This is an article that many would ask "why": "Why is she suddenly talking about education?" "Why does she thinks this is related to design or sustainability or whatever she is writing about in this website?"
If we want to change the world we live in, we should start with education. Remember when you were a kid and people kept asking: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” or “What are your plans for the future?” It was almost as if, by the age of 7 to 18, you were expected to have your whole life mapped out. Ironically, this pressure often came from teachers—our educators. You’d think they would be the ones guiding and supporting us, but that wasn’t always the case.
I’ve had my fair share of teachers and professors throughout my educational journey, from wonderful to... let's call them complicated. Many of you will agree: teachers play a crucial role as we evolve as humans. They can shape our curiosity, instill a love of learning, or unfortunately, create a distaste for certain subjects.
The Educators Who Shaped Me
In primary school, I was lucky enough to have a teacher who never asked me this question. She taught me to love the planet. (maybe this wasn't her main plan, but... too late). She showed us how humanity was making it suffer, and that early lesson stuck with me. And all this with a loving and caring attitude. In high school, I had an English teacher who was strict to the point of intimidation—most of his students were terrified of him. Yet, he was the reason we ended up with a solid command of the English language. It’s funny to look back now because, at the time, I wasn’t so sure what to think of him. But there’s no denying he got results. He also never asked about my "plans"... may be he didn't care, who knows...
There were also myths circulating during my school years—one of them being that if you were good at literature and philosophy, you’d be terrible at mathematics. I was sceptical about that theory. My experience taught me otherwise: if a subject is presented properly, you can understand it. I loved literature and history, but I also did surprisingly well in math, even if it never captured my full interest. Even physics, a subject many of my peers feared, was not a mystery, thanks to my high school physics teacher’s calm and simple methods.
But not every subject came easy. Chemistry, for instance, was my stumbling block. I had three different chemistry teachers, yet none of them managed to make it make sense to me. I felt like I was missing something crucial—a teacher who could make it click.
Challenging the Myths
I’m pretty sure my experience isn't unique. Many of us grew up with stereotypes about which subjects we were "supposed" to be good or bad at, based on nothing more than hearsay or teacher biases. I never believed that math was inherently hard for those who loved literature; I believed—and still do—that it all comes down to how a subject is taught.
It’s not about natural talent, but about making the material accessible. A good teacher does that—they make complicated things simple. They don’t give up on their students, and they don’t create an artificial divide between those “good at numbers” and those “good at words.”
Creating a Space for Exploration
A good education should be about exploration, not about choosing a single path too soon. Here are some ways we can encourage children to explore and find their way:
- Expose Them to a Wide Range of Subjects: Children should have the freedom to engage with a variety of topics—science, literature, math, art, history—without the pressure to specialize too early. It’s about letting them get their hands dirty with different experiences. Today’s young artist might be tomorrow’s scientist, and we should celebrate that uncertainty.
- Hands-On Learning: Let’s make learning tangible. Children thrive when they can directly interact with what they’re learning. Science experiments, storytelling projects, constructing things, observing nature—these are the moments that stay with them. It's not just about absorbing information; it's about experiencing it.
- Ask Questions, Don’t Just Give Answers: We often get caught up in the rush to deliver information, but real learning happens when we encourage children to ask questions. When a child asks “Why?”, we should take the time to explore the answer with them, not just give a rehearsed response. It’s okay not to know all the answers—discovering them together can be the most valuable lesson.
Guiding Without Directing
Guidance is important, but we need to be careful not to dictate. Children should feel supported, not pressured, to explore different subjects and find what truly interests them.
- Be Mentors, Not Dictators: Instead of forcing kids down one path, we should act as mentors—someone to provide support, resources, and encouragement. If a child is curious about the stars, let’s help them build a telescope. If they love to draw, encourage them to sketch and create. It’s about being their partner in exploration, not the one who decides where the exploration ends.
- Provide a Safe Space for Mistakes: In many classrooms, mistakes are seen as failures. This is the wrong approach. Mistakes are a crucial part of the learning process, and we should create environments where children feel safe to make them. This is how they learn resilience, problem-solving, and confidence—the true tools for navigating life. I remember my Granddad, who was a primary school teacher, would tell me that "a student that never fails is not a real student".
- Value All Subjects Equally: During my school years, I often heard that if you were good at literature, you’d struggle with math. I never believed that. If a subject is presented properly, anyone can understand it. A good teacher makes any topic accessible, whether it’s science, art, or philosophy. We need to stop treating some subjects as more valuable than others and instead encourage children to explore them all.
Keeping Curiosity Alive Through Better Education
One of the biggest failures of the current education system is how it kills curiosity. In kindergarten, children ask bold and imaginative questions, but by high school, they’re often too focused on grades and standardized tests to care about the “why” anymore. Children are naturally curious. They ask questions that make adults stop in their tracks: “Why is the grass green?”, “Why are we people?” As Sir Ken Robinson pointed out in his TED Talk, young children have an incredible capacity for curiosity and creativity. But by the time they reach high school, much of that curiosity has faded. Why? Because the education system tends to prioritize standardization and conformity over exploration and creativity. It pushes kids to focus on grades and the “right answers” rather than encouraging them to ask big questions. If we want children to find their purpose, we have to keep that natural curiosity alive throughout their entire educational journey. If we want to fix this, we need to rethink how we teach:
- Encourage Critical Thinking, Not Just Memorization: Our goal should be to teach children to think critically, not just memorize facts. They should be encouraged to connect ideas, challenge assumptions, and look for patterns. This will keep them engaged and teach them how to learn—an invaluable skill no matter what they choose to pursue.
- Let Them Follow Their Interests: If a child is fascinated by dinosaurs, let them dive deep into paleontology. If they love to write, give them space to create their own stories. These interests can change and evolve, and that’s okay. Our role is to guide, not to decide what they should like or not like.
- Personalized Learning Paths: Every child is different, and education should reflect that. Some children learn best through visuals, others by doing, and some by reading. We need to adapt our teaching methods to meet those needs, offering a variety of ways to learn instead of sticking to a rigid formula.
The Impact of Quality Education
Looking back, I realize how differently things might have turned out if I had had better guidance in certain areas. Chemistry, for example, never became a subject I enjoyed because I never had a teacher who could break it down for me in a way that made sense. It’s a shame because I know that, with the right support, I might have loved it just as much as I loved history or math.
This is why I believe we need to rethink our approach to education. The pressure to choose a future path at a young age and the lack of supportive teaching methods make it harder for kids to explore their potential.
Beyond the Childhood Question
So, what do you want to be when you grow up? It’s a question that’s never really about choosing a job title. It’s about finding what makes you come alive. And if we want kids to truly find that, we need to stop asking them to choose so early and instead give them the tools to explore. And why stuck with one profession? Why decide at early age what you want to do? if you did and you are happy - more power to you? But don't stick to it if it does not meet your expectations or you have taken everything you can possible can just because you dedicated certain amount of time to it.
The goal of education should be to nurture curiosity, to encourage questions, and to make every subject accessible to every student. If we can do that, we can change the world—one curious mind at a time.