Last week psychologists warned parents to keep a close eye on their teenagers as the next few months can be highly distressing for students who have just received their Year 12 results.
We’ve convinced ourselves that academic scores predict fortune or failure, that a single number determines our entire future.
But nothing could be further from the truth.
It’s not a predictor of success.
A great many of the world’s most successful and brilliant people were ‘F’ students, and there are probably just as many ‘A+’ students who subsequently went nowhere… but history doesn’t remember them.
It’s not a measure of intelligence.
Bad school reports usually say ‘try harder’ which means teachers think a student is smarter than their grades suggest. Truth is, even IQ tests prove nothing more than how good you are at IQ tests.
It’s not even a barrier to further education.
The worst thing a report can say is a student isn’t ready for the next level of education… yet. It doesn’t say they can’t try again next year or later on when they’re ready and it doesn’t preclude alternate avenues of training.
Let’s remember what reports are for: they’re a feedback mechanism created to help students improve. But somehow we’ve turned them into a public talent competition, subjecting our kids to incredible and destructive pressure that often leads to depression, substance abuse, self-harm and in some cases, even suicide.
And those are the only bad results we should be worrying about.
dave isles
Hear! hear!.. lets get the educators to acknowledge this and adjust the system accordingly.
Jason
Hey Dave, we’ve been working with teachers and principals now for nearly 15 years and believe me, most of them know we’re putting way too much emphasis on things that don’t really matter; the problem is they’re under just as much pressure as the kids and they quickly lose hope in changing a system that pretty much no-one believes in. They’re so frantic trying to meet their own targets and KPIs they can barely cope with things the way they are, which means they lack the energy and clarity to come up with anything better. This pressure comes from media and government (education being a perfect political chewtoy) but the ultimate source of the problem is the parents; it’s their anxiety about their kid’s future that’s driving this whole madness. We need to free students, empower teachers and educate parents… which is why we’re in schools doing what we do. You’re dead right; it’s time for a serious overhaul.
dave isles
how to de-emphasise the obsession with a university education, Jason?
since my time(70s) we have turned tech colleges into unis and created stigma around vocations that arent ‘academic’..
school should be a place where aptitudes are identified and nurtured, however broad they may be.
i dont think the natlan test is helpful here. probably makes the teacher’s task harder.
its a big important topic.. a game changer might be to provide incentives for kids to enter the work force before considering tertiary study..
maybe national service?! .. i’m serious, sort of.
cheers, Dave I
Jason
Hey Dave,
I think the unis have done a great job in convincing just about everyone that they are the single path to success and happiness and that anyone who doesn’t achieve tertiary qualifications is almost certain to fall short of their potential. (I say almost everyone because I remain unconvinced.)
Personally, I’d like to see three educational streams introduced over the early years of secondary education: a Professional Pathway (for anything that genuinely requires a degree; e.g. doctor, teacher, lawyer, engineer, scientist, etc.) a Craft Pathway (the development of individual talent that doesn’t need a piece of paper; artist, tradie, small business, athlete etc.) and an Entrepreneur Pathway (innovators, inventors, investors and anyone who wants to create their own job and maybe even a few thousand or so extra for the rest of us). We currently have uni for professionals (and everyone we can frighten into enrolling) TAFE for tradies and absolutely nothing (apart from systematic discouragement) for those who will invent the industries of the future.
As for National Service, I’d probably offer that to bored frustrated young men with boundless energy, no direction and a delusion of invincibility… they’re already playing soldiers on their PlayStations so I think it’s a pretty logical next step. Keep the thoughts coming Dave, we always look forward to them!
dave isles
the nasho idea is about national service in the strict sense, Jason. Spend a year ‘in service’, learn skills like driving, first aid, rescue, running repairs, fire fighting, team leadership, etc.. a grab bag, i know, but it doesnt have to be about shooty-gunnies or ‘defence’.. the objectives would be to offer a range of skills that will benefit self and community in years to come, to have youngsters learn to work in a structured, disciplined team environment ( which may have been absent.. not necessarily inappropriately.. in their schooling to date), to earn few bob, and have the pressure of oldies asking ‘what are you going to be when you grow up’ removed for a while. i think this could be a great complement or alternative to the dreaded ‘gap year’.
a bit more thinking needed.. but as you say, it may have an immediate market in the young, bored, restless, school-haters.. might even result in them getting fired up about study when they’ve done their ‘national service’.. hey, werent you one of those types at school?
Cheers, Dave
Jason
My apologies Dave, I’ve shown my ignorance of National Service by assuming it’s like the cadets… I like your definition a lot better. Let’s take the idea further; if it wasn’t necessarily a military practice, how many ways could young people Serve their Nation and discover their potential, identity, confidence and civic responsibilities all at the same time? Could ‘National Service’ (to be rebranded) incorporate volunteerism, nation-building infrastructure projects (think of the Snowy River Scheme) community outreach, or even farm work along the lines of the WOOFers (Workers On Organic Farms) Movement?
dave isles
my recipe for nasho is not shooty-gunnies Jason.. and not just for the bored and directionless.
life skills like driving, first aid, rescue and disaster response could be taught in an environment of discipline, team work and even fun, for 16-25 year olds.. a years ‘service’ to the nation as an obligation , or maybe a right of passage to ‘maturity’..
not well thought through at this stage, but the ideas of gap year, finding direction, developing ‘alternative’ skills are in there.. a bit like a long summer camp.. i still remember Somers!
enough waffle.. what do you think? .. hey, weren’t you one of those young restless high school students?
I was in the very last nasho ballot.. my number didnt come up.. my Dad was disappointed!
cheers, Dave I
dave isles
sorry about the duplicate reply Jason.. i hit the send button and nothing happened.. being old, i immediately figured the problem was with me!
any way, rebranding nasho to something that many would support, and would not necessarily be a vote repellant is a challenge that is worth the effort.. the principle that we ‘owe it to the nation’ is not a silly one… suspect it would strike a chord with the MM but maybe not EB!
My main driver is that youngsters struggling to find their way could get paid to learn and experience new ‘stuff’.. the act of relocating (away from the environment that isnt working for them) would likely be a game changer.. maybe too hard for some, but a winner for the majority?!
cheers, Dave I