret Type of Learning That You Don’t Learn in School

In public education, learning is very structured. Too structured.

All of the work you do, you do because you were told to do it. You were told how to do it and when to do it. Even with the more creative exercises like writing, the process was specifically planned out and restrictive: “Five paragraphs. Make sure to have an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. MLA format!”

In other subjects like math and science, you follow exactly what is taught to you. Don’t know an answer to a problem? Go back and read the text, it’s in there somewhere. No, don’t use that strategy to get the correct answer, use this one.

All creative tasks seem to be getting stomped out in the education system. Self-discovery and personal, independent development just don’t happen to you in school. And it makes sense; with so many students, it’s a lot easier for everyone to follow a cookie-cutter education. It’s easier for everyone to be academically average than have some fall behind because of the lack of structure.

This is the first type of learning: structured learning. But one thing that many students realize when they graduate is that this doesn’t cut it anymore. There are no longer teachers to hold your hand; there’s not a text to read that gives all the answers.

So what’s the second type of learning? The secret one, the one that school doesn’t expose you to? Self-teaching. Unstructured.The ability to know how and what to learn on your own. Taking advantage of the behemoth of knowledge right at your fingertips at all times, the Internet.

Structured learning is very passive. Things are taught to you. Self-teaching, or unstructured learning, is very active. To self-teach, you have to have agency in what you are learning. This is the kind of learning that is incredibly valuable in the real world, but not as much in academia.

Let’s think about a simple example of self-teaching. You’ve just been hired as an intern at a data company. A new task comes up: someone needs to automate communication between two tech tools. None of the senior employees know how to do this; they’ve never heard of automation before! (This hypothetical company clearly won’t last long.)

But because you know how to self-teach, you can accomplish this task. Maybe you find a tool online called Zapier and teach yourself to use it. Without a textbook or teacher showing exactly how to do it, you taught yourself to automate the task.

So how can one make up for this forgotten but necessary skill?

• Start by ditching the rules that don’t click with you. If endless restructuring of your article is slowing you down, write from your own intuition and creativity. The farther you leave academia, the “rules” around writing matter less and less.
• Learn to learn independently. I know that sounds like a mouthful, but it’s true. As with most things, practice makes perfect. So practice learning, creating, and self-teaching in your everyday life. Over time, you will find it easier to operate without the help of structure.
• Apply self-teaching even in commonly structured situations. In the example above, perhaps there was an automation solution already prepared for this task. Still solve the issue without this crutch! This will train your brain to think independently and will make it easier to self-teach down the line.

This is what public schools lack. With the creation and subsequent implementation of structured learning, we have formed a creative prison around our brains. Break free of the prison for the sake of your career! Thinking creatively and self-teaching are absolutely critical on the job market, and you won’t learn them in school.