Many of us will be familiar with the quotation often attributed (though seemingly inaccurately) to Henry Ford, when he introduced the world to the first motor car: “If I had asked people what they wanted they would have said ‘faster horses’.” In other words, he was saying that people would have simply wanted more of the same, only bigger, better, quicker – more of what they were used to. Instead he gave them something different, something far greater, advanced and more beneficial.
If we are not careful, we may have a similar attitude when it comes to education. I do not believe I would be far off the mark when I say that the majority of us as parents have had the awkward experience of finding out from our children that they are learning multiplication and division, for example, in a very different way than we were taught it; many of us may have even tried to tell our child that that is not the way to do it, only to be advised that such is the way his or her teacher does it! It has all changed.
The fact is, the world today is different – we know that! Think of how sport has changed over the last number of years – in many sports, the rules have changed, the pitches have changed, the formations have changed, the tactics have changed, the equipment has changed, the coaching has changed, everything has changed. I think back to how hockey was played when I was a child learning it and it is a totally different game. But you know what? It is still a great game! In fact, the changes have made it much better, both to play and to watch.
Not only is the sports world different, but so too is everything! The world is a different place to the one that we grew up in, for sure. Communications, television, politics, transport are all different. So, too, importantly, is education; the curriculum is different, the style of teaching is different, discipline is different. Indeed, children think differently. It is all different, rightly so, whether we like it or not.
The consequence is that we need to get used to the idea that things are not what they were when we were children. More than that, we must not confuse our children by trying to get them to do things the way we did them when we were at school. I encourage all parents therefore, firstly, to find out what is happening now in education, such as how Maths is taught to the children now. Secondly, we must seek not just to know but also to understand what is happening now, so that we can assist our children (and not set them back by trying to get them to learn in the way that we did). Thirdly, we need to reinforce what is happening now, so that they can see the benefits of it. Fourthly, we must accept what is happening now and not hark back to the good old days.
If we want our child’s school to be like the school we went to, we are living in the past – in which case we should bring our child to school in a horse-and-cart! However, if our children do come in cars that far outstrip the initial Ford cars, then they must travel through education with the latest developments. It will be some ride!
For a further article on this theme you may consider the article entitled ‘A Fly on the Wall’ on the ATS website: http://www.atschisz.co.zw/category/parents-articles/
We wish you all the best as you navigate this very different world of education.
