Implementing Education

How many times have I learned that exercise is good for me? And a healthy diet, and a good sleeping schedule? Do I do these things? Not exactly. Does the smoker not realize that he is giving himself lung cancer? Of course not! How many times have I learned that I have to stand up for myself-- that I have to take initiative? How many times have I learned that self control is the way to holiness? Have I not internalized these messages? I think I have. I suppose that question is up for debate, but I think that the missing link between knowledge and practice is teaching implementation.
It seems to me that the educational system is structured such that the more removed one is from real life, the more academically prestigious she is. Ideas should be judged in a vacuum, on their own merits. I am not necessarily disputing that position (granted, I might another time), but it strikes me as a paradox of tremendous proportions that we can achieve great development of the mind so much that the ideas become removed to a point that we never even consider the need to bring what we've learned into what we all know as "real life."
Some would argue that this inability to implement knowledge shows a deficiency in our understanding. However, I think that it's just a different part of our minds at work. It could be that once implemented, these ideas develop new meaning to us, but i don't think that an inability to implement indicates poor knowledge.
I think that we have role models who haven't implemented the lessons they teach, and so we continue the vicious cycle from generation to generation. Rabbis and teachers are sometimes the most power seeking, emotionally and physically unhealthy people, and they are whom we send our children-- and ourselves! for guidance. How twisted is that? Why would I judge a person's leadership abilities based on how well he did on an exam, or even how well he can give a sermon? We aren't focusing on the right things.
Halacha class is another example of where this issue comes up. In a class about Jewish law, at best we study rules based on a system-- at worst, we study rules. In none of these instances to we learn implementation of the rules. The closest thing to this would be in a Jewish Philosophy class or discussion group where the question might be brought up: should we do x? and why? However, even in those contexts, implementation is a step further.
You will tell me, and I would have said this a few years ago, too-- that the reason we don't learn implementation is because that is where a person's free choice comes into play. That's where yirat shamayim and personal discipline and responsibility become important. Fine. I will agree with that argument. But that just begs another question: when did i learn about yirat shamayim? I'm told that in more Yeshevish places, yirat shamayim is discussed more frequently, but in my educational experiences, it has been notably absent. In what class did we cover self discipline? Is this post sounding ridiculously fluffy? I don't think that implementation-al, behavioral training has to be fluffy. I think it is an essential piece of the puzzle that is missing from our educations.
When I sit in a class, I can be a star student, and that will make me a teacher's pet. A kid who zones out, loses his homework and does poorly on his tests could be doing a better job implementing what he knows into his life. The relationship between knowledge and real life is weak, and implementation of knowledge learned is not considered in school until you have reached a level where the educators feel they are preparing you for your career. What message does that send? The only practically important part of your life is your career? Or, termed generously, the only useful thing for life that school can help you with is your career?
This highlights a real problem with the educational model that we have. It is detrimental to students who are practically minded at all stages of schooling, and it is detrimental to every single one of us, since we are all missing out on a very essential part of our education-- the implementation.
I'm not exactly sure what a curriculum to teach implementation would involve. In Faranack Margolese's Off the Derech, she discussed the importance of building a child's self-esteem in her youth, as that gives her the confidence to be self discipline and to therefor live by her ideals. I imagine that in grade school, the mandatory tefilla attendance, and group bracha making and the like, were all trying to develop habits in school-- a form of teaching implementation. How could we implement lessons from classes that didn't seem practical? How can I bring Chumash Vayikra into my life without bringing animal sacrifices? Conversly, how would we teach an implementation of the ethics in Pirkei Avot? Would it just be a bunch of rebbe stories that you would hear at an NCSY tisch? Or could we somehow make this substantial? Is teaching implementation overstepping the bounds of a student's rights to privacy and free choice? Would the students feel more turned off by implementation education-- like so many do for tefilla?
If anyone has other ideas and thoughts about how someone would do this, please feel free to share.