How do people learn most effectively? originally appeared on Quora – the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by David Rogier, CEO + Co-Founder MasterClass, on Quora:
Honest answer: we’re still trying to figure it out.
What I don’t think works: I grew up in a school system that believed you learned best through agreeing with what your teacher wanted and rote memorization (Noam Chomsky calls high school education in the US obedience training).
There are tons of articles, Quora posts, and research (one of my favorite theories is how forgetting actually helps you learn), but our lack of good answers to your questions is why I think there haven’t been seismic shifts in our education system in decades.
My personal belief is it’s a combination of 3 factors:
- Amazing teachers. They should love the subject. They should know more than you (about what they are teaching) and they should inspire you to want to learn more.
- Great storytelling. Education can, and should be engaging. If it’s not, then you won’t learn unless forced to (that’s what pressure at school does). This was part of our inspiration to have Academy and Emmy award winning filmmakers help make our classes.
- You learn most in the moments when someone forces you to confront your own ideas. You need someone to push your thinking. To challenge how you interpreted what you were just taught. It can be the teacher, but it can also be friends, a book club, a TA, etc. That’s why we work so hard to build an active and engaged community around our classes.
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