Yes, yes. Many educational centers have opened their doors to start a new course. There are children who come to classrooms excited and excited but others, not so much. Possibly, if you are parents, you are wondering the following: what will happen this year? Will education finally be different? Will the schools move away a bit from the disastrous educational system that we have? I wish it were so.
But the truth is that we do not know and we are all with a strange uncertainty in the body. Will emotional education be taken into account more in the classroom? Will there be different evaluation methods? Will most schools opt for a vast content and little practice? Will the memory of the students be refilled instead of awakening their interest and creativity? Well I have no idea.
Textbooks, stress, burden and backpacks on the back
eye! I am not saying that this is how all the children started school, but those around me (and there are not a few). The other day I accompanied an acquaintance to buy textbooks for her five-year-old son. When the bookseller placed everyone on the counter, I couldn't help but be surprised. "Oh my gosh! But if he is only five years old » I thought (and later told my friend).
Unfortunately, I have seen many cases on social networks. And I wonder: are so many really necessary at such incredibly early ages? Why does the education system continue almost forcing to buy textbooks and why do schools simply accept so calmly? I leave it to you to reflect and seek your own answer to the question.
A few minutes from my house is the school that I attended until the fourth year of ESO. And when I take Argos out in the morning I still see the same thing as last year: small children with super backpacks on their back, parents stressed because they are late. and faces of disappointment everywhere. I hope that the days go by and what I see is happy and happy students wishing enter college.
Yes, the educational system is disastrous, but ...
But there are quite a few educational centers (and in Spain) that have completely disassociated themselves from it and the results have been a success. They have left behind the textbooks, the students sitting in line, the inflexibility, the role of the teacher or teacher as the highest authority and discipline, They have opted for different evaluation methods than the ones we have had for more than thirty years ...
"Thus, the students will do what they want and will be out of control." I am tired of reading and hearing this phrase continuously. We can all have opinions, of course. But mine is that education, neither the educational system nor any teacher he has to keep the students under control. And that doesn't mean it's going to be chaos and class disorder. It means that the students are free. And in the classrooms that freedom should be encouraged and encouraged and not fall (as in so many cases) in fear and in educational submission.
If educational change is possible and has given such good results to the educational centers that have joined it, Why don't all schools do it? Behold the quid of the question. I don't know for sure but I would dare to say that there are quite a few educational centers that care more about their prestige and status than to actively and practically teach students. And I also think that the easiest thing is to follow the tradition, not move and stay seated. Why are they going to think about the students?
There are families that ...
There are families that not only do not agree with the educational change (which is respectable) but also take care of reject teachers and professors who do. As strange as it may seem (and no, I am not putting everyone in the same bag) there are parents who demand more content from the teachers and the directors of the center. There are families who, unfortunately, believe that their children are machines that can handle absolutely anything.
Last year, a child educator friend (at level 2-3) had to hear the following: “And how come you still don't teach basic operations? My friends' children are the same age and are already learning. And he also had to digest and assimilate this other: «What will happen when I reach primary school without knowing how to add or subtract? Thats not all. A friend of the third grade teacher was asked by parents (as it sounds) to put homework and take more tests on the subject.
What I mean is that there are educators, teachers and professors willing to choose for change. Yes, there are teachers who are aware that the education system has not served for years and they want to fight to transform it. And yes, there are teachers who try to encourage critical thinking, freedom and away from submission. But, What happens if for doing all this your job is in danger or is criticized by the families? That is where we have to get to.
What if we imagine that ...?
Imagine that families, teachers and principals work together and united for the same purpose. Think about what would happen if everything were removed from the curriculum and programs unnecessary content. Imagine that the students had the opportunity to debate, to think, to develop ideas and to take them into action in their day-to-day lives. Are you aware of what would happen if the emotions and feelings of students and teachers were taken into account more?
What if play and a sense of humor were fully compatible with learning and teaching? Can you imagine that no student was ever a five, a seven or a nine again? What if education opened minds instead of closing them? Possibly, on many occasions you have thought or imagined everything I just wrote. We need students to change the world, to ask questions, to say no, and to seek answers. And the classrooms, is a perfect setting for it.