School versus real world learning

Ronald Wolk, founder and publisher of Education Week and Teacher Magazine, offers another great commentary on the state of education here. An excerpt:

In the late 1980s, research was beginning to provide a basis for making
this distinction, and in her address, Resnick explores four major differences
between the two types of education: “Schooling focuses on the individual’s
performance, whereas out-of-school mental work is often socially shared.
Schooling aims to foster unaided thought, whereas mental work outside school
usually involves cognitive tools. School cultivates symbolic thinking, whereas
mental activity outside school engages directly with objects and situations.
Finally, schooling aims to teach general skills and knowledge, whereas
situation-specific competencies dominate outside.”

Well worth reading the whole thing.