Angelica Kajiwara

I’m working on something that’s been keeping me up at night.

You know how everyone’s panicking about whether kids today are learning the “right skills” for the future? How employers constantly complain that new graduates can’t think critically, solve complex problems, or communicate effectively?

Well, I found something wild in some dusty old school records.

The Discovery

I’ve been digging through examination papers from 1918 (yes, over 100 years ago) from schools that followed something called the Charlotte Mason method. These weren’t your typical schools. Instead of drilling kids on facts and figures, they did something completely different.

And here’s the thing: The skills these old exams tested for are exactly the same skills that the World Economic Forum Jobs Report says are the most valuable.

I’m talking about:

• Complex analytical thinking
• Creative problem-solving
• Sustained attention (imagine that in our TikTok world)
• The ability to synthesize information from multiple sources
• Clear communication

What These Kids Were Actually Doing

Forget multiple choice tests. Here’s what a typical exam question looked like in 1918:

“Sketch the character of the ‘Kaiser’ according to Professor Lamprecht, criticising from your own knowledge.”

Think about what that requires: A student had to read a complex text once (no cramming allowed), understand a historian’s perspective, form their own opinion, and defend it with evidence.

Or this gem: “Write, in the style of the author, as much as you can of two or three of Carlyle’s letters that interested you.”

That’s not just reading comprehension. That’s creative analysis, voice recognition, and original synthesis all rolled into one.

The Plot Twist

These weren’t elite prep schools. This was considered a practical education for ordinary kids. The philosophy was simple: treat children like intelligent human beings, give them rich material to think about, and trust them to do the thinking.

No worksheets. No test prep. No “drill and kill.”

Just kids reading great books, thinking hard thoughts, and proving they understood by explaining it back in their own words.

Why This Matters Now

While we’re frantically trying to figure out how to teach “21st-century skills,” these schools were already doing it in the 19th century.

They understood something we seem to have forgotten: The best way to prepare kids for an uncertain future is to teach them how to think, not what to think.

These students learned to:

• Pay attention for extended periods (single reading, no do-overs)
• Think across disciplines (history connected to literature connected to current events)
• Form original ideas (no “right” answers to memorize)
• Communicate clearly (constant practice explaining their thoughts)

Sound familiar? That’s exactly what every employer survey says they desperately need.

The Questions This Raises

What if we’ve been overthinking this whole “future skills” thing?

What if the methods we abandoned were actually better than what we replaced them with?

What if a 19th-century British educator understood something about human learning that we’re still trying to figure out?

I’m spending the next four years diving deep into this rabbit hole (so you don’t have to), analyzing these old exams and connecting them to what we know about modern workforce needs.

Because if I’m right about this, it changes everything we think we know about education.

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This is just the beginning. I’ll be sharing what I discover along the way: the surprising connections, the “holy cow” moments, and the practical implications for anyone who cares about how kids learn.

What do you think? Does this resonate with your experience of education, either as a student or watching kids today?

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