I think that the reason why the VCE systems and schooling systems generally (yes, even the IB) essentially limit and prescribe knowledge is because it's the only way to rank people, really. But I don't think this is a problem with just schools, I think this is the nature of institutions, perhaps even of practical life.
Look at it this way, we rote learn answers to our VCE exams and would frankly prefer to have the answers drop from the sky right in front of us so that we don't have to study anymore. We don't learn a discipline or even a subject independent from its tiny manifestation in the VCE programme. In a way, it makes things much easier for us, because our knowledge is practically spoon-fed. We 'learn' what they want us to learn.
And we do that, and we get into university and then we think: 'this is where the independent learning begins'. And indeed, for some degrees you notice that you have to do your own research and that's great, you can follow your interests... to a point. You still have a specific topic to answer, a specific set of requirements to fill and you aren't ranked based on notions of creativity, independence or personal growth, you're ranked primarily on whether your marker likes what you're saying. And sure, sometimes creativity is rewarded, but whatever you write can't be too revolutionary because in the end people have to understand what you're saying and there are word limits. And that's if you're lucky. Most subjects, especially first year, still continue to assess students on how well they know the course, not on how well they know the world or their levels of curiosity.
But once that's done, yay, you get to go off into the working world. The people who emphasise the value of independent learning always talk about how those sorts of skills are relevant for the workplace. But this is wrong. When you get a job you learn specifically how to please your boss, your customers, the media, whatever. You don't learn anything about life, you just learn how to do your job.
Really, the label of 'bright student' or 'high achiever' just means that we've ticked the boxes, we've done what others have wanted us to do and we alienate ourselves not just from the ethereal, ideological 'knowledge for the sake of knowledge' but from our own wants. And the only way we could possibly change that is to remove our dependence on other people for our livelihoods, we have to be able to survive without others and we have to stop being useful to others. This is insanely unrealistic.
/rant
That said, I think we can learn based on pure interest, it's just that we can't realistically forge a life that way.
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