The source of many of the academic and behavioral problems at my school comes from children who don’t want to be there, combined with parents who don’t make their children’s education a priority.
Those two together are a deadly combination, and are the source of a vastly disproportionate amount of problems at my and most other schools.
Any school that requires a time or money commitment from parents (private, charter, competitive public, etc) is comparatively free from the problems caused by such children, because they do not exist. In such schools there’s something for the families to lose, and so there is in turn a greater commitment to the children’s education. This is not so at an inner city public school, which often becomes the dumping ground for the kids that no one else wants.
The question is do all children deserve an education (whether they want it or not) or simply the right to one? Is it fair to hold the children accountable for their (likely ill-informed) decisions concerning their education? How much in loco parentis do we want?
I’d argue that it’s the environment that needs to change. The parents of these kids want the best for their children (like all parents do) but they might be working 2 jobs, or have dropped out of school themselves at 8th grade and feel unqualified to help, or intimidated by the school environment. There needs to be another option available to these parents.
Here’s the pitch. Parents in difficult circumstances would trade face-time with their children in exchange for a top-notch education (free of charge, of course) getting them out of a rough neighborhood, and giving them an excellent chance of getting into college on a scholarship.
In the past many parents have been willing to PAY for such a trade-off, that’s what keeps places like Andover in business.
Here’s my idea. I’d like to take some of the kids that “no one wants” and set up a year-round boarding school out in the countryside somewhere. I’m sure some wealthy benefactor would be happy to pony up the endowment. (NOTE TO BENEFACTOR: if you’re reading this, drop me a comment) I’d start with a classical curriculum (you wouldn’t have to, I’m just partial) I’d hire humanities instructors from the vast pool of recent desperate English, History, and Classics PhD grads (after giving them a summer training course led by experienced inner-city educators).
They’d have the ability to keep publishing, and pay comparable to a prof’s salary. Then I could pick up math and science teachers from the tech-boom casualties. The structure of the school would be a cross between the conventional preppy boarding school model, and the top public magnet schools. Perhaps I’d rope in a martial element a la Josiah Bunting.
You’d get them at a young age, put them in a nurturing environment, and hold them to exceptionally high standards. It would WORK. …anybody want a school named after them? -D
1 responses to Causes of academic and behavioral problems at school
I Object
Do you have any idea how many teachers blame the parents for bad bahaviors in their children? You have a discipline problem in your classroom or perhaps in your school. Why are you not defining exactly what the boundaries for the the children? When teachers talk about parents and teach the children that their parent’s beliefs are wrong, or that children can blame their parents for their behaviors, because after all, teacher does…what makes you think they don’t know better?
I’m older and I’m working on my Master’s right now, in educational management. You see children who are problems, but the real problem is their parents and that their parents don’t want them. You are a teacher. TEACH! If a child is not wanted, call social services. Otherwise, TEACH!! Stop engaging in social engineering and the blaming of the parents in your inability to maintain discipline in the classroom. I’m 61 years old, and when I went to school, (there were six of us), teachers didn’t talk parents down, and parents didn’t talk teachers down. Both respected each other and in turn insisted upon children respecting both.
Causes of academic and behavioral problems at school
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