"If I’m sitting here and regretting my early A’s, or at least very aware of when they were empty A’s, then these future whippersnappers are doomed......but unfortunately their Dad is also going to be focused on whether they are actually learning anything."
Does anyone really remember the rules of linear algebra that they learned in class? Or can we regurgitate the KREBS cycle without looking it up? No. but the point is we have loose recollection points that that data exists and where we can go to look it up and teach it to ourselves again. Said another way, I'd argue that the purpose of school is to teach our children HOW to think and HOW to find answers. Furthermore, I'd argue that the 'disciplined A students' never really learned anything. You put them in a complex work problem today and they don't know how to react because it's not in a clear text book and rote work alone can't solve it.
Couldn't agree more. You just summarized my K-12 experience. I got the A's but didn't build a toolkit to solve complex problems once I started to face them in 10th, 11th, 12th grades and college. Memorization and class participation got me A's all the way until that point, but left me floating once the real stuff hit. Frankly this continued to play out in my first years of investment banking as well. Liberal arts "learning how to learn" didn't actually manifest because I was able to play the game well enough to cover it up.
"If I’m sitting here and regretting my early A’s, or at least very aware of when they were empty A’s, then these future whippersnappers are doomed......but unfortunately their Dad is also going to be focused on whether they are actually learning anything."
Does anyone really remember the rules of linear algebra that they learned in class? Or can we regurgitate the KREBS cycle without looking it up? No. but the point is we have loose recollection points that that data exists and where we can go to look it up and teach it to ourselves again. Said another way, I'd argue that the purpose of school is to teach our children HOW to think and HOW to find answers. Furthermore, I'd argue that the 'disciplined A students' never really learned anything. You put them in a complex work problem today and they don't know how to react because it's not in a clear text book and rote work alone can't solve it.
Couldn't agree more. You just summarized my K-12 experience. I got the A's but didn't build a toolkit to solve complex problems once I started to face them in 10th, 11th, 12th grades and college. Memorization and class participation got me A's all the way until that point, but left me floating once the real stuff hit. Frankly this continued to play out in my first years of investment banking as well. Liberal arts "learning how to learn" didn't actually manifest because I was able to play the game well enough to cover it up.