Teach Me

The System Matters By Jason T. Rogers I was reading a book recently, and one line hit me hard: “It’s not the people—it’s the system.” That idea has been sitting with me ever since. And the more I look around, the more it rings true. Whether we’re talking about education, public health, housing, or how we support Indigenous communities—the same pattern shows up. If the system is broken, it doesn’t matter how much money you throw at it. You can pour in funding. Hire more people. Add more programs. But if the foundation is flawed, all you’re doing is building on top of something that can’t carry the weight. A Lesson from History One example that really stands out is how governments have tried—again and again—to “fix” systems for Indigenous and Aboriginal communities. The problem isn’t just underfunding. It’s deeper than that. Over the years, governments have poured billions into education systems, health systems, and economic development programs designed to help Indigenous po...

The Spark Is Missing It’s Not Just the System—It’s the Spark That’s Gone Missing By Jason T. Rogers We talk a lot about the education system—what’s broken, what needs reform, what’s outdated. And yes, there’s work to be done there. But sometimes, I think we’re missing the real problem. The issue isn’t always the system itself. The deeper problem is the fading desire to be better than we are now. That quiet, inner drive to grow, explore, and improve—it’s what real learning is made of. But in too many classrooms, that desire is slowly being crushed out of our students. The Spark Is Still There—But It’s Fading Kids aren’t born unmotivated. You can see it in toddlers—how they explore everything with wide eyes and endless questions. That’s natural learning . Curiosity in motion. But somewhere along the way, that spark starts to dim. By the time many students hit middle school or high school, they’re not asking how can I grow? —they’re asking what’s the minimum I need to pass this ...

Do Schools Kill Creativity? A Conversation We Still Need to Have By Jason T. Rogers I’ve watched a lot of TED Talks over the years, but there’s one I keep coming back to. It’s simple, sharp, and deeply human. Sir Ken Robinson’s “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” If you haven’t seen it, take 20 minutes and watch it. If you have seen it, watch it again. Not because you forgot what he said—but because his message is more relevant now than ever. “We don’t grow into creativity. We grow out of it. Or rather, we get educated out of it.” That line hit me the first time I heard it—and it still does. A System That’s Lost Its Way Robinson makes a compelling point: the way we’ve built school systems doesn’t nurture creativity—it systematically squeezes it out . Children start school with natural curiosity. They explore. They experiment. They make mistakes. And they learn from those mistakes. But somewhere along the way, we teach them to stop doing that. We tell them there's one right ...

Education Is Still Playing Goliath’s Game By Jason T. Rogers There’s a TED Talk I keep coming back to—Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Unheard Story of David and Goliath.” You’ve probably heard the story before. A young shepherd, a giant warrior, an impossible battle—and a surprising victory. It’s one of the most well-known underdog stories in history. But Gladwell asks us to slow down… and really look at what happened. Because maybe David wasn’t the underdog at all. Maybe he won not despite the odds, but because he refused to play by Goliath’s rules . And that’s where my mind goes straight to education. What If We’ve Misunderstood Strength? Gladwell unpacks how we often misunderstand power. Goliath, on the surface, seems unbeatable—tall, armored, experienced. But he’s slow. He expects a hand-to-hand battle. That’s the only game he knows how to play. David doesn’t fight that game. He shows up with something different—a sling, some stones, and a strategy nobody saw coming. It’s no...

The Neurons That Shaped Civilization By Jason T. Rogers I recently came across a TED Talk by neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran , and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.  The topic? Mirror neurons —a small but powerful set of brain cells that might be one of the biggest reasons we’ve been able to build culture, language, and civilization itself. Ramachandran explains it like this: when you watch someone else do something—like picking up a cup of coffee—your brain activates the same neurons as if you were doing it yourself. You’re not just seeing the action. You’re experiencing it internally. That’s what mirror neurons do. Why It Matters At first glance, this might seem like a neat scientific detail. But Ramachandran makes a bigger point: mirror neurons are the foundation for imitation, empathy, and learning . And that changes everything. If we can feel what others feel, we can learn from their experiences. We can share stories, build tools, teach each ot...

Home School Stigma On Homeschooling, Stigma, and the Future of Learning I grew up homeschooled. I remember begging my parents to let me attend public school halfway through my sophomore year. When I finally did, I tried hard to hide where I’d come from—my past felt like something I needed to keep quiet. “They’ll think I’m weird.” “They’ll assume I’m from some strict religious family.” “They’ll think I have social problems.” The anxiety ran deep. And I wasn’t the only one who felt it. The stigma around homeschooling has been around for decades. Many people still carry this idea that homeschooled kids are either socially awkward or raised in isolation by overbearing parents trying to keep their children away from the world. And truthfully? That’s not just made up. There is a part of homeschooling’s history that’s tied to that kind of thinking—where parents pulled their kids out of school not to educate them better, but to shield them from difference, from culture, from connection. Bu...

Learn Out Loud Rethinking Education, Passion, and Work in the Modern Economy By Jason T. Rogers There’s this old idea that still floats around: The more formal education you get, the more money you’ll make. It’s the kind of message that gets repeated so often, we stop questioning it. But if you look at the economy today—how people work, how they earn, and how they build careers—you’ll start to see something different. That idea isn’t holding up the way it used to. In fact, for a lot of people, it’s become a myth that quietly leads them toward low-paying jobs and overwhelming debt . Not because they’re not smart. Not because they’re not capable. But because the education system and the workforce have drifted out of alignment. The Real Currency: Passion + Skills If you want to thrive in this economy, you don’t just need a degree—you need something more personal. You need to know what you care about. What lights you up. And then you need to build practical skills around that ...