Welcome back. In this installment, I will address some of the issues that I see in our schools that are a disservice to the students and the almost impossible circumstances that educators are in.

In my 15 years of work as a psychologist, I have been a part of many school interventions. I have sat in on meetings, talked with teachers, administrators, school psychologists, observed in classrooms, provided educational workshops… In those experiences, I have seen some very hard working teachers and administrators who went above and beyond for their students, and also have read between the lines and seen grave injustices that altered life paths of some children and young adults, leaving both the kids and parents almost helpless to do anything about it. In these latter instances, the school justifies their actions often playing both victim and martyr and makes the parents and/or child out to be the persecutors, interfering in their ability to teach others. Usually what was behind these cases were educators who actively manipulated the system to work for them without seeming regard for the children whose lives they were supposed to benefit. Don’t get me wrong, I have also seen cases where parents and children have been able to manipulate the system to their advantage, often with the help of a lawyer and or a cursory knowledge of the laws that were put in place to protect and support their kid’s needs. In either situation, the child loses. Sometimes the most damaging thing a parent can do is to enable their child’s victimization, perceived or actual.

Making the Grade

Education, these days, seems to be more about passing tests than it does learning. This is where many teachers are stuck in the middle, because they get punished for students who don’t perform from the administration, the parents, and the media. How does this motivate a teacher to teach with passion, and how does this motivate intelligent gifted students to want to become teachers?

I also see more and more kids who are only interested in getting the grade than acquiring knowledge, and they just don’t seem to be taught the value of an education. Cheating, in some form is almost the norm, and this “win at all costs” mentality doesn’t advance our culture, but instead leaves us further behind. Are we allergic to hard work? I do feel that this contagious “allergy” is something we need to address as a culture, however, educators and parents can do more to inspire an interest in the learning process instead of focusing on test grades. But how do they do this with the government breathing down their necks threatening to pull dollars away if they don’t jump through their hoops?

The answers to these issues are not easy. We all need to seek solutions, and I hope that we can meaningfully look for resolutions as a country, before our children are left behind.

Stay tuned for Part 3, On the Rocks…

Respectfully,

Dr. E…