I recently found myself in a discussion of the rigidity of today's education system. The argument was that a student should be allowed to assemble a hodgepodge of knowledge at all levels of education.

Economic theory would say this is the perfect way to learn. All people are consumers of information. Consumers tend to think at the margin, that is, in terms of how will consuming one more unit affect the benefit or enjoyment I receive. Should I work 8 hours and relax 3 hours a day, or should it be more like 6/5? It's all about finding that perfect combination of consumption that maximizes your personal benefit.

The same is true for education. Many times I find myself (and I'm sure I'm not alone) slacking in a class that doesn't particularly excite me. I incur a cost of class time that nets me no personal benefit. If my attention isn't on the material, I'm gaining no knowledge from being in the classroom. If I were to choose a handful of classes each semester that interested me, with no constraints, I would be maximizing my benefit by ensuring that the full time in class was spent gaining knowledge.

This principle can be applied to K-12 schools as well. Many schools struggle to score highly in math. The trick to boosting these scores would be to find subjects that students enjoy learning and inject math into those topics. Students interested in cars? Use them to show applied concepts of ratios, volume, and weight. What about magazines? Use page layouts to demonstrate area or calculate circulation statistics or ad revenue.

Society is moving quickly to a social community-driven way of thinking. MySpace or Facebook users join groups based on interests. Bloggers share their thoughts and opinions to readers who share interest in the topic. Teachers, parents, experts throughout the community should be finding ways to match interests to the curriculum instead of constraining knowledge in neat little boxes. The trick is finding the right combination that maximizes the educational benefits received by the student.


Want to know how cities play into this argument? Read Remixing Cities.