While attending New York University, Ana Fabrega worked as a student-teacher in five different schools across New York City.

“The students were told: ‘Sit up. Be quiet. Pay attention. Raise your hand to speak. Do as you’re told. Don’t question why,’” she said.

“These students were playing what I call ‘the game of school.’”

Fabrega decided that if she ever got her own classroom, she would do things differently and encourage more of what she considers “good thinking” and question asking.

Fabrega would go on to teach for several years before leaving the school system in 2019. She now works at Synthesis, an education company scaling ideas from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, and is set to release her first book, “The Learning Game,” in September.

The Daily Coach caught up with her recently to discuss her views on educational shortcomings, the importance of giving detailed feedback, and why she believes great thinkers are built, not born.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Ana, thanks a lot for doing this. Tell us a little about your childhood and some key lessons from it.

I’m originally from Panama, but because of my father’s job — he worked at Xerox Corporation — we moved around a lot during my childhood. By the time I was 14, I had been to 10 different schools in seven countries: Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, India, Mexico, Brazil and the United States.

Constantly changing environments and routines taught me to adapt quickly to new situations, whether it was making new friends, adjusting to different schools or acclimating to unfamiliar surroundings. It also encouraged me to become self-reliant and independent at an early age.
 
I learned to take care of myself, navigate new places, and develop a sense of autonomy. Experiencing different cultures, languages and ways of life broadened my perspective and made me more open-minded. It taught me to appreciate diversity and embrace different viewpoints. Most importantly, it allowed me to explore different aspects of my personality, discover my strengths, and develop a love for learning.

You graduated from NYU, then taught elementary school. What stood out to you most from that experience?

I got degrees in Childhood Education, Special Education and Psychology at NYU, while I student-taught in five different schools in New York City. I got to see hundreds of kids from all ages and backgrounds in the classroom.

These students were playing what I call “the game of school.” I recognized the game; I was an expert in it myself! But it had never occurred to me that the game was universal. This opened my eyes to where education is stuck. Kids are stuck in the game of school, imitating their teachers instead of thinking for themselves, losing points for mistakes instead of learning from them, coloring inside the lines instead of thinking outside the box, and waiting for instructions instead of figuring things out. I realized if we want kids to really learn, they can’t be stuck in the game of school.

What did you try to do differently?

When I got my own classroom, I wanted to create a student-centered environment that made it easy to want to come to school every day. I pushed my students to seek their own interests and explore their passions, even when this meant deviating from school parameters.

I encouraged them to question everything — “Says who?” “What’s the counter argument?” “What side of the story is not being told?” “Can someone try to prove this wrong?” — and figure things out for themselves. Most importantly, I tried to instill in my students a love for learning. I knew that if I succeeded, their academic and life success would follow.

Something I struggled with as a teacher, and now as a parent, is resisting the urge to use generic phrases such as “Well done!” or “good work!”

Good work on what? When offering words of encouragement, we need to be specific so that kids know exactly what they are doing well. So instead of saying “That’s amazing!” I try to ask questions about their process. I try to be curious about the how rather than praising the what.

As a rule of thumb, recognize effort, not ability, and recognize ethics over achievement. Recognize the learning process, not the outcome. Recognize curiosity, perseverance and a growth mindset over the completion of tasks.

You’re a big believer that a lot of what kids learn can hold them back later on.

Author Alvin Toffler once wrote, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”

Unlearning is the skill of recognizing our deeply held beliefs about something and realizing that the inverse might actually be true. I believe that unlearning is especially important for the things we’re taught in school. A lot of my writing focuses on lessons taught in school that kids would do better not believing. Teachers convey these lessons with the best of intentions, but they’re simply not true. In fact, they’re often flat-out wrong. Kids would do better to do the opposite of these lessons taught in school.

Lessons like fearing mistakes, striving to fit in, waiting for instructions, learning “just in case,” and not asking too many questions.

You wrote on Instagram recently that “Intelligence is overrated. Great thinkers are built, not born.” Can you expand on that a bit?

Intelligence means potential for good thinking. But many intelligent people never seize upon their potential. They never learn how to think. By contrast, many people are excellent thinkers, even without much natural talent. They had good teachers and practiced a lot.

Author Edward de Bono says intelligence is like a car: “A powerful car may be driven badly. A less powerful car may be driven well. The skill of the car driver determines how the power of the car is used.”

I would argue that schools don’t teach kids how to think. They teach math, history and literature “just in case,” but all that information goes to waste unless students know what to do with it. Good thinking is the skill of putting the available information to the best use possible.

Good thinking is also more than critical thinking, logic and analysis. It includes these tools, but it also includes creativity, exploration, design and perception.

The best thinkers use a big tool box. They’re skilled at both analytical and elastic thinking. Edward de Bono wrote a great book, “Teach Your Child How To Think,” that encourages parents to teach their kids the different “thinking hats.” I highly recommend it.

Intelligence is a potential — and for that potential to be fully used, kids need to develop a tool box of thinking skills. Without such skills, the potential is under-used. We can use de Bono’s “Thinking Hats method” to help kids develop this big tool box of mental skills.

Can you tell us a little about your work with Synthesis?

Synthesis is the education company scaling up the best ideas from Elon Musk’s lab school at SpaceX. I’m the chief evangelist. In a nutshell, Synthesis challenges kids with complex games, giving them a practice arena for solving life-like problems as a team. It also just released the world’s first provably superhuman AI tutor, originally funded by DARPA (the military agency that created the internet).

After I left the school system, I met with several people building alternative learning experiences, and was fairly disappointed with the products. A lot of what looked like innovation was just an iteration of the old thing. Then, I met with Chrisman Frank and Josh Dahn, the founder of Synthesis, and was blown away with their vision for the future of education and the beta-testing sessions of their first product, the Synthesis simulations.

My main role is to continue evangelizing the category of alternative education so more parents understand the options available for them if the traditional education system is not a right fit. I do this through writing, and creating content online, speaking on behalf of the company in conferences and podcasts, and meeting with prospective parents, students, investors and teachers to talk about what we do.

Congratulations on “The Learning Game.” Did you face any obstacles in writing it and what do you most want readers to take from your book?

In 2019, I started writing my newsletter, Fab Fridays, with the intent to flesh out a lot of my ideas about education. Three years later, I had over 100 articles written and decided to weave together all of my ideas into a single book on alternative education. The biggest challenge I faced was whether to self-publish or go with a traditional publisher.

Ultimately, I hope this book will give readers confidence. Confidence to question what they’ve been told about how learning works. Confidence to unlearn what they’ve taken for granted and re-think education for themselves. Confidence to experiment with tactics, techniques and methods, both new and old. Confidence to explore novel ideas. Confidence to find what works for them and lights up the eyes of their children.

Q&A Resources

Ana Fabrega ― Website | Book: The Learning Game | Twitter | Instagram | Newsletter: Fab Fridays | YouTube | Synthesis