5 Reasons Why British Schools Set Us Up To Fail.
Calling out the British schooling system. You suck.
Disclaimer: this is from a British perspective on public schooling as I’m not sure of the ins and outs of school life in many other countries and do not want to speak on behalf of them. Or private schools for that matter as I did not attend one nor work in one. Feel free to comment and share your thoughts with me though, I love life learning! (Something I did NOT learn in school, just saying).
Ok, back to the point.
I’m just going to go right out and say it. Schools fail to teach young people anything truly valuable or practical about the real world so when we leave it and enter the wider world, it’s as though years of algebra should have been replaced with years of learning about finances, taxes, how to set up a bank account, a mortgage, owning or renting a property, travelling, communication skills, public speaking, debate, negotiation, self-confidence and worth, current affairs, mental health, equality, critical thinking and pretty much everything we have to figure out on our own.
Now, I understand it is a not a schools sole responsibility to teach you everything about life; families, communities, the government and friends should also be contributing to this learning BUT schools have a big part to play and here’s why.
I’ve spent around six years working in schools in the UK’s most deprived areas, both primary and secondary so from ages 6 to 16, I’ve worked with them all. There’s many gaps I identified which would take me days to get through so here’s just 5 reasons why essentially, the school system is setting us up to fail:
- There’s no space for practical life tools in the curriculum. Apparenlty. We have a thing in our schools called PSHE (“PSHE stands for Personal, Social and Health Education. It is an important part of your child’s national curriculum learning”) is what its definition is and what it’s supposed to do. Let me tell you, it does nothing of the sort. It’s a drag of a supposed lesson that is outdated in it’s approach and delivery — these are kids you know, it’s not business conference in Geneva for middle age folk. Geez, know your audience. It also happens sort of once a week and not in all schools, for an hour and leaves you feeling more confused about life than when you went in. It’s an add-on “lesson”, not a core structure of school learning — that’s the problem.
- Schools do not take into consideration the area they are located in. Again, know your audience. Depending on your environment, socially, economically and culutrally, it can have big implications on the quality of “life learning” you get outside of a school environment. For example, if you are from an immigrant family, come from low socio-economic backgrounds, live in areas of high deprivation or have simply just moved here from another country and you are still learning the ropes yourself; there isn’t an easy guide to accessing all the important processes in life, you just have to figure them out. So if you’re a child and your parents/guardians are figuring this out as they go along, it’s even tougher for you because that knowledge isn’t instantly passed down at home. Schools need to take a good look around the area they are in and work with communities to best serve their students. Understand what human values and skillsets would be valuable to your students for them to progress through life successfully, not just train them to get 5 A*-C grades in their GCSE’s and pass them along to college.
- Academic results and reputation are more important than well-being and growth. OFSTED gets on schools cases, a lot. They are the dementors of the school world and when you know they’re coming, it’s doomsday. The school goes into panic mode, tensions are high and the stress is overwhelming for both students and teachers. Headteachers and heads of departments are on everyone’s case because at the end of OFSTED’s lovely visit, they’re going to determine what that big sign outside your school says. Now it can either say OUTSTANDING or it can say INADEQUATE and it’s quite obvious which sign a school wants. It’s also a big deal to plaster what percentage of students in your GCSE year group achieved the golden 5 A*-C grades so the world can understand what a great school you are. Whilst this is all well and good and schools thrive off it, students keep going through the motions. Still continue to not be any more confident, equipped or wiser about the world that will before them at just 16 years of age. I’ve tried so many times in schools to run development workshops and extra-curricular programmes for their year 11 (final year) and are constantly met with a “no sorry, year 11 are busy all year in extra Maths, English and Science classes before and after-school and in the holidays so they won’t have time.”
- A student is not a person in the eyes of a school. Student is a term to describe the structural position someone is in whilst in a learning environment, it’s not who they are as a person. There is a lack of emphasis on personal growth because you are not even seen or valued as a real person. More like little minions that walk around in single file, one way corridors, speak when spoken to and adjust your day according to the bells that ring at particular times. (I mean, there are some prison resemblances here but I won’t even go there.) There is a horrible attitude of “they’re just kids” and “they don’t know any better” which dehumanises them. Despite their young age or learning stage in life, they should be still valued as the next generation. The people who will shape our world and occupy our future roles in society. For that to happen, this human being needs a space to grow in, to build character, realise potential, navigate their emotional and mental intelliegence. The only way I ever mentored my students was to treat them like a person first, build their character and they took care of the rest. It’s simple. People want to be treated as people regardless of their age. There’s a fine line between discipline and an abuse of power. Very fine.
- Creativity is killed. Creativity is like a curse world in school. The amount of schools I’ve been in where creative subjects are less encouraged or cut to a mere one hour a week because Maths, Science and English can be doubled or tripled as a lesson if they replace Drama, Art and Music. Again, you would think schools would realise the implications of this working with young children. These are kids who are in the prime of their creativity and would love nothing more than to exercise that creative nature. Funny thing is, when these kids grow up, whatever company they end up working for will constantly stress innovation and creatvity to move with the fast paced world we live in. We need creative minds to create. We need creative minds to discover. We need creative minds to elevate society. Otherwise, we’d all be stuck in life and without creativity, our favourite people, places and things wouldn’t exist. Creativity is key but in school, academics are key.
“We want model citizens in society but we place no investment on building those citizens in the critical years of their life.”
Despite what you may think, I’m not a school hater. I have a lot of respect for so many educators and schools and have worked with some fantastic ones who are really trying to implement real changes. There are those schools who are even changing their curriculum to add a whole subject around values and character building. However, it’s not down to an individual teacher or even headteacher, it’s the whole schooling system in Britain. We want model citizens in society but we place no investment on building those citizens in the critical years of their life.
Great job British schools, great job.
