A different look at the quality of learning
Let's think beyond small class sizes!
Over the past two months of building a powerhouse with my two roommates, interacting with people from The Commons in San Francisco, and learning to keep in touch with friends I made from Minerva, I began reflecting on what it means to learn and grow in a community.
Community is a big part of our courses at MỞ. We design experiences where students connect and learn from each other through shared pains and interests. Thus, the question of what it means to grow and learn in a community is very much close to my heart.
Before answering this question, let’s first start with how we often define the process and success of educating ourselves and others.
The conventional understanding is that quality education equals small class sizes and, thus, low student-to-teacher ratios. The assumption here is that each student receives more individual attention and care from the teacher in smaller classes, and is thus more likely to succeed. The teacher is the one who has the most knowledge and experience and is transferring it to their students.
The bigger assumption here is that the key to our success in learning is to have guidance from the one person who knows the best, the one we call ‘teacher’. The more time we spend learning from our teacher or master, the better we become, which is not wrong.
But is this the key ingredient for impactful and sustainable learning, though? I wonder.
I had a lovely history professor at Minerva who basically made me fall in love with history through his classes. But as soon as I stopped taking his class, I no longer had the accountability and guidance to keep revisiting history. I had to rely on my friends at Minerva who are also interested in history to keep exploring and engaging with this topic.
I’ve come to realize that the quality of learning has less to do with class size and more to do with the quality of content, the quality of methodology, and especially the quality of people you surround yourself with.
Quality of learning = small class size
Quality of learning = quality of content + quality of methodology + quality of people you surround yourself with
Beyond formal academics, the communities we immerse ourselves in shape our learning in profound ways. Over the past two months, I’ve been living with housemates who are committed to lifelong learning and growth so they don’t let any short-term gains or losses stop them from pushing forward. The culture of intellectual curiosity we’ve built in the house has accelerated my personal development tremendously. Similarly, engaging with a community like The Commons in San Francisco exposes me to people who are curious and driven to learn and grow no matter the stage of life they are in, thus influencing the way I operate every day.
It’s the people we surround ourselves with - those who share our values and love of learning - that create the foundation for impactful education. While content and learning methods matter, these things continuously evolve based on new research and techniques. Surrounding ourselves with a supportive community focused on growth is how we can cultivate lifelong learning which will help us discover more high-quality content and methodology.
So when evaluating the “quality” of an educational experience, we should shift our thinking beyond just class size and individual attention. What really matters, in the long run, is being immersed in a culture and community that fosters intellectual curiosity and development. This will enable us to learn in ways no textbook or lecture ever could.
I want to dedicate this post to my housemates and the people I’ve engaged with in SF over the past 2 months. I hope to create this community and culture of intellectual curiosity at MỞ and in Vietnam!
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