Your First Job

In the article “Learning(Your First Job)” by Robert Leamnson, he breaks down the many misconceptions that are associated with how we learn. Those misconceptions include and are associated with note-taking, study habits, exams, etc. On page 7 Leamnson asserts,”you can pass some tests without learning much at all”. By making this statement, his point is that passing a test doesn’t necessarily mean that you learned and understood the material. You’ll most likely forget everything you were just tested on in a week. After reading this article, this quote really stuck with me. School seems to not be about learning anymore. It’s about passing. The focus is learning ‘what we need to know’ to succeed in whichever examination is next rather than absorbing the material. This quote is important because it shines a light on the underlying issues in the educational system. Although one can also argue that this goes beyond the walls of the classroom and to the homes of the students. Parents encourage their children to get good grades, forgetting that grades do not define their children’s intelligence. This puts pressure on the students and is why many resort to cheating. Then we wonder why so many students arrive to college unprepared. The point is, as also stated in the article,”learning is not something that just happens to you, it is something you do to yourself”.