The big idea
Why do we learn?
We learn to challenge ourselves.
We learn out of curiosity.
We learn to achieve our goals.
It's clear that humans are driven by learning yet, all of us can remember times of frustration at school when we were unable to learn.
You may remember thinking (or shouting) this phrase in those moments.
"When am I going to use this in real life?"
Restart
Rethink
That's where recon comes in.
Consider the following NCEA standard;
Business Studies 2.4
Conduct Marketing Research for a new or existing product
Level 2 3 Credits
Under normal circumstances, students will likely achieve this standard in a classroom or on a computer. We see a different pathway to achievement.
Perhaps instead of taking business studies during a semester, or a digital technologies class, or any number of classes offered in NCEA, the student took an internship with a local business.
In this case they could perform market research for a real product that a real business was considering selling.
Retain
For the most part, students know that life will be extremely different after they enter the workforce. Many seek opportunities in and out of school to better prepare them for future life.
Unfortunately, without awareness of a diversified market in their home town, students can become frustrated with the apparent lack of future in their community, and often, they'll leave after graduating, never to return.
Recon is an avenue where businesses can market their existence to those types of students - the opportunity takers, the future leaders. This is hugely valuable for the business - if an intern is especially passionate and promising, future employment of that person is infinitely more likely than if they had never connected.
Revolution
Consider a traditional scenario: A student is thinking of pursuing accounting. That student spends 3 years on a degree, gets their first job, sits down, and realises they'd rather be in a different profession.
Now add recon to that scenario, the student tests the water of the career path before committing with an early internship. Even when it doesn't work, a lesson is learned, and it is hugely valuable for the student and the business.
So, back to the initial question,
Why do we learn?
Perhaps a more apt question is this:
Where do we learn?
To recon, the answer is clear. We do not learn everything that we see or hear, we don't learn everything we read in a book. We learn where we are interested in learning. We learn where we want to. We learn where learning is real.
