Dabblers Do Not Change The World

Have we taken "well-rounded" too far?

“Well-roundedness” is the new North Star of education — but are we headed in the wrong direction? Chances are, you’re familiar with the chaotic rhythms of modern-day parenting: the soccer practices, guitar lessons, art classes, gaming clubs, and jiu-jitsu tournaments that shape our Saturday afternoons. But in the classroom, “well-roundedness” goes against the grain of genuine learning.

Let me explain.

In a conventional classroom, breadth of learning takes precedence over depth. Mastering the material doesn’t matter; only forward progression. One day it’s photosynthesis, the next the French Revolution, and the next, students are cramming for a test on quadratic equations. Regardless if they understand the material or not, they’re ushered through grade levels with breathless agency, like a traffic cop beckoning them across the sidewalk to get to the other side. The obsession with age-based progression over knowledge-based progression has blunted genuine education. It’s time to return to that.

Before we dive into the magic of mastery learning, we need to cover three things: polymaths, hurry sickness, and the skills that will make your kids really, really rich.

A brief history of “the well-rounded individual”

Well-roundedness is rooted in the Renaissance ideal of the polymath.

polymath (noun)

Definition: A person of wide-ranging knowledge or learning, especially someone who has mastered multiple fields or disciplines.

Don’t miss the key term here: “mastered.”

A true polymath, like Leonardo da Vinci, is an insatiably curious learner who immerses themselves into their work with discipline and vigor. The goal is not to learn a little about a lot, but to learn a lot about a lot. Such is the appeal of “the Renaissance man” or “the Renaissance woman.” These types whip out polished skill sets like party tricks: they’re fluent in Mandarin, undefeated in chess, and can effortlessly recall the Interstellar theme song on the grand piano at the airport. In the 1600s, the only feasible reaction to meeting a polymath was to marry them.

During the Industrial Revolution, things shifted. A new age was dawning — one of efficiency and utility. Factories needed workers who could do one thing well. Speaking four languages just for the heck of it was out. More practical skills, like assembling car parts for a steady paycheck, were in. Finally, after World War II, the pendulum swung one last time. College admissions became more competitive. (Who could pack their transcript with the most extracurriculars?) Progressive educators like John Dewey promoted the idea of educating the “whole child.” And by the late 20th century, parents were convinced that well-roundedness was the secret to their kids’ success.

This lands us where we are today: a culture of “well-rounded” busyness that has bled into the classroom.

Hurry sickness and the illusion of productivity

Did you know that “hurry sickness” is now actually a thing?

Our techno-digital-iPhone-obsessed world is fast-paced, scattered, and inundated with perpetual busyness — and our kids, unfortunately, are not exempt. Classrooms overflow with busy work. Lectures. Worksheets. Hours of homework. An endless array of quizzing and testing. Not all of these are bad, of course. (Alpha School is a big proponent of testing.) But if kids aren’t mastering the material, what’s the point? Education becomes useless. Research shows that students can forget 70% of what they learn within 24 hours and 90% within a week.

Here’s the reality of a classroom without mastery learning. Not only are kids not learning, they’re mentally drained from perpetual intellectual busyness, flopping into bed more exhausted than adults juggling mortgages and a 401K. This isn’t a burden children are meant to carry.

Lucy, one of our Alpha moms, noticed this same fatigue in her son. Six hours of school and three hours of homework daily left Ethan exhausted, overwhelmed, and uninspired at home. He needed a change. They both knew it. But what options did she have? When Lucy first heard of Alpha School, she was skeptical — and rightfully so. Could two hours in the classroom actually be more productive than six? But after hearing about its mastery-based approach, she decided to take a leap of faith.

The results were transformative. Instead of dreading his studies, Ethan came home everyday excited to talk about what he had learned. He mastered subjects at his own pace, eliminating the frustration of falling behind or being rushed through material he didn’t fully understand. You’d think “learning more” would make him more mentally exhausted, but no. Ethan found more time and more energy to pursue activities he loved, like joining a local robotics club and building a drone from scratch. As his confidence grew, so did his curiosity. No longer was he merely surviving school; he was thriving, diving deeply into topics he cared about.

Busyness is the illusion of productivity. Doing more does not equate to accomplishing more. In 2019, Microsoft Japan implemented a four-day work week. Productivity increased by 40%. Fewer hours did not mean less work; it meant more focused work, more free time, and therefore, more motivated employees.

That’s exactly why our schools operate the way they do. We strive to rescue kids from this swamp of busyness. Intense bursts of focused, mastery-based learning lead to higher motivation and better outcomes — not just in the classroom, but in real life.

$10,000/Hour Skills

Khe Hy (writer and productivity expert often described as “Oprah for Millenials”) is known for his $10K Work Framework, where he breaks down tasks based on their value and impact.

In this framework, there are four different “levels” of tasks:

• $10/hour tasks: These are low-leverage tasks that require zero skill and have no long-term benefits. (EX: Checking email, filing documents, data entry.)

• $100/hour tasks: This is specialized work that requires both skill and experience. (EX: High-level coding, graphic design, legal consulting.)

• $1,000/hour tasks: These are strategic activities that significantly pay off in the long run. (EX: Closing high-stakes deals, creating new revenue streams, building a loyal online audience.)

• $10,000/hour tasks: Finally, these are the rare, transformative efforts that have the power to change your life. (EX: Publishing a book, starting a business, launching a movement that reshapes an industry.)

Traditional schools train students for $10/hour tasks. Mastery-based learning, however, builds $10,000/hour skill sets: problem-solving, critical thinking, creative innovation. Employers don’t want generalists who know a little about a lot. They want specialists who excel in skills that can be applied generally: solving problems, developing ideas, driving results. If kids want to do $10,000/hour work, these are the skills to build.

How mastery works (and why it matters)

Mastery learning — also called “competency-based learning” — is simple. Students must fully understand a concept before they can move onto the next. It operates like a flywheel: small, consistent gains that build unstoppable momentum.

Mastery learning was first defined by Benjamin Bloom in 1960, when his studies revealed how superior one-to-one mastery learning truly is. Students don’t just achieve significantly higher levels of academic proficiency; they build higher self-esteem, better critical thinking, stronger problem-solving — the list goes on.

In learning science, there is a cognitive hierarchy known as Bloom’s Taxonomy. This linear fashion of learning describes mastery in a nutshell: students learn something new, understand it, apply it, and create something new because of it.

A student who masters algebra does more than pass a test — they’re building the capacity to one day design efficient algorithms for self-driving cars. A student who masters history does more than memorize dates — they’re learning how to identify patterns in past civilizations to advise future leaders on avoiding societal collapse. Mastery learning is the ultimate door-opener.

While exposure to diverse subjects sparks curiosity, depth is where true learning happens. We cannot sacrifice one for the other.

Dabblers do not change the world

A true polymath has a skill set that spans the length of the Pacific — but goes just as deep. This is what we can give our kids with mastery learning. Future generations don’t need to be more well-rounded; they need to dive deeper into mastery. And one day, these masters are the ones who will build the future.