Ideas for understanding education and learning.
First, breathe. You don’t need to know your entire career before choosing what to study. Sometimes the pressure to find “the one thing” makes the decision even harder. Instead, start broader. Ask:What am I curious about?What kinds of problems interest me?Do I enjoy working with people, numbers, ideas, technology, tools or creative work?Do I prefer…
If someone asked you:“What are you really good at?” Could you answer without thinking too hard? A lot of us struggle with this. We think a strength has to be something impressive.Leadership.Public speaking.Being “a genius” at something. But strengths can be much different. Maybe people always come to you when they need help explaining something.Maybe…
“Just follow your passion.” Sounds great.Also… slightly dangerous advice. Because what if you love something but you’re not very good at it? And what if you’re naturally good at something you don’t particularly enjoy? So which one should decide what you study?Interest or ability? Honestly, I don’t think it has to be one or the…
Sometimes I wonder if we’ve made education a little too much about getting things. A degree.A diploma.A certificate.Another course.Another qualification. And eventually you have a very impressive list of things you studied…but what were you actually trying to achieve? Because education can do many different things.It can help you enter a profession.It can help you…
For many of us, choosing what to study starts with a surprisingly small question: “What is everyone else doing?” Your friends are applying to university, your parents have a degree in mind, someone tells you a particular course has “good prospects”, and suddenly you’re choosing an education path without really knowing where it leads. Maybe…
Most people think a professional qualification is basically just another certificate to add to your CV.Not quite. A professional qualification is usually designed to show that you have met the training or competency requirements for a particular profession or area of professional practice. And sometimes, you genuinely need one. Think about professions such as law,…
What if you learn best by doing? That’s where vocational and technical education comes in. Simply put, it focuses on teaching you practical skills you can use to do a job or work in a particular field. Think: Instead of spending most of your time studying theories, you spend a lot more time learning how…
I used to think these were basically three different ways of saying:“Congratulations, you studied something.” But nope, they can mean very different things. Think of them as different kinds of educational credentials. DEGREE This is usually a longer and more in-depth programme of study. Think bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate. A degree can prepare you for…
For a lot of us, education was presented as a very simple formula: Do well in school, go to university, get a degree and you will get a good job and succeed. Easy. Right? Except… not really. Because somewhere in that formula is a question we don’t ask often enough: A degree for what? Don’t…
I used to think education had a finish line, but then life happens. You change careers.Technology changes your industry.You move to another country.You start a business. So maybe education doesn’t really end. Maybe formal education ends. Learning doesn’t. Think about it.A child learns through play, questions and observation.School gives you foundations.University or vocational training may…