This is about my observations with regard to my experience with education for children. I am combining schools, learning centers and daycares in this post, because I have found that they may work very closely together. I have also found that they are run very similarly in some districts. Also, “school” is being applied to everything- even daycares. So, it is hard to even differentiate.
It is very obvious, if you look, at what is important to a school. The experience I have comes from my life and from family and friends. In this post, I will use just the experience I have had with my sons, as my example.
I have a real question.
What is actually more important, creativity and learning or test scores and obedience?
In my experience, the classroom seems to be a pairing of these different objectives. It is also my observation, that these pairings are supported no matter how parents and teachers might quietly feel. We tell children that education is the key to how we grow and change our circumstances. Is it really?
Let me back up a little.
A while ago I was interested in having my oldest son attend a daycare a couple times a week. This was mainly for socializing and having fun separate from me. This is what I observed:
First- There are no more daycares, at least not in our area. Everything is a school or a learning center. At the time, my son was 2. I did my research before choosing. In the end, I had to just pick one. They did the same things, and they were all expensive. Everything stressed some version of “education” and from my observation, behavior modification. Every school had schedules with play time at certain designated times. A lot of schools also have cameras, for parents to observe the classrooms ( they didn’t spend a lot of time in the classroom with the camera). So, I chose a well known and trusted school. Its name is a sort of beacon…
Second- Everyone is called a “teacher”. I guess on some level that’s true. On another level, we should expect particular standards with regards to a person’s ability to educate children. Children are impressionable and how we influence them matters.
Third- There are too many children per teacher (the weird part of me wonders if this is an accident, in the bigger scheme of things. I mean look how we spend money, in D.C. and how some politicians are beginning to question where it has gone. But that’s a completely different issue).
Let me give you my experience so that if needed, you have more to work with in your decision making.
To start, I should introduce my son a little. He is a free spirit. I watch him when he doesn’t realize I’m around. I also pay attention to how he treats other people. Teaching my children kindness is big for me. Major, even. He can be rough when playing and if I have a tone with him, he will have a tone with me. He mirrors people, expertly. In many ways, he has been like my own teacher. He is also growing into a compassionate young man. He is smart and outgoing. Not shy, but I have seen him choose to blatantly ignore some people. Sometimes he hits back, sometimes he doesn’t…I teach him to be careful and safe and that there are consequences. I don’t demonstrate that titles are important or that anyone deserves more respect, or to thoughtlessly do what he is told. Can you guess where this is going? I say he is my son, because of my lazy semantics. It’s easily understood who is responsible for him when I use those words. But, he is not mine. He is a person, not an object for ownership or a robot to perform for someone- no child (or anyone) is…
My son had some teachers question whether or not he had learning difficulties. Other teachers called him intelligent, outgoing and kind. Strange, how different their opinions were. A few teachers thought he was autistic, because he didn’t sit on the floor for story time. He stayed in his seat. He also threw out his paper plate after he finished his lunch, so a teacher reprimanded him. This teacher explained, that this made the other kids do the same. She couldn’t have the kids randomly getting up to throw out trash- that’s why she needed him to stop. Later, he just completely stopped doing what he was asked- like not writing numbers. I knew he could write his numbers, because he did so in the tub with bath crayons. The school moved him into a classroom with older kids who naturally spoke better. The teachers began to truly believe he had autism because my younger child was not communicating with the other children. He just completely shut down. This school explained that they have a great reputation with the public schools in the area, because the students are ready for kindergarten. They easily do what they are told. Then, one teacher asked me what me expectations were for my son. I told her I wanted him to have fun. He was 3 years old, by that point (BTW, neither my son’s doctor, nor I think he has any sort of disorder or learning challenge).
I know that what we went through wasn’t unusual and that’s why I am writing about this experience. Schools are trusted authorities and teachers are regular people who develop certain feelings about their students and label their students. The labels we are given early on in life stick. It matters what we say about our children. This is why the title of “teacher”, a person who may suggest labels, is such an important person in our kids lives. Standards and expectations need to be raised as well as how we support teachers. Otherwise, what is the point to paying taxes for education. Maybe it is time to pull together, stop taking our kids to school, and teach them ourselves as a community. Maybe parents and guardians can do it better than what are government currently has in place….
I understand why a teacher may need students to function in a very cooperative way. Cooperation is important and I do think people benefit from working together- I’m not arguing against that. Instead, I am saying how can we expect a change on Earth, if we continue to do things in the same way, like plowing through a curriculum by ensuring our children are “behaved” and making it easy to throw “facts” at them. This was another reason why I chose to stay at home. Schools don’t allow me to slave for some other employer. I knew I would either be teaching my children or staying on top of things at a school. Until things begin to change, I feel inspired to act on my boys’ behalf. This is not in defense, but rather in support of them.
Creativity
Why am so stuck on creativity? It fosters a different way of seeing things, in any topic. If we exercise creativity, then we exercise our ability to solve problems. Life is filled with challenges. Facing these challenges with creativity can give future generations the ability to throw away the old rules (mainly gaining power and control), and embrace something different. Having or learning “facts” has only gotten us so far. We think we know so much about the world, but we struggle to even understand our brains, or to know much about our oceans, or to understand what is in our processed foods. Are we stuck somehow? Generally speaking, we stay stuck in the old “have to’s”. What if we began fostering our children’s free spirits, watch them, embrace them. They haven’t had years of conforming to norms. Maybe they can teach us too. Many known people from the past have talked of creativity and imagination being important. I am unknown and unimportant in the eyes of the world. However, even I can see that it’s time we started applying creativity.
How to help foster a safe place to learn, grow and allow freedom of thought (and feeling- sometimes we can feel out an answer, right?!):
- Over crowded classrooms can bring a teacher to her knees. She may be forced to teach obedience, rather than to allow a safe space to be creative and free spirited. Without question, more help is needed from people. This could be family, retired friends, really anyone with an open mind and heart.
- Creativity requires flexibility. Teaching anything is done best by example. Rethink classroom rules and respect students enough to give them the benefit of the doubt.
- Involve students more wherever possible. This is their space too, plus teachers have too much. Expect students to be creative and involved in their space- school.
- School shouldn’t be thought of as work. We don’t need to condition them to work in the same ol’ way we adults have worked. I think many of us would agree that our work place could be very different, for the better. Why teach something not so great to our kids. For many of us, work never fostered creativity, just production (for a meager wage and a lot of our time). School should not be compared to work. School should be a place for growth.
- Allow students to disagree with you or the “facts” whenever they see something in a different way. This is not disrespectful. As some of you know, facts change. When I got to college, I was told many times, to forget what I learned in high school. In my experience, different people are taught different things. Facts are always debatable. The game changer happens with how we handle the “facts”.
* as a side note, I have also experienced a difference in what we call facts, while traveling. The media can report on a single event in a very different way from one location to another. What does this do? Well, to start people react different, develop different priorities and ideas. Mostly, it seems to divide us. Be careful with “facts” no matter where you are getting them from.
- School age kids are still learning to regulate their emotions. A disagreeable “tone” is sometimes a test to see how safe a space really is. Practice earning a kid’s trust. Kids are great for seeing through the b.s. some adults still believe, and that is a major reason why some kids don’t trust adults. A student may not have the words or the experience to understand how they feel, but it is usually authentic and shouldn’t be ignored, belittled or labeled.
- If you teach, self-care is one of the most important things to practice. Take it serious, no excuses, because adults are superb at passing on baggage. Baggage is a natural consequence of life, but we grown ups, need to throw it away- not pass it on. Plus, it weighs too much and we are worth more.
This post is based on observations and experience. Working with kids is hard, but it is so important what we say and do every day. Teaching is not for the sensitive, inflexible, or the shy types in society. If you are a teacher, I hope it is because you are inspired to own your role and to protect all of your students’ evolution. You are truly important with one of the most important titles. In my honest opinion, your title is tough not just because of the given challenges with children, but also because you are most likely put into tough and questionable positions. Your voice is your children’s best ally.
