I took my son to school today and I must say I’m
quite sad and extremely worried. I have conflicting feelings; I’m excited that
my little person has grown and can be on his own at school but I have fear of
what could go wrong.
I have two children, and when my daughter aged 9
now, started school I wasn’t as paranoid. We took her to school, got the
uniform and she changed from there. I asked for a picture to be taken. She then
said bye to her dad and I and asked us to leave. My son on the other hand,
screamed his head off when getting out of the car but jumped up and down
excitedly once he was in the classroom. I said bye to him but he just turned
and walked off to join the rest of the class. No, I don’t feel neglected, I’m
worried.
When my daughter started school, she could talk,
feed herself and communicate quite well for a 2 year old. My son on the other
hand is two years two months; he can only say ‘no’, ‘mama’, ‘come’ and won’t
sit down for more than 10 minutes (not even on a plane). He’s still in diapers
and prefers to pack up building blocks into different boxes than actually building
something. My daughter learns best through puzzles and games. She’d rather
dance, make art and crafts. She’ll rather do her math using pizza boxes thinking
about how many boxes we’d need to cater for so many princesses considering the
number of slices in each box. Of course my children are not out-right Einstein’s
but they could be, and that’s where the worry of taking them to school comes
in.
By second grade, my daughter was bored with school.
She told the teacher that she was tired of doing the same things over and over
and wanted to learn something different. Culturally, she was rude and the
teacher did not hesitate to let me know of this. She also told me that my child
could not sit still and got distracted easily. I thought, “of course she won’t
sit still, she’s bored and looking for something much more interesting to do”.
I told the teacher in as much tact as I could master, that Daisy was only bored
because the learning was boring. And that maybe she could accommodate her by varying
her teaching techniques. Needless to say I think that went on deaf ears.
So taking my son to school today made me wonder if
he’ll come home and be bored too. If the teacher will make him sit down and
behave like everyone else, as if he were a clone. If he’ll come home and not be
able to stack his favourite toys in the colour codes he wants them to be in.
If, he will no longer be interested in examining what’s making his favourite
car, not move so quickly. All these worries are very real to me. I know the
education system and what good it can do, but I also know the Zambian education
system and what damage it can do. In my very strong opinion, I believe most
schools and education systems kill creativity. They make it stand in a line and
not move; they make it not want to draw how it sees the world. They make it sit
in rigid chairs and make it behave in the same way as everything else until it
dies and there is nothing else left but a dead clone of what could have been.
With the Zambian school system my fear is also
cultural, how questioning is not allowed. How it is “wrong” to ask your teacher
questions, especially when the teacher doesn't know the answer. How the teacher
is viewed and views themselves as fountains of all knowledge and that the child
does not know anything unless told by the teacher. How child centered learning
is merely a theory taught in teacher training schools and is a myth in the
classroom. Fears and worries very close to home.
This can change of course as creativity can always
be revived and but it’s so much better when it’s tendered and encouraged at a
young age. When thinking outside the box and using your available resources
becomes a fundamental base for all learning, the possibilities of inventions,
change, and development are indefinable. Mind you, this can be with any child.
I should know; I've seen it in the classroom, in my family, in my community.
There is so much potential out there that needs to be harnessed. So much that
can be used for future generations and civilisations that can be questioned and
put right for the benefit of the majority.
Well it’s only day one and I know I’m being melodramatic
about it (with good reason), but the fear and worry is real. I’ll try my level best to encourage
creativity at home, teach as many local languages and foreign ones as I can. I
don’t hate the school system; I encourage learning through interaction and
observation too. I just don’t like what it can do and how bad things can turn
out.
