During the pandemic, when I was unable to comprehend circular motion, I complained to my mother. “If your teachers aren’t teaching you what you need to know,” she said, “then why don’t you teach yourself?”

The point of going to school and paying tuition is to be instructed. However, when teachers do not fulfill their duties, how can students learn? The problem is that high schools fail to prepare the students for the future when the students are unable to learn independently. The school expects students to become future leaders who bear huge responsibilities, develop creative solutions, and tackle the unknown. However, the schools are failing to prepare us for these obstacles because of the passive, perfunctory educational system that caters to students by not challenging them enough. What students learn through this faulty system is how to follow instructions, memorize concepts, and answer multiple-choice questions. Stultified by this approach, students never realize that education can happen outside traditional schooling. Eventually, thinking of themselves as empty vessels that must be filled with knowledge from the outside, they lose interest and find school meaningless.

Commenting on traditional schooling methods, students from The Independent Project, a project in which students assumed control of their schooling and ran school their way, noted the following: “I did well before. But I had forgotten what I actually like doing.” As part of this project, students were able to learn what they wanted in their own way. According to Sam Levin, founder of The Independent Project, self-driven teaching shows students “how to learn...how to teach...how to work.” When learning how to learn, students inquire and explore different answers, methods, and resources. When learning how to teach, they share what they have learned with others. When learning how to work, they utilize different resources available to them, such as the internet and their teachers. These techniques help students grow into successful and independent thinking adults by pushing the students to assess different material, risks, and methods that enhance their logic and reasoning skills.

Self-driven learning varies widely. It ranges from small-scale incarnations, such as independent projects, to large-scale variations, like designing a curriculum. However, no matter the scale, students must take an active role in their learning and be committed to it. Teachers and parents should offer tools that assist and support the student. They must also create environments that promote student curiosity and encourage initiative. Therefore, let the future leaders take control and be the author of their own learning.