This text is a call to action. The title Escape from Teaching may sound a bit like an imperative. However, much of the recent findings from educational and brain research, especially regarding the potential benefits of informal and self-structured learning, are never realized in educational practice. It is time to ask: What did we really learn from all those years that we spent in instructional and often insulting contexts? What have we got to show from our formal education and what can we become as a result of this experience? What do we forget in such contexts and did it deprive us of our self-confidence and self-structuring skills? What consequences are associated with seeking and testing can equip us with permanent skills and abilities? How could educational institutions change to become places for successful self-directed skills development? And, how can we, as individuals and as a society, develop the potential that rests within us all?
The objective of this book is to set the stage for internal discussions at educational institutions and to identify the starting points for the urgently needed changes in our learning culture.
