By Saradha, 18
Saradha shares her opinion of the film, Most Likely To Succeed, a documentary envisioning an alternative education system – as well as her hope for schools in Malaysia.
Earlier this year I was invited to watch a screening of the documentary Most Likely To Succeed (MLTS). I can’t deny that before watching the film I was sceptical about it. I was afraid that it was going to be just another boring, ordinary documentary. MLTS, however, proved me wrong.
This wonderful film brought to reality an idea that we have only so far been dreaming about. It showed us a reimagined education system, and how different it can be from the mainstream. It did not hide the fact that there are pros and cons to everything, including High Tech High (the school in the film) itself. My scepticism all went away and I was honestly pegged until the very end.
After the screening was over I was asked how the film resonated with me. My immediate reaction was “I want to attend High Tech High!”
High Tech High brought to life for me a school that would be a dream to attend. Over there, students learned by doing. There was no rigid structure, no following textbooks but simply the idea that through physically doing something, the students would gain vast knowledge.
It was the difference between giving someone a book entitled “How to Ride a Bike” and expecting them to be able to ride thereafter, versus giving the person a bike and letting them figure it out through trial and error.
In my opinion it is best allowing the person, or in this context the child, to make mistakes so that they can truly to learn from them.
The question then becomes, what is the measure for success? We have to understand here, that success is subjective. It cannot and shouldn’t be defined by one person. Each and every one of us has our own definition of success. This definition can come in an academic form, in art, or any other field of study we find ourselves excelling in.
Don’t let anyone define your success, as each individual is successful in their own aspects and no two people are the same.
Most Likely To Succeed was a real eye-opener. It showed me how education can be designed and changed to allow a different teacher-student relationship than the one that exists today.
We have to keep in mind however, that a system like this may not suit every child. Each person has their own way of absorbing knowledge and retaining it, and for some, learning through experience may simply not work.
For me, this is an education system I know I would have thrived in. It is something that in this ever-growing world we need to equip the younger generation with not only the knowledge, but the soft skills necessary to thrive in today’s world.
Are we ready for an education reform of this kind? I say ‘why not?’.
At the end of the day, it is for the future of the younger generation. Let us open the doors to a reimagined education system and create a generation which is not only equipped with intellect but also many other skill sets necessary to make them most likely to succeed.
Saradha was a student panelist at the screening of Most Likely to Succeed, organised by 100% Project x Teach For Malaysia.
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