Have you ever wondered if schools have changed an iota since we were children? Since our great grandparents were children? The answer is no. There is all this talk of modernization and progression but no actual changes. There have been valor attempts but nothing of real consequence. Truth is, schools were developed in the 1800s to produce farmers, factory workers and military soldiers. Education was always a natural process where traditions and life-skills were passed down from generation to generation in the past without the formality of certified educators or setting. Children learned everything naturally through following and copying their role-models in their lives. As industrialization progressed throughout history, the focus shifted to commence a universal system that will enable an exertion of control and effective production of mass learning aiming only to a certain target beneficial to the government at the time. and "As nations gelled and became more centralized, national leaders saw schooling as means of creating good patriots and future soldiers." (Peter Gray, PhD)
However, times have changed. We live in the 21st century where our focus should have shifted to producing future leaders. Majority of our children are now facing different challenges and will have to be equipped with the right tools to conquer them. Simply teaching literacy, math and social studies will no longer enable them to become LEADERS. It's insufficient in preparing them for the very essence of what the future entails. There are skills required that far exceed those of just literacy and math, albeit, still important to learn, yet an expansion is critical to consider.
Educating children about finances, entrepreneurship, etiquette, positive character and humanistic traits, trades, arts, culinary skills, agriculture, knitting/sewing and others have been long since abandoned. The current educational schema only recognizes an archaic system of grading that seeks to reference children according to norms. Who's norms? What does an average child even look like? Can we truly compare two children who are unique in their own right against each other?
My three children are all exceptional. No, I don't say this because I am biased (even though I am) but because I have raised them all the same way, fed them the same food, parented them with the same spouse- yet they are all so different! One can sing like a professional opera singer, the other can emotionally detect anyone's aura in any space and instantly become the most beautiful empath in the room while the third has the wit and charm of an experienced stand-up comedian. How would I expect that each of these characters learn the same content at the same time and produce the same results if they are raised together in the same home and they are still extremely unique?
In saying this, I understand the need for parents to know where their child's academic levels are at. Believe me, as an Ontario Certified Teacher for two decades, I have witnessed the number of parents who come to meet with me about their child because they received a "B" in English or a "C" in math. I had to keep explaining that there are these broad and varying metrics that manifest in the form of a rubric that I must abide by. I had to assure them that the child themselves is capable and amazing but I must find a ranking for their skills so that they can learn more about where their child needs to develop. However, most children's creative genius dies when placed in traditional school systems. Even though they spend majority of their days, Monday to Friday in school, they are limited by the teachers capacity to teach, the program's inherent ability to provide learning opportunities and the school-wide challenges of funding, staffing and design. Many students who are fulltime learners in education systems still enroll in after-school tutoring help. That is extremely disappointing seeing how much money is usually invested in education by taxpayers and families.
The supplemental education industry is thriving! In the US alone, the tutoring industry is seeing over $35.2 billion in profit. Why are children going to after-school tutoring programs after school? Shouldn't the education received during the 8 hour day be sufficient. Along with the hours of homework, the stress of studying for tests and examinations, assignments, projects and speeches? Our kids are burning out.
Here is the simple solution but you will not want to hear it. The resolution starts with YOU as the parent. You must unlearn what academic success looks like and adopt a more modern view of what learning SHOULD look like. If your child is unable to sit behind a desk all day to listen to their teacher instruct about subjects that are not engaging then you will be forced to diagnose and label them as ADD or ADHD or find some learning disabilities for them that truly limit their ability to perform. They will then be accommodated and assimilated with a variety of special programming and tools that will make them feel like they are not the same as everyone which will in turn result in them losing the will to try, eventually.
A system of inclusive exclusions is what we are facing now. School boards have too many students in the classrooms. They are trying to accommodate exceptional learning through providing them the opportunity of smaller group settings during the school day. This means the child is pulled out of their classroom in order to receive this attention. Others are hiring CYW or ECE or EA to work with students who need it in the classroom. Either way, other children can clearly see that your child is different. This contributes to their lack of self-esteem and confidence and results in lowering ability scores across the bored, not to mention decreased motivation for learning under the guise of "laziness" or "misbehaviour".
Approximately 15% of the global population, or one in seven individuals, has a learning disability. (Treetop.com)
So if one in seven children has a learning exception, then why are we not changing our system to become more individually focused? Why don't we abandon the metrics and curricula of old to adapt to our changing landscape of learners.
Simply because it is too much work.
We are having a hard time unlearning what education is and we are fighting to keep an antiquated system in power.
There are so many successful models now that speak to this very issue of unlearning and relearning what true education is. Learning is innate, it's in us. We need to do schooling differently.
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