The Systems of Schooling: Into, Across and Beyond

Stage one

Into — Orientation

The first stage is Into. Into is the process of understanding what you are getting into. Before a person chooses a course, a school, or a field of study, there should be some understanding of where that path can lead.

What am I interested in? What am I naturally inclined toward? What problems do I want to solve? What kind of person do I want to become? What opportunities exist within this field? And most importantly: does this path align with my destination?

This is where orientation matters. Because choosing a course simply because it is popular, because your parents selected it, because your friends are doing it, or because you heard it pays well does not necessarily mean you have chosen a path. You may have simply chosen an entry point.

Into is therefore not just admission into school. It is orientation into a possibility. It is understanding the direction before beginning the journey.

Stage two

Across — Development

Then comes Across. This is the stage where the person develops. And I think this is where schooling is often reduced too much to the curriculum.

A student studies their course. They attend classes. They write examinations. They complete assignments. But development is bigger than the course itself. Across is what happens to the person while they are moving through education.

What skills are they developing? Who are they meeting? What relationships are they building? What environments are they being exposed to? What problems are they learning to solve? What technologies are they learning? What perspectives are they gaining? Can they communicate? Can they collaborate? Can they think critically? Can they learn something outside their immediate discipline? Can they take what they know and apply it somewhere else?

This is why I think learning should become increasingly universal. If you are studying technology, learn technology. But also learn how businesses work. Learn how people behave. Learn how to communicate. Learn how to build. Learn how to sell. Learn how to collaborate. Learn how to understand the world your technology exists within.

Your discipline may give you depth. But your development across that discipline gives you range. And that range matters because the world does not operate in isolated academic departments. Real problems cross disciplines. Real careers cross disciplines. Real opportunities cross disciplines.

So Across is not simply about surviving school. It is about using the period of schooling to develop the person who will eventually leave it.

Stage three

Beyond — Transition

Then there is Beyond. And I think this is where the schooling system becomes most disconnected from reality. Because eventually someone asks: what next?

And for many people, that question only appears after graduation. That is a problem. Because Beyond should not begin when school ends. It should have been forming while school was happening. Beyond is the transition between what you have developed and where you are going.

What does this education connect me to? What am I becoming? Am I becoming a founder? An employee? A researcher? A specialist? A product builder? A consultant? An entrepreneur? A creator? What are the pathways available to me? What experiences do I need? Who do I need to know? What skills am I missing? What should I start building now? What does the transition from education into my intended destination actually look like?

These are Beyond questions. And they are important because education without a transition pathway can leave a person with knowledge but no direction. A certificate can prove that you completed a process. It does not necessarily prove that you know where the process was supposed to take you.