This is a most complex question that I have reflected on since I began teacher training 56 years ago. I think we have to place the child, not the curriculum, at the centre. As teachers, we should have a deep educational and philosophical understanding of what is important and ask more questions to assess both our values and the value of everything we ask of children. Perhaps we need to redefine concepts of success and failure, competition and cooperation, value emotional intelligence over A grades, encourage creativity and promote the Arts. There is a direct correlation between lack of provision in dance, drama, music and art and decline in mental health of students. In my opinion, building self esteem is probably the most important thing we have the opportunity to do. So much of what we ask of students works against that - we set them up to fail and they ‘earn’ a C label that will probably stick with them for life. Examining what we, as adults really believe and value, throwing away the labels and grades, working with integrity, instigating a ‘Happiness curriculum’ and putting students before systems might be a start. I’ve always believed in human potential - it’s who you are as a person and what you can become, rather than what you know. Our educational systems around the world should promote and facilitate that.
On May 18, 2024 Janet Stroud wrote :