Unfortunately, the education system in the Czech Republic has not seen much change in past three hundred years. Generally, schooling model in countries of former Austro-Hungarian Empire is still based on memorizing. Whereas in Anglo-Saxon countries there is a model called factory system which expects every product to end up the same. But this is not a feasible goal. Each student learns differently and has different strengths.
The children of today will compete for vacancies on a global stage, especially in the fields of intellectual work. The companies like Facebook or Accenture want to be built on strengths of their employees in the future. Discovering those at the right moment when kids decide what to study might be a great advantage.
Some teachers are keen to work with students individually, but it is the system which does not allow them to – it is obsolete and rigid. Meeting the quota, having the best notes and „knowing it all“ is what matters. On the contrary, in Scandinavian countries the task is to get each student to their best level. The schooling system is modelled very individually and students do not compare themselves to one another so much. This works much better.
Engage, Motivate and Inspire
By all accounts, Finland has one of the best systems of education in the world. Education is a key priority for each family and being a teacher means prestige. The income of local teachers is twenty percent above the average salary. One of the Finnish faculties of education got six thousand applications, but it only accepted six hundred applicants. The entrance examination includes a talent assessment which reveals if the candidate qualifies for being a teacher at all.
During the educational process itself, teachers have two weeks each year just to learn how to teach – how to engage, motivate and inspire their students.
The headmasters do not spend most of their time filling up the forms for the ministry. Instead, they have got time to ameliorate their institution and its system of education. According to OECD findings, Finnish students rank among world’s best students even though they spend about 25 % less time at school than the OECD average (OECD is an economic organization of 35 most developed countries in the world).
Another great example is a non-profit project of Salman Khan: Khan Academy – free online courses distributing the learning materials in form of text, numbers, videos and pictures so that the information transfer suits students’ various needs and skills.
The Trapped Potential
When a baby is born, its brain consists of around hundred billion neurons interconnected and communicating via synapses. The synapses interface according to their congenital endowments.
Children usually play at what they like and with what they find interesting and the other toys and plays do not interest them. Due to the NASA research 98 % of six-years olds evince high creativity. At the age of ten it is 30 %, at fifteen 15 % and at twenty-five only 2 %. It is because school usually limits kid´s potential instead of unlocking it.
Why is it so? The above mentioned synapses interconnect based on two patterns. In the first one, our experience and surroundings play major part. In the second one, what we think of matters.
When I went to school thirty years ago, we were taught that from the age of thirty and on, the neurons are dying. But it is not true. Formation of synapses is a lifelong process. It does not matter if our natural talent is revealed when we are sixty years old. To develop it into a strength, we must nourish and train our potential. David Svoboda, whose mental couch I am, also had to develop his sporting talent to become an Olympic champignon.
Showing the Way
In my courses with the adults, I am trying to find their talents, strengths and possibilities how to use them. In 2000, when I took charge of Microsoft team for central and eastern Europe, I focused on talents and strengths of the team members. At the time when Microsoft was the largest company on the stock market, we were announced the most successful region in the world four times in a row. I told my colleagues: “You will do the things you are good at. Most importantly, be yourself.“ And it worked.
I use the tests by the Gallup company, the StrengthsFinder, based of forty years of research. They were trying to find out how successful people reached their success, what strengths do they took advantage of. They tried to characterize and classify the types of strengths and find how it is possible to use them in personal and working life. The test identifies five strengths of each tested person. Not every strength come into its own, it is not necessary to use all of them. Yet everyone finds there those that are shaping their role in life. Everyone finds out that they have some idle unutilized talents. This is what we are trying to change and figure out how to work with it.
The original test is freely accessible online in English. We have it translated for purpose of our classes. We also have the version for 10-14 year-old kids. The course “Unlocking children’s potential“ we prepared with my colleague Kateřina Novotná is exactly for this age category.
Being Happy and Successful
Survival has always been the priority for mankind. Our brain, when it is not trained, is rather an instrument of survival than a key to success. This is the reason why we are still focusing on things we are failing at. When a kid gets A at school, family tends to advise it to spend only around 7 % of learning time with that subject. When it gets F, the advice leads it to spend around 70 % of time with that subject. We are simply eager to go in for our weaknesses. If we succeed with ten things during the day and we mess up one, we usually think of this only one before we fall asleep. And it does not have to work this way.
I am not trying to say kids should not learn maths when they are weak in it. They should learn it to the extent acceptable to fulfil the quota and to gain general knowledge. It is important to understand the subject, to avoid problems at school and to banish the feeling that they will not succeed in life only because of their weak points. However, it is really not the point to become a straight-A student. No one can be perfect in everything.
It is not reasonable to set ourselves the highest targets, but the right targets. Students must especially engage in things they are particularly strong at, because excelling is not the only asset this brings. As when we are doing something we can succeed in, we are usually feeling happy at the same time. It is the motivation. You can get gold medals, earn money, receive awards and enjoy what you do. Jaromír Jágr (famous Czech NHL hockey player) recently gave an interview to the Slovakian edition of Forbes and the journalist asked him: “Jarda, how can you still get yourself motivated to give such great performances after all these years?“ And he replied: “You really did not get it. This is not about the motivation.“ The heart of the thing is that he simply loves hockey.
Mental Resilience
It works in sports, school or work. The best performances are given in so called flow corridor. The sportspeople call it zone. Flow is the area where lines of strain and talent intersect. Tasks below the flow are usually boring. Those lying above it are stressful. We are in the flow when we use our maximum potential, which also shifts us to the present moment.
In 1993, tennis player Jana Novotná was sailing to victory over Steffi Graff in Wimbledon final but she lost eventually, because she started to watch the scoreboard and got frightened that she really could win. Thereafter, she never returned to the present moment. Although only five present winning balls would have done nicely. I am always trying to explain to sportspeople they cannot think of final results during the game. They can do so when they talk to their couch.
For Usain Bolt, the motivation is his will to become a legend and his love for athletics. This is why he is a champignon. Loving what you do and the effort to become a legend must combine. You have to feel both. It is very important. Only very resilient people are able to remain in the flow.
Mental resilience means that one is able to give outstanding performances under harsh conditions. We can achieve it by overcoming the obstacles and by trying to surpass ourselves. Nowadays, people lack it. They are giving up too quickly and they do not leave their comfort zone, especially, if they are focusing on their weaknesses. It a task for the teacher, for families and for students to find out, how far they can push it.
Kateřina Neumannová (Olympic medal winner, cross-country skier) and David Svoboda say they learnt the most when things were hard. If you do stuff you are naturally gifted for, your endurance is higher. The old saying what does not kill you only makes you stronger is still valid. Besides, if you are not using your talents, you do not really live your authentic life. Mentally resistant people do not succumb to emotions that easily and they are more even-tempered.
Unlocking of Kid’s Potential
Searching for corridors of flow is what we are doing during the courses for children. The kids do the Gallup’s StrengthsExplorer test beforehand. The test is tailor-made for kids at the age of 10-14 – those who are deciding how to continue with their studies. Which high school would be convenient and what to do with themselves. Youngsters and their parents often waver and do not know whom to approach for advice. And the school psychologists do not have enough capacity to advise everyone. Therefore, this course might help the kids and their parents to discover something what they might really like, show them the way. Of course they might deflect after few years, but the main direction might stay the same, only the way can divert. And they can learn more about themselves.
In the beginning, we will familiarize the kids and parents with positive psychology which is trying to find the best in everyone. In the afternoon, we will couch the kids. When we find a strength, we want the children and their parents to recall a childhood memory. We want them to recollect a moment when they felt really happy. Mostly, people manage to do it and there we can get off the mark and find what is hidden inside them.
If they are able to, even younger participants can do the tests. In case they are too complicated for them, the parents can simply ask them at home what energizes them (those are the strengths) and what exhaust them (thus they can find the weaknesses).
My daughter had a teacher in Munich – Birgit Ertel. She was very strict but the pupils loved her anyway, later she founded three very successful international schools in Dubai. Once I asked her how it was possible that the children loved her so much although she was yelling at them and was so tough on them. She replied: Every kid is a genius, it only must be found at what exactly. And this is it.
You can just observe children – what do they play with, how do they react and what do they enjoy and encourage them to go further. Sometimes this is enough for a future happy and successful life.
By Jan Mühlfeit