DON’T BE JUST ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL

DON’T BE JUST ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL

It’s time to face the challenges of upgrading our educational systems so they are fit for purpose, argues Javier Agüera.

I was born in the 90s. My generation is commonly referred to as the “lost generation” or the “NEETs”, not in education, employment or training. And if you look at the figures, it’s true; youth unemployment has reached a critical point across Europe.

Young people account for two-fifths of the UK’s total unemployment, and the situation is even more critical in my homeland, Spain, where almost 50 per cent of the young workforce is unemployed. More worryingly, 80 per cent of them declare themselves to be happy with this lifestyle.

We’re also called the “C Generation”: the Connected Creators. Thanks to the internet, our impact on the connected world is more powerful than ever. Not only do we have almost-universal access to higher education, which was unthinkable just a few decades ago, but thanks to the internet we can access hexabytes of free information covering almost any field of human knowledge. In fact, it’s safe to say that we are the generation with the most amount of information at our finger tips ever seen.

So, how do the two notions match? The answer is simple: they don’t. Our old education system hasn’t been able to catch up with the present, which is constantly evolving. Rather than providing children with the tools needed to tackle the unexpected and to deal with uncertainty, the world is preparing its children to solve problems that will be outdated by the time they reach the “real world”.

That’s not to say that all current methods are entirely worthless. We just need to give them a shake up, taking into account three main lessons.

First is curiosity. Curiosity should not only be encouraged, but also taught. It isn’t just a matter of wanting to seek information by yourself, but also being able to filter, segregate and prioritize it in an efficient way. Sadly for all of us, the real world doesn’t offer a textbook that contains all of the information needed to pass the exam.

Next, creativity. This is important, helping us to adapt solutions for new, unseen problems which may not have been approached correctly yet. Let children make mistakes; allow them to step out of the circle sometimes and come back in. As Sir Ken Robinson said: “You will hardly come with anything original unless you are prepared to be wrong.”

Finally, compromise. Not just with each other, but with the rest of the world. Instagram grew to almost 30 million users in less than two years, but there are still five billion people not connected to the internet. We are technologically privileged, and at some point children need to see what lies outside of the bubble. They need to understand the impact of their choices.

While many of these ideas are utopian, there are some key, exact actions that we can take immediately.

Teachers are the orchestra directors of education, but they are publicly regarded as being the ticket sellers on the door. In my own experience as a “learner”, I’ve only retained knowledge offered by people that I admire. Educational excellence should be attracted and compensated; and the prestige that teachers used to have should be recovered.

Educational subjects need to be redefined. Not in terms of what subjects are taught, but how they interlink. Most graduates have several “blocks” of knowledge, but the “natural sciences” won’t be linked to “history” or “IT”, even though they can all be easily connected. We have to transform raw knowledge into smart knowledge, which the student can use later in his professional or working life.

Stop the university hype. Seriously. Young people should not be automatically judged for not having a university degree or attending a second-class university. University degrees are no longer as valid as they used to be.

There is a moral duty for us to prepare future generations as best as possible. The next generation will need to be creative and curious and have the ability to compromise. These skills will enable them to decide, on their own, whether they ought to be entrepreneurs or physicists, dentists or electricians. Upgrading our education system is a key part of our heritage.

The Creation Of A Teacher

It has come to my realisation that being a teacher is a tough job – especially when I’m assigned as the person of contact in which I have to be responsible for the students’ progress. It might all sound very academic, but as I get to know my students one by one, I become quite attached to them.

The first week is usually the toughest. The students will have to adjust themselves to the campus environment. Some have no problems in doing so, while others might feel overwhelmed. There are also those who are not confident with themselves, and they don’t have anyone to talk to, and this is where I step in.

There are those who are stubborn and sometimes they try to test me – see how far I can go until I lose my temper. This is the time when I have to be extremely patient – they are boys after all, and they don’t really know me that well yet, and neither do I. These things take time, and effort too.

I personally don’t like to be mean and strict, but most times it leaves me no option. With boys, there is a different approach. When we tell them nicely that they need to improve, they won’t listen. They’ll only do it when they see me being totally pissed off.

It kind of reminds me of Micah, in a way. Repetition works. But sometimes I worry what will happen by the time they finish the course. Who’s going to guide them? Tell them they need to improve? Encourage them and make sure they believe more in themselves?

I also wonder why I have so much faith in them. Sometimes I wonder if perhaps I’m too naive, because the students don’t think they’re good enough, therefore they don’t want to try their hardest. When exams are nearing, I can only hope that they can make it, and I keep telling them to push themselves hard up to the point when they can’t take it anymore. Because that’s the moment when they finally know that they’ve worked hard. And hard work will always reap something good.

That’s what I believe, and I hope my students believe it too. Unfortunately, only some do.

Week by week, as a teacher, it is my personal pride to see them grow. And it is my heart being broken to see some resisting to improve.

When they succeed, I feel joyful.

When they fail, I fail too.

And today, I saw both happened.

So I cry on my own, crying of my own failures. Crying because I feel useless.

Being a teacher is a tough job. But one’s gotta do it. And that person is me. So to motivate myself, I attach something nice for me to read, whenever I feel down. And I’d like to share it with you as well.

THE CREATION OF THE TEACHER

The Good Lord was creating teachers. It was His sixth day of ‘overtime’ and He knew that this was a tremendous responsibility for teachers would touch the lives of so many impressionable young children. An angel appeared to Him and said, “You are taking a long time to figure this one out.”

“Yes,” said the Lord, ” but have you read the specs on this order?”

TEACHER:

…must stand above all students, yet be on their level
… must be able to do 180 things not connected with the subject being taught
… must run on coffee, coke and leftovers,
… must communicate vital knowledge to all students daily and be right most of the time
… must have more time for others than for herself/himself
… must have a smile that can endure through pay cuts, problematic children, and worried parents
… must go on teaching when parents question every move and others are not supportive
… must have 6 pair of hands.

“Six pair of hands, ” said the angel, “that’s impossible”
“Well, ” said the Lord, ” it is not the hands that are the problem. It is the three pairs of eyes that are presenting the most difficulty!”

The angel looked incredulous, ” Three pairs of eyes…on a standard model?”

The Lord nodded His head, ” One pair can see a student for what he is and not what others have labeled him as. Another pair of eyes is in the back of the teacher’s head to see what should not be seen, but what must be known. The eyes in the front are only to look at the child as he/she ‘acts out’ in order to reflect, ” I understand and I still believe in you”,
without so much as saying a word to the child.”

“Lord, ” said the angel, ” this is a very large project and I think
you should work on it tomorrow”.

“I can’t,” said the Lord, ” for I have come very close to creating something much like Myself. I have one that comes to work when he/she is sick…..teaches a class of children that do not want to learn….has a special place in his/her heart for children who are not his/her own…..understands the struggles of those who have difficulty….never takes the students for granted…”

The angel looked closely at the model the Lord was creating.
“It is too soft-hearted, ” said the angel.

“Yes,” said the Lord, ” but also tough, You can not imagine what this teacher can endure or do, if necessary”.

“Can this teacher think?” asked the angel.

“Not only think,” said the Lord,. “but reason and compromise.”

The angel came closer to have a better look at the model and ran his finger
over the teacher’s cheek.

“Well, Lord, ” said the angel, your job looks fine but there is a leak. I told you that you were putting too much into this model.
You can not imagine the stress that will be placed upon the teacher.”

The Lord moved in closer and lifted the drop of moisture from the teacher’s cheek.
It shone and glistened in the light.

“It is not a leak,” He said, “It is a tear.”

“A tear? What is that?” asked the angel, “What is a tear for?”

The Lord replied with great thought, ” It is for the joy and pride of seeing a child accomplish even the smallest task. It is for the loneliness of children who have a hard time to fit in and it is for compassion for the feelings of their parents. It comes from the pain of not being able to reach some children and the disappointment those children feel in themselves. It comes often when a teacher has been with a class for a year and must say good-bye to those students
and get ready to welcome a new class.”

“My, ” said the angel, ” The tear thing is a great idea…You are a genius!!”
The Lord looked somber, “I didn’t put it there.”