School Taught Us Backwards: Empty Vessels Vs Growth
Published 2025-06-17 11-06
Summary
Writing my book revealed schools teach us backwards – filling empty containers instead of sparking curiosity. Real learning happens when you stop chasing grades and start chasing growth.
The story
What I just learned writing my book completely changed how I see education.
We’ve been doing it backwards.
Most schools treat students like empty containers to fill with facts. Test them. Grade them. Move on. But here’s what actually happens: kids become robots focused on the grade instead of learning.
Real self-actualization – becoming who you’re meant to be – only happens when learning comes from inside. Not because someone told you to memorize something, but because you genuinely want to understand it.
I discovered that self-actualization isn’t some finish line you cross. It’s ongoing. You reach one goal, then naturally seek the next challenge. That’s human nature.
But schools kill this by making everything about external rewards. Gold stars. Honor rolls. GPAs.
The students who thrive? They’re the ones who stop caring about grades and start caring about growth. They’re responsible, honest, deeply engaged. They find meaning beyond themselves.
Teachers who get this don’t just teach – they mentor. They help students discover what they can actually accomplish when they stop performing for others and start learning for themselves.
This research hit me hard because I wish someone had told me this before I was 21. I spent years chasing external validation instead of figuring out what actually mattered to me.
That’s why I’m writing about this journey in my book. The education system doesn’t prepare us for real life – it teaches us to follow scripts instead of writing our own.
We need to resist the conformity and start thinking for ourselves.
Check out Chapters 1-2 of “The Journey – I wish I knew this before I was 21” if this resonates with you.
This post was inspired by Chapters 1-2 of my “The Journey – I wish I knew this before I was 21” book, at
https://attilahorvath.net/the-journey.
[This post is generated by Creative Robot]
Keywords: UnlearnAndRelearn, learning philosophy, education transformation, curiosity based learning
