Education, Education, Education

There are three partners in education today, each with a key role to play: parents or guardians, teachers and young people themselves.

Parents and guardians have vital contributions to make. Some go to great lengths to enrol their children in good schools but, if young people don’t identify with learning, the effort is wasted. Educational success is nurtured at home as much as – or more than – in the classroom.

Parents and guardians are especially well placed to motivate young people, teaching them to appreciate how education improves lives and relationships. The role parents and guardians can play is especially important for one crucial reason: education is no longer only about learning literacy and numeracy. A well-rounded education includes learning life skills that help young people through the storms of adolescence and the obstacle course of today’s world.

Essential life skills can be taught in a structured way, just like any other subject or skill. The Seven Principles of RESPECTisms is a practical tool that parents or guardians can use to:

°           Encourage young people to appreciate that education is set of tools for achieving their dreams and aspirations

°           Help learners to evaluate their choices and take responsibility for life-changing decisions – as well as supporting them in their decision-making

°           Manage behavioural issues and attitudes to learning

°           Boost confidence and self-respect, as well as respect for fellow learners

°           Facilitate communication between adults and youth

Most of us were probably told off when we were teenagers for not listening, either to parental advice and instructions or in the classroom. This is partly because adolescence is a time when young people are questioning authority and testing their own perceptions of the world, no matter what adults say. That compounds the difficulties parents or guardians may face in guiding their children. The stories in The Seven Principles of RESPECTisms are designed with this in mind.

To engage young people’s attention we have to enter into their universe of experience. For better and for worse, peers who share those experiences are powerful forces in shaping attitudes to education. Stories of teenagers and their journeys in learning are easy for your children to identify with. The character of Sarah discovers that choices she made at school soon limit her options later in life. Eddie realises how his education offers him a way out of his past.  He transcends peer pressure to create a fulfilling life, forging more satisfying relationships with friends and family.

This is what an eleven year-old had to say about The Seven Principles of RESPECTisms:  “It is an eye-catching and realistic approach to the youths of our time… It has changed my outlook on life, making me think about the choices I

make and how I view situations.” One teacher, whose students’ behaviour was formerly “negative and challenging”, described the benefits of a responsible attitude that encourages commitment to learning. The learners became “more positive about their school and more responsible in their individual and collective actions”.

For young people, the life lessons that The Seven Principles of RESPECTisms teaches and reinforces include the potential for future financial security and personal fulfilment. The benefits to parents and guardians are as important. Difficulties at school can spill over into the home environment (and vice versa). All young people can hone their existing skills and take charge of their future.

Parents’ feedback is testimony to how much they too have learned from the stories and their children’s responses to them. One young person spoke enthusiastically of how it had helped her think for herself. A parent testified that it had inspired her daughter to “focus and follow her dreams”. That is precisely what learning responsibility can do for young people.

By Ken Barnes