Train or Teach our Children?

I have been reading "Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?" by Seth Godin. This is an outstanding book. Today I came across the following comment. I apologize that I do not have a page reference, I am reading it on my Kindle. 

Wikipedia and the shared knowledge of the Internet make domain knowledge on its own worth significantly less than it use to be. Today, if all you have to offer is that you know a lot of reference book information, you lose, because the Internet knows more than you do.

Depth of Knowledge combined with good judgment is worth a lot. Depth of knowledge combined with diagnostic skills or nuanced insight is worth a lot, too. Knowledge alone, though, I'd rather get faster and cheaper from an expert I find online.

... Depth of knowledge is rarely sufficient, all by itself, to turn someone into a linchpin.

I hope this hits you between the eyes. It did me. Now, I would like you to do is to think of this in terms of how we educate our children. Get that really clear in your head. Got it? Now, hold that thought for a minute. 

Last week, I attended the 140 Character Conference in New York City. This was an amazing, wonderful event, put on by Jeff Pulver (@jeffpulver).  I should take a timeout to blog about how it. It had an impact on me that I can't put into words. I will say this: If you have an opportunity to attend a #140conf, GO. Just do it. You will not regret it.

Now back to education. During the first day of the conference, Chris Lehmann of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, PA gave the following presentation .. listen close: 

I am going to keep this short. Yes, children need to learn to locate information. Unfortunately, what we seem to do best, or at least what we seem to focus on, is training them to take test. Chris is right, we teach subjects instead of children. We train instead of teach. We need to teach them to use their minds and to create. The future can be bright, but we must change how we educate. I love the message. Get involved in your local schools or with our youth. This is important.

Rick