An Educational Epiphany

I got to thinking the other day about how most kids really struggle with school. Take a kid who has had a very difficult past and has been held back a grade or two because of that past and well, you will more than likely have a kid that will be resistant to "traditional education". You see, traditional education was designed to use a grading system that was supposed to encourage kids. Today however, the grades have become more about "measuring a kid". You can easily see then how kids who have constantly been trying to measure up and get approval can easily become discouraged by a system that continues to "measure them. It is not that the system is "evil" - it is just a system that cannot, for the most part, take into consideration each individual child's needs. It is a "machine" because it has to "mass-produce" education. The machine therefore perpetuates whether or not the child measures up. For children with a difficult past, this is yet one more "disappointment".

Now, I know a "little something" about the educational system. My undergraduate degree is in Special Education, I substitute teach and I deal with kids every day who are in the system. Regardless, I came about my epiphany when thinking about Harley. What do I tell a boy who has suffered outside the system and yet must fit "into" the system? Are you ready for the revelation? This is what I am going to tell Harley:

"Harley, education is not about "getting grades" in order to get a good GPA, in order to get into the right school, in order to get a good job, in order to make a lot of money. (This is what everyone is told and it is not true!) Getting a good education is about leadership and I can boil it all down in one sentence: Nobody wants to follow dumb! Everybody leads somebody. You are an example to someone. Education is about leadership - this is why you should value education. Don't worry about the grades - worry about developing the kind of leader you want to become!"

So, that is it for today. "Nobody wants to follow dumb!"