Overschooled but Undereducated

This book synthesizes an array of research and shows how these insights can contribute to a better understanding of human learning, especially as this relates to adolescence. By mis-understanding teenagers' instinctive need to do things for themselves, society is in danger of creating a system of schooling that so goes against the natural grain of the adolescent brain that formal education ends up unintentionally trivialising the very young people it claims to be supporting. By failing to keep up with appropriate research in the biological and social sciences, current educational systems continue to treat adolescence as a problem rather than an opportunity. This book is about the need for transformational change in education. It synthesizes an array of research from both the physical and social sciences and shows how these insights can contribute to a better understanding of human learning, especially as this relates to adolescence. The book was conceived through a series of international conferences, and considers the education systems in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand. Its intention is to shake education out of its two-century's-old inertia. In the saga of the ages, if a generation fails, the fault lies squarely with the previous generation for not equipping them well enough for the changes ahead. The most immoral thing a person can ever say is: 'This will last out my time'.

John Abbott is president of the 21st Century Learning Initiative, a transnational association of educational researchers and practitioners. Following a long career as a teacher and headteacher in England, John became director of Education 2000, spearheading nine community-wide education projects in the UK. He lectures around the world on new understandings about learning and is the author of several books including Learning Makes Sense (1994) and The Child is Father of the Man: How Humans Learn and Why (1999).