I absolutely hated my time in school. Sitting around all do, doing what grown ups want me to do. Being stuck with 25 children of my age in a small room all day. But I never questioned it. It was just the way it is and has always been.
Nowadays where I have my own kids I am not so sure that school is actually good for them.
Children are naturally curious - until we destroy it
Children learn more than half of what they will ever learn in the first three years. Without any teachers, just on their own our of natural curiosity. The learn to controll their body, they learn how to make sounds, they learn the meaning of words and how to combine them into sentences. Their entire day is learning. When you realise how much they can learn at this age it is truly amazing.
And this learning does not stop. Children before going to school are curious about numbers, letters, animals, cooking, basically everything. And up to the point where they go to school, they make the experience that they themselves have the ability to learn anything they want, on their own and at their own pace. That gives them a huge confidence and motivation to learn. They know it can be hard, but they mastered every project so far.
Then they go into school and suddenly they are not supposed to learn on their own anymore. Only the teacher is qualified to teach them. Their confidence in their own abilities gets crushed. You need to do what the teacher says because you dont know well enough! Not very motivating anymore.
Who thought sitting in class all day at age 6 or even younger is a good idea?
Its hard to believe but our current schools are still based on the Prussian education system introduced in 1763. Back then people had a very different idea about humans and children. They thought children are naturally nasty and need to be disciplined to develop into good human beings. Modern science knows that this is complete wrong.
Since then everything evolved, only our schools remain largely the same. Hell even the city halls dont use fax machines anymore.
Kids need to move! The need some freedom to develop. The only reason we still do this to them is because we believe that this is the only way as it has always been like this. The kids need to learn, by boring repetition in a clean and depressing atmosphere...
Learning is emotional
Modern neuroscience knows that learning is only efficient if there is an emotional connection to it. Otherwise is will be lost again quickly. We all know this. Learning for a test at school and a few month later everything is gone.
On the other hand, something that we find valuable, that has an emotional connection to us, we never forget that. Schools simply ignore science and keep teaching using their outdated methods.
On which side are the teachers?
This question should be very easy to answer. The teachers are there for the kids and nothing else. But that is not always how they see their job. Many think that the kids have a duty to fulfil and need to be obedient. But the only person that has to do their duty is the teacher.
In the best case the kids are in school voluntarily, but in reality they are there because the parents or even worse becasue the state forces them. But that still does not mean the teachers are in a position of power or should perceive themselves that way. Teachers are service providers, they are the employees, the children are the employer.
Only you can teach yourself
Learning is not something that other people can do for you. Only you can do it. And for that children need to be in an inspiring atmosphere, be encouraged to discover things, also on their own if they want. We need to give them freedom and support their trust in themselves and not force them into repetition and obedience.
We need to realise that all we learn in our ten or so years of school is actually not that much. Because the system is failing miserably. When a child only learns (in the grown up idea of it) one hour a day, but does that with motivation, then it is easy to learn everything school needs the entire day for. There is no need to worry. Curious and confident children will learn (maybe not what the parents want?), there is no need to push them into it.
I remember myself when going to school, I also hated it - and for the right reasons. I remember having so many opinions, but as a child I was not supposed to question the system.
Now I'm a parent, and I'm in a much better position to question and influence the system - but I don't feel I have the time, energy and competence to do that. I do believe the school is evolving though, at least in Norway.
As I had one year of severe back pains, one of my pet peeves is that we're spending far too much time sitting - from the childhood we're learning to sit. It would be bad enough if the children were just sitting some few hours a day in the school - but nowadays as soon as they come home they continue sitting in front of screens. We're no longer Homo Erectus, we're Homos Sedens.
Nobody has the competence to change the system, but we all can affect things locally around us. That is what brings real change anyways.
School is tricky. Many people need to work to survive and cannot take care of their children all day. And it is questionable if that would even bring better results since we have separated the communities into isolated families. Children being alone most day with only grown ups around them is also a horrible idea.
Giving the kids to school is often the only option. It is 'free' because we pay it with our taxes. Alternatives then cannot compete in that space anymore. And if they do they are expensive and most cant afford them because their taxes still pay for the public schools in addition.
School is effectively forced unless you are rich.
But what every parent can do is try to compensate. Give your children some room and let them make their own decisions; also bad ones. Don't be overly serious about school grades or put extra pressure on them. Trust in yourself and your children.
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