You – The Unsung Hero
The most certain lesson from the 200 years of the current format of school education system is that parenting matters; quality of parenting is the most important determinant of scholastic success of children.
No child succeeds in school years without loving, consistent, and long years of support from at least one adult; rarely that support is beyond parents, the occasional great teachers only prove the rule of 'parents as unsung heroes' of school education.
The secret of good parenting is ... unknown More pertinently, and happily, a wide variety of parental support have proved to be equally successful in education of children. There is no particular parental context, such as parenting style, endowments, and efforts, or educational attainments of parents, which have proved to work better. All parents can equally succeed in quality education of their children, IF they are intent on it.
The secret of success in school reforms is ... now known Across the world, governments and school administrators have tried every trick in the book to reform school education, except for enabling parents to effectively make the difference they must. Parents are not to be trusted with the education of their children! And we, parents, don't seem to mind the 'unparenting' being forced upon us.
School education edges out the most well-educated parents also from the school education years of their children. Worse, our children are expected to be no better, wherever and however best they are educated; they won't be able to school their children! School education is such that it always undoes itself, we 'forget everything we study at school', comprehensively and assuredly!
The online education during the pandemic has exposed it all - classroom teaching has little to cheer anyone, including teachers! With few exceptions, the record of student's achievement is underwhelming, and creating anxiety and stress even among five-year olds!
This isn't another parenting book We don't need another book on (better, effective) parenting. To be true, there cannot be an universal prescription of 'tips/advice on effective parenting', howsoever exhaustive and imaginative. As mentioned earlier, the cutting edge of the impact of parenting is in its uniqueness, every family is a complex of its own.
Maybe, all the current literature on parenting has only hurt the cause of 'same-quality' parental context for every child. The attempt to homogenise parenting style and substance with 'best practices' is an antithesis of the uniqueness of every family, 'every child's peerless destiny'.
This book is about a new educational complex The book is the shortest possible text on the opportunities and imperatives of new-age education of every child. This book is the all-comprehensive strategy book on Guarantee Of Overall Development (GOOD) of every child, irrespective of the socio-economic background of children.
The book redesigns education of children with families at the centre of it all. Every family will be an educational institution for their children, unhooked from all dependencies on school.
The book inimitably bisects a family's decision about schooling, unschooling, or home-schooling children from the imperative to secure world-class quality of educational experiences and development of children. Quality guaranteed to the last family and child, with or without school!
- What to expect from the book?
- How every parent matters
- What never to expect from schools (unless schools transform)
- How to help your child's school transform
- What is learning, memory, role of language including math
- Understanding and ensuring quality education in each academic subject, and overall development
- Investing in new-age career building, and innovative financing
Be empowered to turn home-schooling into the world's best educational development (the book is co-authored by parents who have redefined home-schooling).
This is the one!
Why parents today matter like never before
As our world dramatically changes, so must parenting! The role of parents has become even more central to the education of children due to the rapidly emerging knowledge society.
As the education system moves away from ‘knowing things’ to ‘(only) knowing how to know things’, being a learner is the new educational goal. But ‘learning to learn’ is a challenge that is equally daunting for teachers and parents. Today’s parents and teachers didn’t get ‘schooled’, or ‘colleged’ to be learners and no formal training can equip one to develop them into being a learner. Being a learner is an attitude towards knowledge, skills and beliefs, it takes years of ‘growing up’ that way.
Being a learner is about being ‘non-reflexive’, being present in the moments, at all times - exploring, observing, experiencing, experimenting and constructing knowledge. However, school education still carries forward the ‘empty vessel, outside-in’ approach where the goal is to keep filling every student’s ‘stock of knowledge’, without connecting, experiencing or theorising.
A learner now ought to be able to create more and more ‘personal knowledge’, which is not necessarily unique knowledge, but a knowledge that is created in an ‘inside-out’ manner. Personal thoughts are the source of new knowledge and tested in the ‘real world’ for their veracity and accuracy. The education system will not supply ‘learner-teachers’ within the next two decades - we still don’t have schools where children learn how to know anything. That is how the severe dearth of new-age teachers is a global affliction.
There is another challenge - supporting anyone to become a learner (as being a learner cannot be taught - a clear contradiction) requires personal interactions and observations as well as dedicated time and attention. Schools cannot ensure this unless the class size is well under 10 students and the same teacher ‘supports’ all the academic subjects (since the ability to learn is a state of mind and cannot be compartmentalized into subject domains). This is too much to ask of any school system anywhere in the world. Schools will have to mutate and they would, but that is not happening in the times relevant for your children!
Obviously, only parents can help their children to become learners by becoming a co-learner; nothing else is needed or can be done. By helping children how to learn, you spend time with children in that very mode. This is the education we need. You have to enjoy getting rid of your knowledge, as well as ignorance, to equip yourself to support your child!
Here are some of the indicators of being in the 'learning mode':
- You take the initiative to think things over on your own, before asking others for ‘answers’, information or clarifications
- You do not let prior knowledge come in the way of the effort to make sense of the relevant new knowledge/experiences coming your way
- You present your considered thoughts to someone for evaluating, using conversation (that is, ‘feedback’) to further refine your thoughts
- You are thinking all the time; all your knowledge/experiences are ‘personal’ (well- considered, reasoned, personally convinced and continuously self-validated)
- You respect other learners, you encourage people to think for themselves and do not give away information without making others do some thinking first!
And the best part, you must never get ahead of your child! It is indeed easy, just another parent-like commitment is required to be just in step with your children.
Some assurance to parents from research
- It is possible to learn new subjects you never thought you could learn
- Learning about new subjects empowers you
So, don’t be afraid to go back to the beginner’s level and float!
Excellent Read!
It's not yet another books with tips and tricks of parenting but is a book which will evolve our relationship with children by knowing ourselves, our children and their needs from a fresh perspective.
- Amazon Customer
Clarion call for parents
Clarion call for we the parents. Yes we get license to get married but training to become a better parent?????????. Must read for every parent. We too deserve to evolve as a parent to be worthy in the age of AI.
- Amit Singh