THE EDITOR, Sir:
RE THE Education Debate: One of the areas that get overlooked is that education is a very human enterprise. School teaches and parents should get kids ready to learn. To a greater degree than most people realise, successful education depends on how teachers and parents feel about one another.
Teachers have to meet the needs of children in order to make schools work. But, as a society, we also have to help parents and teachers meet each other's needs as adults. I can recall the old days when teachers cared enough to set high standards. I am really remembering a time when the teacher-parent partnership was taken for granted.
The way we talk about education today puts too much focus on the school as an institution and too little on the partnership.
We should develop courses to teach parents how to instil in children the attitude necessary for learning confidence, motivation, perseverance, problem solving, and focus. While only some parents might actually be able to help their children with their math problems or science experiments all parents can help their children develop the necessary attitudes.
I remember our teachers having us planting flowers and other plants in box plots and window boxes teaching us that things don't happen overnight, or by themselves. In today's society limiting TV viewing, thus teaching how to make difficult choices, how to prioritise and incidentally how to add fractions of hours, is relevant.
The point I am trying to make is that subject knowledge and technique are necessary but they are not sufficient. What matters are confident and effective teachers and eager students. Our nation needs both.
I am etc.,
NEVILLE COOKE
prinkle4850@yahoo.com
Austin, Texas, USA
Via Go-Jamaica
