What is wrong with education today?

Most of us have been through many years of schooling with the joys and frustrations that come with it. If you were one of the lucky ones, having been born with an adjustable and fully functioning nervous system, sufficient resources to be well fed and not have to worry about money, a functional family and access to caring and knowledgable teachers; you probably benefited from school and have many positive experiences that helped shape who you are. On the other hand, if you were on the other receiving end, going through endless hours of sitting with better cognitively and socially abled peers, uncaring teachers, struggling with personal, family or financial distress; school was to be endured and survived.

After 30 years of experience working as a teacher and as an educational psychologist, I have become acutely aware of the many disparities that exist within and amongst our schools today. Every time I have begun a school year with a group of students, I can pick the lucky ones from those who have been struggling, and will probably continue to do so. I do not use the word lucky lightly, as Robert Sapolsky points out, we have little control over the cards that we have been dealt in life. All students have to perform with what they have with little to no ability to change. They learn using a brain and body that has been given to them. Their families and parents have developed relationship patterns that are not conscious, for better or for worse. They juggle with societal and financial pressures that are part of their reality. Most of their teachers, specially when they are subject specialists in middle and high school, have only been trained to be knowledgable and skill based, instead of learning and development professionals. Students are embedded in educational systems with a curriculum that have been designed by the politically minded, to service ideological agendas that do not consider the diverse needs of students and teachers in the classrooms.

I strongly believe that if we are part of a society that cares for our youngsters and is interested in creating caring and safe communities, we should be investing in giving the financial and human resources to schools and all educational systems to transform them into learning communities that care for all individuals.

We should not strive to achieve academic excellence for all in the traditional sense, specially if this does a disservice to many children who have other talents that are also valuable and should be developed. High standards are important, but only in the context of creating enriched learning spaces where all students can thrive. This means that all schools should be looking into ways of opening ceativity in teaching as well as in evaluating learning with standards that reflect true achievement of all students.

Teachers are emotional regulators of young brains and minds, therefore they need to have access to workshop style training to better understand the inner workings of their own nervous system and body, and develop the needed skills to be proactive educators of the social emotional development of their students.

I can say I was one of the lucky ones, I have enjoyed and have benefited from having access to schools and academic learning; but I have witnessed first hand the struggles and suffering of many students. I am convinced schools can become safe spaces for all to learn, make mistakes and develop social and emotional competencies; we just have to all start changing our paradigms and questioning how we are contributing in creating those schools where everyone can thrive.

If you would like to engage further with me in this topic, you can write to contacto@psych4.life