#BTColumn – ‘Hem and Haw’

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today.

by Julia Hanschell

I was told this week by a parent that I should be a Counsellor. Quite an accolade, but my inadequacies abound in that area.

I think the message was really that I am always honest with children, regardless of how discomfiting the truth is; it’s never productive to deny how a student FEELS, particularly when FACTS corroborate the dread.

Teachers have never had to deal with feelings more than they do now. I have never, in over 20 years, seen students’ anxiety to such a universal degree. These are the times we live in.

As if COVID-19 locking us down, compromising learning through a national unpreparedness for online learning was not bad enough, teaching of content was hugely disrupted and CXCs were delayed.

Exacerbating all of this were inexplicable results, where students at the top of their class in a subject obtained low or failing grades, without rationale. There is little faith in a meaningful review by the examining body.

The ‘What do I do now?’ dilemma has been driven by failure to gain entry to advanced study, leaving countless, clever and capable students living in a ‘Neverland’ of lost dreams.

The fortunate few have gained entry, but schools have started the term so late, and with such erratic scheduling, that there is an overwhelming feeling of impending doom. And rightfully so.

Stating the obvious is painful: The Age of Entitlement is over. Whether intrinsic or extrinsic, it’s over. Read the book by Spencer Johnson, “Who Moved My Cheese”.

It is an allegory examining how we all become dependent on the Status Quo and our lives revolve around this, taking it for granted.

Change happens sooner or later and anticipating change is essential to survival – in this context, successful learning outcomes. Sometimes, what we believe about ourselves or our environment makes it harder to accept change.

Have we all become too dependent on the provision of quality education which the ‘authorities’ have an obligation to deliver? If this is so, many are now living in hope, denial or anger because their educational ‘cheese’ has dwindled and in some cases, may have disappeared to the point of futility.

If we choose to deny reality, to WAIT AND SEE, we are at the mercy of a system that is demonstrating it has no plan for visionary, long-term, pragmatic adaptation. Therefore, WE must confront and adapt.

Visualize YOUR CHILD’S GOAL WITH THEM, so that your JOINT mission is clear. (‘If you choose to accept it’).

The desire to stoke the energy a student will need to get ahead, must now be nourished at home. Like it or not, parents must now take (or make) the time to get deeply involved in providing structure, motivation, supervision and the measurement of progress for their children.

The ‘Cheese’ of the Status Quo has gone, in all probability, forever. Online learning, regardless of the foreign or local institutions students will attend, will become the ‘norm’. The ‘overseas’ experience parents wanted for their children, so that they could learn to grow in a different environment and under someone else’s influence, has evolved into a computer screen. Just so!

The ‘Cheese’ we loved so much (and secretly believed was deserved and therefore interminable) was decreasing right in front of our eyes, and we failed to notice.

Meanwhile, for years, disadvantaged students in faraway countries, some subsisting in deplorable conditions, would somehow find a way to get online, grateful for minutes rather than expecting hours. They would somehow find a way to learn free from sources like the Khan Academy.

Or earn money from collecting God-knows-what to enroll on top grade programmes taught remotely. They were literally ‘starving’ and the only ‘Cheese’ available was the chunk they had to expend every ounce of determination and creativity searching for. They were committed to improve their lives and fulfil their potential.

A lot is born of desperation. Including success.

I have no idea who wrote this, but these words have never mattered more: ‘Work While They Sleep. Learn While They Party. Save While They Spend. Live Like They Dream.’

It is obvious to all who CHOOSE to see, it is this: learning is available everywhere. The World Wide Web is the teacher. Attend class or not.

School is literally at your fingertips. Every student has the choice to play or to learn. To use their device as a tool or a toy. To connect to what will drive them to success or to distract them into the arms of underachievement.

There are countless free webinars and podcasts, audio books and courses. There has never been more choice than there is now. Teachers are everywhere. Classrooms still exist, but not as they did before.

The moral of Johnson’s book is to either ‘Hem and Haw’ or ‘Sniff and Scurry’.

Thomas Edison said, “Genius is 1 per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration.” We have avoided perspiring for too long and it has caught up with us.

Let’s begin with the TRUTH. We ALL have to step up, change our practices, expect less and do more if our children are to succeed.