A child’s learning chart has three main characters. The Child, the School and the Parent. In fact the parent is the key bridge between the child and the School. Thus it is very important that the parent has the right attitude, involvement and mind set to make learning a beautiful and progressive journey in their child’s academic pathway. Sadly many parents not just not realize their importance, but also misdirect the learning process in a direction that will hamper instead of complementing their child’s education. It is these parents that Schools and later even the child has to educate.
Ask any school and they will tell you how the most difficult player in the equation is mostly the parent who refuses to act, unlearn or learn. Various categories of parents exist in our school systems. Some are remarkable role models who are on top of the game with an educated and well informed approach towards their child as well as the School. Such parents are an asset for a school as they end up not only monitoring the child’s growth but also mentor a School. But then there are those parents who are the complete opposite and would rely on either their own past and often outdated journey as a student or would rely completely on the decision of others for their own child.
When you ask some parents why they have put their child in a particularly popular school or a certain program, they would often say that they themselves graduated from the same school/ program and years later felt their child ought to do the same. In essence what that implies is that while the whole socio-economic and political dimension of a country/ society changes and where technology and information has evolved by light years, what applied to them years ago should also apply to their child. They adopt new ways of living, modern terms of life and evolve in many other ways, yet they want their child’s learning to be left to their experience years ago. What worked for us as a child, may not or in some cases will not work for our child too. The world was different when we were students and the world surely will be very different when our kids study and enter the real world. Will our past experience equip them to handle the demands of the future world?
A child is dependent on a parent for every decision and sadly many private sector schools will abide by the demands of the parent body instead of the other way round. Thus it is the need of the hour that parent be educated enough so that the learning is not compromised and is in fact, enhanced
Then there are those parents who refuse to research and read/ probe into a School or system and would blindly follow the treaded path of others (family, friends, neighbors etc.) and send their kids to some popular schools based on this line of thinking. Each child is different, each household is different and similarly each school is different. What works for others may or may not work for you. It is essential to study the requirements of the future world and how schools in the west and elsewhere in the progressive world have redefined education and have created new and/or modern ways of learning, teaching and education as a whole. The new paradigm in education has forced parents in these countries to revisit their own understanding of education and cater to newer and/or modern trends of the academic world. That is why such nations and societies progress and that is why their children do wonders around the world.
Keeping all this in mind it is pertinent that schools educate the parent first or perhaps parents educate themselves first before focusing on the child. A child is dependent on a parent for every decision and sadly many private sector schools will abide by the demands of the parent body instead of the other way round. Thus it is the need of the hour that parent be educated enough so that the learning is not compromised and is in fact, enhanced. Gone are the days of content heavy curriculums, parroting of the content and copies full of written tasks. Today’s modern era child needs skills, concept based education and a hands on learning experience that goes beyond the class room and makes them a lifelong learner. Always remember they are global citizens and are now competing with the rest of the world. Parents please wake up and educate yourselves in line with the fast changing and evolving world.
