Teaching Tips & Tricks, Uncategorized | Jan 4, 2012
Why I don’t believe that school is a child’s most important job
By Angela Watson
Founder and Writer
Why I don’t believe that school is a child’s most important job
By Angela Watson
I used to think school was more important than anything else. In fact, I remember sharing that truism many times in those serious, heart-to-heart conversations with kiddos who were slacking off. I’d put on a disappointed face and use my calm, serious tone: “You didn’t do your project because you were playing? Homework is more important than playing. School is a child’s most important job. Being a good student should be your top priority. It has to come first.”
Who knows where I got that idea–from another teacher, I think, or maybe even a parent. Every adult I said that in front of would nod in solemn agreement. It was a conventional piece of wisdom that we all believed and were trying desperately to persuade the kids to buy into when sports and video games and playing with friends became their focus.
My feelings have changed over the years. Slowly I have come to believe that kids have a right to their own time outside of school, and that we as teachers have no more right to control their evenings and weekends than our bosses should have to control ours. Kids need time to be kids and enjoy their childhood. Now I believe that a child’s most important job is not school, but learning. And these two things are not one and the same.
Learning takes place through play and exploration. Learning comes from following one’s passions and developing one’s interests and hobbies. Learning happens when we talk, wonder, question, daydream, and experiment. Sometimes it comes through worksheets and research projects. But not always. And the things learned through schooling are not necessarily more important than the skills developed apart from school.
I’m not opposed to homework altogether. And I want students to take school seriously. It’s critically important that kids give their schoolwork 100% during the hours of 8 and 3. But school is not the most important thing in their lives. Even if learning is a student’s most important job, children are more than just students, and life is about more than our jobs. Life is about relationships: family, friends, and a connection to God and spirituality. The beauty of life is experienced through play and rest, movement and relaxation. I want to help students create a work/life balance from a young age so that they grow up knowing how to enjoy and appreciate every moment they are given. And that is why I want my interactions with students to demonstrate a shift in perspective. I want my own priorities to reflect that school is not–and never has been–anyone’s most important job.
Angela Watson
Founder and Writer
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I agree and this is something that has been on my mind quite a bit with regards to homework. I hate giving them homework as I feel it takes away from valuable family time. I wish I could just say, “your homework is to shut off the TV and unplug the video games. Anything else you do will be beneficial.” Have a great weekend.
Hah, I love that, Jodi!
I loved this article! Especially this:
“Now I believe that a child’s most important job is not school, but learning. And these two things are not one and the same.”
You make an excellent point that relationships and chances to de-stress are important parts of a child’s life, too– of an adults’ life, too! So often I think we de-value the very great value of play.
Thanks for this reminder! I am tweeting and fb posting this article!
Laura
Thank you, Laura, for sharing this article! The importance of play and relationships really can’t be overstated. It took me awhile to understand that…probably because the school system never made it a priority. Coming to the realization that school is not a child’s most important job really requires a teacher to take a step back from everything we’re been taught about schooling and make our own decisions about what’s best for kids. That is not an easy step to take, but I think it’s something that all teachers sense deep down, which is why there’s so much frustration with testing. It’s a matter of trusting your intuition over what a legislator says.
I agree with you, wholeheartedly. I have been very despondent about the state of education. I am in my 30th year of teaching and am distressed about the emphasis on testing in CA. All we do is review for the test, take tests, go over the test and talk about how we can do better on the test. It’s depressing. I have to go back to school on Monday and change my schedule to accommodate the requirements of NCLB. Through it all, I have had free exploration time for my kids-Legos, art, checkers. I still insist that my students get to remember something about school besides THE TEST.
I can so relate, Colleen. The Test measures only a fraction of the things that are important for a child’s development, yet that’s all we’re supposed to focus on. If it’s not tested, it’s not taught. 🙁
Hi Angela – great post! Have you seen Race to Nowhere? I saw a screening of the film early this fall and its message gave me the nudge I needed to re-vamp my homework this year. I still have district requirements, but I’ve become way more creative in how I meet them. We now use a Homework Menu two nights a week, where students choose one 20-minute item to complete. Some of the items I’ve done for years – play a math game, or play a vocabulary game. However, I’m also including heart-pumping exercises, organizational tasks and writing to friends and family members. A popular one has been to work on their individual student blogs – they are enjoying their interactions! I feel better about what I am asking them to do, and I am seeing better return rates! :). Thanks for spreading such a worth message :).
Hi, Suzy! No, I have not seen Race to Nowhere but have heard great things about it. I love the idea of a homework menu. Would you be willing to share some examples for me to post on the site? I can give you credit or share them for you anonymously. I think a lot of teachers would benefit!
Hi Angela – Race to Nowhere is definitely worth seeing.
Here’s a link to the post from my classroom blog/newsletter – with the menu.
http://blogs.falmouth.k12.ma.us/simplysuzy/2011/10/02/work-at-home/
There’s a download button there, and you’re welcome to share it, or the link, or both! If I update the menu, (my students keep asking me if I can add new ideas soon) then I’ll be sure to let you know.
Dream Big!
Suzy
LOVE it! Great job! I’m creating a HW page for the site and will add it there. Thank you so much for sharing!
While I certainly agree that learning is a student’s most important job, and by extension we should all be life-long learners, as students progress through elementary school to middle school to high school so too should the student progress as students. As a high school teacher I cannot emphasize enough the importance of (gulp) so called objective measures of student achievement: GPA, class rank, rigor of the curriculum and, yes as much as I and most hate them, standardized test scores. The reality is that these measures have more meaning today than ever before, to the student (and his/her parents), the teacher and the school.
I suggest my high school students spend 30 minutes a night, on average, studying each of their five academic subjects. Yes, this means they need to devote 2.5 hours of their evenings to school work. This makes sense not only for all the stake holders mentioned above and, more importantly, for real learning to occur.