I had a privileged schooling in New Zealand, both within the NZ and the global contexts. I don't really think I knew how to learn as a result of my schooling, it was just assumed that we would. If we did, we were "able", if we didn't we were low stream. As a teacher I have carried those (poor) attitudes into my classrooms.
I do sense things are changing though. We know a lot more, thanks to research, about what damage we can do, we now seem to not know what the solutions are.
In what ways do you think your own schooling could have been improved, and what priorities do you think are the most important for schools today?
My schooling did not teach how to learn, it didn't prepare me very well for the emerging Aotearoa/New Zealand and distanced me from the working class roots of my parents. That said, I enjoyed school and learned.
I am worried that my grandchildren will be born into a world that is failing as a ecological system. I want them to learn the skills and attributes.
I think they will need to know how to think, how to solve problems they haven't met before, and be compassionate and mindful.
How will our schools do this? I don't know. As a teacher I have to be different from the way I was taught. My school has to be prepared to do things differently. I think the answers will come by getting "into teachers' heads" as much as by tinkering with the education system.
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