It’s time to end the academic obsession – with Sugata Mitra
TRAILER
YOUTUBE
SOUNDCLOUD
SPOTIFY
SHOW NOTES
What if our obsession with academic achievement is getting in the way of broader human development?
James and David are joined by Sugata Mitra to question some deeply entrenched assumptions about what schools are for, what children really need to know, and what happens when technology changes the rules.
They explore:
Why do we privilege academic subjects over everything else?
What does the “end of knowing” mean in the age of AI?
What did Sugata’s famous Hole in the Wall experiments actually show?
Can children really learn without being taught?
What is the “grandmother method” – and how can adults spark thought rather than simply provide answers?
Why does Sugata think assessment is the key to changing the whole education system?
What happens when you give children AI instead of Google?
And perhaps the biggest question of all: what is education actually for?
A provocative conversation about knowledge, curiosity, exams, AI, self-directed learning and the future of education – with some surprisingly radical answers.
LINKS
Sugata’s TED talks – His talks on child-driven education, self-organised learning and the School in the Cloud
Hole in the Wall research paper – The 2005 research paper examining children’s acquisition of computing literacy through shared public computers
The Delors Report – Learning: The Treasure Within – The UNESCO report that introduced the four pillars of education: learning to know, do, be, and live together
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