I recently came across this article written by my father for a regional publication over 40 years ago.
Two things stood out for me, the first was that he was a contributor to a regular feature in the publication that was asking the community about education – what a great initiative. The second was that his response was focused on how school could best prepare children for life after school, I am not sure what the other contributors wanted, but I am sure there would have been variety.
His comments on the importance of children getting a sense of achievement reminded me of the many children of relatives and friends that were sent to spend time on our farm by their families when they were struggling to deal with school and life. Without fail they left the farm happier more confident people, often within a few weeks. At the time I thought it was from spending time on a farm, but on reflection I think it was spending time working with my father as he subtly rebuilt a sense of belonging and achievement within each of them.
It also made me think about how my parents expectations of education influences their choice of school, and what the current parents of school children are expecting from schools and how that is influencing their choices.
How do you think parents expectations have changed, and what they are today?