When parents are talking about their child’s education, many boil down what they hope for them into a few short concepts:

I want them to be self-aware, compassionate and community-oriented.
I want them to be able to express themselves.
I want them to think critically and be socially aware.
I want a basic level of math and science.
I want them to be successful (although we’ve talked about that before here and here)

Now the question is - does SCHOOL provide these opportunities?

Learning History should be to bring awareness of past struggles and triumphs and to build in young people empathy and compassion. For them, to engage with critical thinking during times of struggle and broaden awareness of one’s social impact and responsibility.

So, why at school, are they memorizing dates and timelines? Why are school tests all about the minutia of where exactly conflicts happened and on what beach they landed? History is SO rich with opportunities for self-reflection and impact, yet it seems to fall flat with rote-memorization of facts.

For English, we hope our young people tap into their own writing and self-reflection. That they learn to express themselves clearly and understand the nuance of language to play creatively with words and ideas. That they find solace in taking space to journal, reflect or flesh out ideas, they’re working through.

So why is school so focused on sentence structure, thesis statements, old writers not relevant to teens’ lives, and correcting comma after comma. If the goal is to learn how to dig deep and find your voice, they really know how to muffle the sound…

School has an opportunity to expand one’s awareness of themselves. To feel confident in what one believes can lead to an innate desire to learn more.

Confidence breeds confidence.

Helping young people find THEIR voice and guiding them towards a deeper connection to themselves is what an education should provide. With that solid understanding of who they are, they can then branch out and learn Canadian History, read the classics and dig deeper into mathematics from a space that is meaningful to them.

Rethinking the goal of what an education should provide is the key to unlocking freedom to learn.

Ultimate Goal of Education