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🐴 The 200-year-old mistake we're still making
A conversation with Matt Bowman and Isaac Morehouse on the history of schooling, standardization, and the power of "not yet"
Charlie Deist
May 15, 2025
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IN THIS EDITION:
🍎 FREE T-SHIRT ALERT: Leave a verified book review and earn rewards (details below)
🍎 Matt and Isaac on why standardized education doesn't work for unique children
🍎 The "Mastered or Not Yet" approach that transforms learning assessment
📺 PODCAST HIGHLIGHT
FINDING YOUR CHILD'S STRENGTHS
Did you know our education system is based on a 200-year-old Prussian model designed to produce obedient workers, not creative thinkers? In this week’s podcast episode, Matt and Isaac explain how this outdated system still affects children today.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity…
Matt: "I love the quote we (questionably) attribute to Albert Einstein: 'If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it'll live its whole life feeling stupid.'
I like to ask people which animal in the cartoon they identify with. I was probably like the horse — very happy, confident that I could do anything, but still couldn't climb the tree. I'm so confident in myself that I'm sure I could figure out a way, but I'm still not going to succeed like the monkey will. How frustrating is that concept?"
Isaac: I'll never forget driving home from baseball practice with my son, who was bummed because he thought he was the slowest kid on the team. But he actually has power as a hitter and a good arm. I told him about Anthony Rizzo, who's an incredibly slow base runner but an amazing first baseman and a good hitter who's won a World Series. Some guys are base-stealing champions who never hit home runs — a team needs all types.
I want to know the things I'm not good at without letting that crush me. That's hard to accomplish in an academic setting, but it's important not to attach shame. Just say, 'I'm not very good at math, so I'm going to need some help' and not feel bad about it.
Matt: I agree. It's not that we should protect kids and never make them do anything hard. In later chapters, we talk about how one of the most rewarding things is accomplishing something challenging. The point of saying 'fish don't climb trees' isn't that we don't want kids to be challenged. The point is that there are challenging things for each child to discover. Once you find those things each child is passionate about conquering, that experience produces both learning and joy.
📊 TREND
MASTERED OR NOT YET
The standard grading system that’s been used for almost 200 hundred years creates artificial endpoints in learning. An A or C stamp signals "learning complete" – even when it's just beginning.
Matt and Isaac propose a better framework in their book: Mastered or Not Yet.
This approach mirrors how learning actually happens in the real world. When you don't master something, you simply aren't done yet – you take feedback, improve, and try again.
As Matt explained: "What bugs me is when we impose on kids that they're failures, or that they're not proficient enough, or they just aren't good enough. You have to say, 'not yet.' They're not there yet. And that three-letter word of 'yet' adds so much strength to a kid, to a person who's struggling, because they know that they still have runway."
This simple shift transforms education from a series of pass/fail moments to a journey of continual growth.
🔨 TOOL
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