Great Expectations

This entry is about what people can and should expect from themselves and from each other as an accepted standard of behavior, in the context of education. It is not about the technical motivation/psychological construct of expectancy.

Generally speaking, it appears that many people don't expect much of the education system. Many parents I speak to think of school as a glorified baby-sitter. Many pupils just try to survive the system for the years they have to. Many teachers just try to survive the day. This is so wrong that it's weired. There is no reason anybody should live as if they are constantly enduring some punishment. Also, this low level of expectations perpetuates the current situation which lives down to the low expectations. Higher expectations could help drive better results. Here are a few things we should expect from ourselves and others:

Parents should expect the education system to make excellent education available for their kids. They should also expect a wide variety of available education that will match the parents’ wishes and world-view, children’s wishes and children’s tendencies. Parents should expect their children to learn. The parents may allow the children to choose what to learn, but then the kids should learn.

Children should expect the system to “see” them as individuals: To notice the kids' strengths so they can build on them, and to help the kids overcome weaknesses and temporary difficulties. Children should also expect the system to teach them how to learn, to teach them how to deal with information. In general they should expect the system to help them pursue the general skills and habits that will make their lives better as adults in the 21^st and 22^nd centuries. The key words here are “help” and “pursue”. The children should not expect anybody to do the hard work of learning for them. Everybody must expect the students themselves to take the ultimate responsibility for learning facts, skills and habits.

The teacher and school should expect the parents to take responsibility for children’s learning in the parents' dealing with the kids. If a pupil doesn't learn, or doesn't learn well enough, or is experiencing any difficulty not immediately addressed by the system, blaming the system (or anyone else) doesn't work. The closest adult who knows the child and is in a position to notice there is a need for action - is the parent. So if there is a need, the parent needs to initiate action to fulfil that need. The school should expect the parents to take responsibility for children’s learning with the parents' dealing with the education system, too. When the parents identify an unmet need or have any criticism, it is their responsibility for expressing that criticism and suggesting concrete ways to improve. There are many wrong ways to do anything, and much fewer right ways. Therefore it is much easier to spot something that is done wrong, than to find a right way to do it. Teachers, schools and the education system in general have a complex task, and it’s very natural to perform it imperfectly. The rightfully critical parents should be expected is to bundle their criticism with an intensive effort to find a better way of doing thing. If these parents don’t manage to find a better way, at least they will have a more humble and constructive attitude in their criticism.

Everybody should expect everybody to answer every single question, to adapt, to be open to suggestion and to learn. For example, if a parent questions the way material is taught, they should get an honest answer. The answer doesn't have to convince the asker that the right thing is being done, but it needs to convince the asker that what’s being done is being done mindfully. Ignoring the question doesn't work, and note that "Your request is being processed" or "it was referred to a committee" count as ignoring. "This is the way we have always done things" doesn't work: The system must consider the changing environment and expectations, and adapt if necessary. Pulling rank - “We are the pedagogic professionals” works only if immediately followed by an explanation that can be understood by the parents. If the representatives of the system can’t make the parents understand, they are not such great pedagogues, are they? (This brings to mind a quote from Albert Einstein: "If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself."

Pedagogic school staff in general should expect researchers to provide useful proven theories to drive improvement in teaching methods. Similarly, parents and students should expect researchers to provide such proven theories to drive improvement in learning methods and in ways to make the most of the students' abilities. Society should expect researchers to be a concrete (not ivory) part of a system that creates school graduates able to become contributors to society.

There are many more specific expectations that it would be healthy for us to develop. I won't try to capture them all.

Bottom line 1: As in everything else in life, each one of us who are either part of the education system or a customer of the system, should expect himself or herself to improve anything they see as needing improvement. "It's beyond my control" is just copping out.

Bottom line 2: As in everything else in life, everybody active in the education system, working in it, influencing it or being influenced by it, should expect this activity to be constructive and satisfying. It should be fun.