Beyond right answers: Raising well-rounded children together

Right now, Barbados is in the middle of an education transformation. For many parents and families this feels exciting, uncertain and, let’s be honest, a little unsettling. Change has a way of making us feel as though the ground beneath us is shifting and when it comes to our children, that feeling only gets stronger. Some of the changes you may welcome. Others you may question. But even when we cannot control the direction of transformation, what we can always control is how we respond and how we help our children make the very best of it.

One of the biggest shifts you will hear more about is project-based learning. Unlike traditional schooling, where success often depends on memorising and repeating the “right” answer, project-based learning asks children to dive deeper into real problems, explore creative solutions and show what they know in ways that feel meaningful. It does not just prepare them for exams, it prepares them for life.

We have also recently seen schools adopt play-based learning in their classrooms. This is a beautiful way of creating and sustaining curiosity in those early years. It shows there are already building blocks being laid to help children stay open, imaginative, and engaged. The challenge for us now is to sustain that spirit throughout the entire system. Too often, as children move further into school, they begin to feel that the only thing that matters is “getting the right answer”. Tests and grades can quickly replace curiosity with anxiety and, as we all know, life is not black and white. Many of the problems our children will face in the future will not have one neat answer.

This is where the middle ground becomes important. We still need to teach content, because knowledge is necessary, but we must avoid trapping children in the idea that the “right answer” is all that counts. Parents also have a role to play in this shift. While it is natural to want your child to do well, we must recognise that high achievement is not only about producing correct answers. It is often curiosity, persistence, and the courage to try that drive true success. Some of the world’s best thinkers and innovators excelled not because they always had the right response, but because they kept asking questions and testing ideas.

At the same time, we cannot ignore the rise of AI and technology. On one hand, these tools can be powerful, opening up access to information and creativity like never before. On the other hand, if used carelessly, they threaten our children’s ability to think for themselves, to process deeply and to learn effectively. Even teachers are still figuring out how to make assessments more authentic, so that they can establish what students actually know and not just what a computer can generate for them.

This is where home becomes vital. Transformation does not only exist within the four walls of a classroom. Even at home, you can create the kind of environment that keeps your child’s curiosity alive. Research shows that, around age seven, many children begin to lose the natural curiosity they once had. Why? Because they enter systems that reward only being right instead of asking clever questions, exploring possibilities or taking risks.

You can help reverse that. How?

– Encourage questions, even the endless ones. Yes, you are tired. Yes, the “why” questions can be overwhelming. But every time you let your child ask and you respond with patience, you are teaching them that curiosity has value.

– Ask them questions. Do not just provide answers. Invite them to think, to explain, to imagine. This back and forth strengthens their ability to reason and communicate.

– Support projects at home. Whether it is cooking, building, gardening or exploring the community, let your child take the lead on solving problems and creating something new.

In doing so, you are not only helping your child to become a strong student, but a strong human being. You are also modelling something powerful for society: that questions are not threats, they are tools for understanding. An inquisitive child becomes an empathetic adult; someone who wants to learn, to listen and to improve the world around them.

So as we move through this season of transformation, let us hold on to what matters most. Systems will evolve. Policies will shift. Assessments will adjust. But if we can nurture curiosity, resilience and empathy in our children, Barbados will not just have better students, we will have better people.

Know that the transformation may not look like what you expect, it may even feel frightening at times. Yet in the midst of it all, remember this: the focus for every child should always be to help create a self-sufficient, fully functional, thinking human being. That is the goal and every one of us has a role to play. Together we can get our children there, and together we will be okay.

Dr Zhané Bridgeman-Maxwell is a science educator, researcher, writer, and disruptor of outdated education systems in Barbados. Focused on redesigning learning through policy shifts, change management, and pedagogical innovation, she amplifies the voices of students, teachers, and parents while reimagining what school can and should be.