Reimagining Education

Learning is an Instinct

Each and every one of us is born with an instinctual curiosity and motivation to learn. If this was not the case, then babies would not learn to speak, or to walk. We would have never asked the very questions that drove us to explore the farthest reaches of universe to the deepest trenches in the ocean, and study miniature microbial life under a microscope. As every parent will confirm, as soon as kids learn to speak they begin to ask questions. And not just any questions – they ask deep, thought provoking questions that even adults do not think of. So where does all this creativity go when we grow up?

At some point in the path through education, kids learn that their questions don’t matter. “You don’t need to know that for the exam” and “Sit still and do what you’re told”. Oftentimes, this pressure comes both from school and from home, as parents reinforce this narrative by punishing ‘bad’ academic results and rewarding ‘good’ ones. The current education system does not prepare students to be resourceful, critical thinkers, it teaches them that their self-worth is tied to a number that is achieved by swallowing information and throwing it up for the exam. This does not reward natural learning – it only rewards obedience and kills creativity.

In the digital age, these flaws are amplified even further. With the world’s knowledge at our fingertips and generative AI at the click of a button, we see student’s real motivations come to light. If students are motivated only by the number on their grade, then it is only logical that they turn to AI to guarantee this result. On the other hand, if we nurture kid’s intrinsic motivation to learn and understand the world, they would turn to AI as a powerful tool to aid in their learning. This is the future of post-digital education.

AI serves as not only a valuable teaching tool but also a learning one. We can no longer give homework to “write an essay” because this can be generated by AI, and there is no tool that accurately and reliably identifies AI generated text. Instead, we can design tasks to be intentionally completed with AI. For example, one task could be to have students generate different AI responses and critique the differences and find the best one, or point out flaws in AI generated ideas.

As a tutor, I am aware of how boring school is for most kids. I mainly notice two types of students. 1) Those who want to perform their best and achieve the highest grades. They are often proactive in our lessons and only care about “what will be on the exam”, and 2) Those who just want to pass and get school out of the way. The thing is, the difference between these students is not that one is more curious and motivated to learn – while the other does not like learning. All kids enjoy learning. For all my students, when I have asked them what they like, their eyes light up with excitement as they explain to me the details of their current interests. They are not the issue. The education system is.

Children are born eager to learn, to question, to explore - and that spark only dims when they are put in an environment that values obedience over curiosity. As educators, parents, and policymakers, it is our responsibility to stop blaming kids for inattentiveness and start creating a system that actually supports the way we are naturally supposed to learn. In an age where AI can provide instant answers, our goal should no longer be to force memorization, but to nurture critical thinking, creativity, and real curiosity. If we strive to make learning fun and exciting, students won’t just perform better, they’ll have a lasting love for learning that continues into adulthood. The future of education is not in stricter rules or punishing bad grades, but in restoring this natural curiosity that brought us to reach for the stars in the first place.

With love, Tais