Blog Post 2: Why Schools Don't Evolve: A Darwinian Look at Education

 Author and Text

  • Author: Sal Khan
  • Text: The Broken Model

ARGUMENT

In a world that's constantly changing, why do some systems stay the same?  Sal Khan argues that the American education system hasn't kept up and is holding today's learners back.  As I read his piece, I kept thinking in evolutionary terms: just as traits persist in species because they were once useful, many educational practices survive not because they work today, but because they once did. 

QUESTIONING CUSTOMS

In the chapter Questioning Customs, Khan urges us to question why so many educational practices have persisted: is it tradition or do they actually work? Like evolutionary traits, these practices survive not because they're still useful, but because they once served a purpose in a different context.  Khan observes that the education system is incredibly stubborn, holding onto practices even when they no longer serve students.  Like an organism clinging to outdated traits, schools continue to reward memorization, obedience, and standardization long after the world around them has moved on.  

Evolution isn't linear, and neither is educational progress. 



THE PRUSSIAN MODEL

These stubborn practices weren't created overnight.  Khan explains in The Prussian Model that our educational practices were adaptive responses to societal needs nearly 200 years ago.  At a time when society needed obedient, loyal citizens to power the industrial workforce, leaders designed the system to discourage independent thinking and reward conformity, traits that, like evolutionary adaptations, made sense in that environment but may no longer serve us today.  

Industrial-era classrooms rewarded obedience, uniformity, and efficiency -- traits once adaptive, now less relevant. 

Schools reward students who are obedient, strong memorizers, and easily conform to their environment--traits that were historically reinforced by the rise of standardized testing in the United States and industrial-era priorities.  Today's technology-fueled world demands something very different.  As Khan observes, "Today's world needs a workforce of creative, curious, and self-directed lifelong learners who are capable of conceiving and implementing novel ideas" (p. 80). The skills that ensured survival in a factory-like school environment no longer guarantee success; they actually hold students back.  For evidence of the skills valed in our current society, see the OECD 2030 Project.

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION

Viewing education through the lens of evolution and natural selection raises an important question about how schools determine valued traits.  In biology, natural selection favors traits that best fit the environment, but today's educational system continues to reward obedience and standardization.  Who decides what 'fitness' looks like in schools? If the world has changed since this education system was first adopted, why have the traits schools value remained stagnant? What would educational 'selection' look like today, and should schools rethink the traits they are selecting for?




Comments

  1. amara dantuonoFebruary 3, 2026 at 9:53 AM

    Hi Adriana! I also wrote my reflection on the Arguments that Khan made. I really like the reflection you wrote. I completely agree that everything is constantly evolving and changing, except for the education system. Sure, the curriculum may get an upgrade, but the system itself could use some help too. I always thought it was crazy that as an honors student and three-sport athlete (and part of clubs), I was expected to get to school at 6:30 and learn until 2pm. Then play a sport until 4 or 5pm and then do homework all night. But it does pose the question of what is the other option? Would school hours be shorter? How would we teach children and also let them be their natural, creative selves?

    I also think the problem with why schools are still stagnant can be answered in part by Khan. He explains that the system is so engrained into our society that if we were to change the school systems, we would have to change a lot about the way society functions. For example, if schools started at a different time, parents would have to figure out a new way to get their children to school and get themselves to work on time.

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