I am originally from Soweto, and I can personally attest to the challenges highlighted by my friend Sakhile. It is exceedingly difficult to expect optimal academic performance from a learner who comes from a dysfunctional household or an unstable social environment. As members of the community, we must also take accountability and work towards establishing a supportive foundation that complements and sustains governmental efforts, ensuring they do not go to waste. I hope the message conveyed reaches as many people as possible
This is a little too pie in the sky for me. In Canada our teacher unions blame poverty as a driver behind the catastrophic decline in student achievement, even though poverty levels have remained the same over the past 25 years and funding has skyrocketed. What HAS changed, are ideological changes in education policy which has de-emphasized excellence and rigorous standards. Predictably kids that are the most disadvantaged suffer the most, yet these are the ones our educators and politicians claim to target to help them.
I agree parents cannot replace teachers, but neither can doctors, judges or social workers. Yet here we are. We can only control what the system allows for, and improving home life in a classroom isn’t it. If any improvement is to be made, start with a knowledge rich curriculum, high learning standards, many quizzes and exams along the way, and be assured teachers are well trained in best classroom practices. Progressive reforms are the death of good learning practices. Blaming home lives on students is fickle, and a complete waste of time.
Your response exposes a fundamental misreading of the balance that my piece attempted to draw between the education system itself and society. It also appears to be not grounded in the SA's reality and the nitty gritties of it's educational policy. You may well know that we are spending more money on education than developed countries like the UK and Australia, and yet our educational outcomes, at a basic level, in this case are dismal.
My article, in no way, absolved the system. If anything, that was the first point I affirmed. I also stressed the importance of reforming the system, improving its standards, and restructuring it in a way that actually works for learners.
But it then delved deeper and argued that this reform must be completented by the points I made in the piece. In the SA context, it isn't too difficult to see how children (white in many cases) who grow up in stable homes where their families are engaged and support them tend to do better than their black counterparts, some of whom are raised in dysfunctional families where they are neglected and even subjected to abuse.
It isn't some dichotomy that undermines the efficacy of the system in shaping outcomes. I'm simply saying that what happens at home also shapes what happens at school. I can expand on how this manifests in other areas like socially deviant behaviour. But my point is a holistic one that calls for harmony between those two spaces.
If the impression was that I'm undermining the importance of good education, then the article was misread.
Yes i understand all that you are saying. It is no different in any country where disadvantaged students are concerned. Canada is no different, as many First Nation students struggle far behind their peers. But my point remains that we cannot look towards family structures to improve schools. Rather the system must be reformed first before families will respond. Because truly the only place where students can be in an equal setting, is the classroom. Canada, like SA, has outrageous spending on education with the worst student outcomes ever. Clearly more spending is northern answer, but neither is schooling the parents. Interestingly we are seeing one of the poorest Staes in America respond positively with better learning practices and rigorous curriculum, and the results are astonishing . https://www.the74million.org/article/there-really-was-a-mississippi-miracle-in-reading-states-should-learn-from-it/ Maybe you have heard. We cannot control what happens outside of the classroom. This is indeed the only place where change must occur.
You don't hear what I'm saying if you have stuck to that binarist thinking. And South Africa is a unique case, so it must not be read through a Canadian lens.
If fixing the classroom can even magically fix the life of a black learner who comes from the most chaotic home, then I'm glad I don't accept this view. I remain adamant that schools are not miracle makers, as you've argued.
And never once did I "blame". I simply described how many black students in the SA context come from broken families (partly due to history) and how this affects their engagement with education.
My argument remains. Fix both institutions. Merely focusing on the system, especially in SA, is not the silver bullet.
Youre entitled to your opinion, My advice is to get educated about FN Nations here and elsewhere. You’ll find SA isn’t unique, but that good work, and better results can be achieved in the worst case scenarios starting in the classroom. Read up on Michaela School in the UK. And stop blaming chaotic homes for poor results. That will get you nowhere. Good day.
That's my advice to you too. You've spent this entire interaction glossing over what I've said and falsely saying I'm only blaming families. Again, proving that you never really understood my nuanced perspective to begin with.
You instead choose condescension and to "educate" me about what I clearly don't know when I've conducted extensive research on the issue. From the beginning, you come in with condescension and accuse me of pies in the sky.
For merely arguing that even the best schools will never fully compensate for shortcomings at home. There's an entire body of literature that proves how, as I said earlier, abuse and neglect at home manifest in destructive ways at school. You ignore all of that
Why? Because you want to "correct" me and tell me that families don't matter at all. Only schools do, and they can even fix what the home fails to fix.
What of the teachers who complain that schools can't do everything and that they can only go so far? They're lazy?
I am of course entitled to an opinion that rejects overemphasizing structure and neglecting agency. I am a libertarian and by the look's of it, you clearly aren't. To each his own..
Of course families matter. They also matter in healthcare, judicial systems and all other public services. Yet you only pick education. Why? It’s your column but a piece of advice: be prepared to defend it with FACTS. I don’t see anything here except wishful thinking and personal accusations when presented with a little pushback.
Youcsnnot change the family dynamic, but as I’ve pointed out multiple times in multiple jurisdictions globally, that when prioritizing best practices in schools, results can change. Ignore that factor at your peril, but doing so indicates you’re not serious about improving the system for those that matter most: the kids.
I am originally from Soweto, and I can personally attest to the challenges highlighted by my friend Sakhile. It is exceedingly difficult to expect optimal academic performance from a learner who comes from a dysfunctional household or an unstable social environment. As members of the community, we must also take accountability and work towards establishing a supportive foundation that complements and sustains governmental efforts, ensuring they do not go to waste. I hope the message conveyed reaches as many people as possible
This is a little too pie in the sky for me. In Canada our teacher unions blame poverty as a driver behind the catastrophic decline in student achievement, even though poverty levels have remained the same over the past 25 years and funding has skyrocketed. What HAS changed, are ideological changes in education policy which has de-emphasized excellence and rigorous standards. Predictably kids that are the most disadvantaged suffer the most, yet these are the ones our educators and politicians claim to target to help them.
I agree parents cannot replace teachers, but neither can doctors, judges or social workers. Yet here we are. We can only control what the system allows for, and improving home life in a classroom isn’t it. If any improvement is to be made, start with a knowledge rich curriculum, high learning standards, many quizzes and exams along the way, and be assured teachers are well trained in best classroom practices. Progressive reforms are the death of good learning practices. Blaming home lives on students is fickle, and a complete waste of time.
Your response exposes a fundamental misreading of the balance that my piece attempted to draw between the education system itself and society. It also appears to be not grounded in the SA's reality and the nitty gritties of it's educational policy. You may well know that we are spending more money on education than developed countries like the UK and Australia, and yet our educational outcomes, at a basic level, in this case are dismal.
My article, in no way, absolved the system. If anything, that was the first point I affirmed. I also stressed the importance of reforming the system, improving its standards, and restructuring it in a way that actually works for learners.
But it then delved deeper and argued that this reform must be completented by the points I made in the piece. In the SA context, it isn't too difficult to see how children (white in many cases) who grow up in stable homes where their families are engaged and support them tend to do better than their black counterparts, some of whom are raised in dysfunctional families where they are neglected and even subjected to abuse.
It isn't some dichotomy that undermines the efficacy of the system in shaping outcomes. I'm simply saying that what happens at home also shapes what happens at school. I can expand on how this manifests in other areas like socially deviant behaviour. But my point is a holistic one that calls for harmony between those two spaces.
If the impression was that I'm undermining the importance of good education, then the article was misread.
Yes i understand all that you are saying. It is no different in any country where disadvantaged students are concerned. Canada is no different, as many First Nation students struggle far behind their peers. But my point remains that we cannot look towards family structures to improve schools. Rather the system must be reformed first before families will respond. Because truly the only place where students can be in an equal setting, is the classroom. Canada, like SA, has outrageous spending on education with the worst student outcomes ever. Clearly more spending is northern answer, but neither is schooling the parents. Interestingly we are seeing one of the poorest Staes in America respond positively with better learning practices and rigorous curriculum, and the results are astonishing . https://www.the74million.org/article/there-really-was-a-mississippi-miracle-in-reading-states-should-learn-from-it/ Maybe you have heard. We cannot control what happens outside of the classroom. This is indeed the only place where change must occur.
You don't hear what I'm saying if you have stuck to that binarist thinking. And South Africa is a unique case, so it must not be read through a Canadian lens.
If fixing the classroom can even magically fix the life of a black learner who comes from the most chaotic home, then I'm glad I don't accept this view. I remain adamant that schools are not miracle makers, as you've argued.
And never once did I "blame". I simply described how many black students in the SA context come from broken families (partly due to history) and how this affects their engagement with education.
My argument remains. Fix both institutions. Merely focusing on the system, especially in SA, is not the silver bullet.
Youre entitled to your opinion, My advice is to get educated about FN Nations here and elsewhere. You’ll find SA isn’t unique, but that good work, and better results can be achieved in the worst case scenarios starting in the classroom. Read up on Michaela School in the UK. And stop blaming chaotic homes for poor results. That will get you nowhere. Good day.
That's my advice to you too. You've spent this entire interaction glossing over what I've said and falsely saying I'm only blaming families. Again, proving that you never really understood my nuanced perspective to begin with.
You instead choose condescension and to "educate" me about what I clearly don't know when I've conducted extensive research on the issue. From the beginning, you come in with condescension and accuse me of pies in the sky.
For merely arguing that even the best schools will never fully compensate for shortcomings at home. There's an entire body of literature that proves how, as I said earlier, abuse and neglect at home manifest in destructive ways at school. You ignore all of that
Why? Because you want to "correct" me and tell me that families don't matter at all. Only schools do, and they can even fix what the home fails to fix.
What of the teachers who complain that schools can't do everything and that they can only go so far? They're lazy?
I am of course entitled to an opinion that rejects overemphasizing structure and neglecting agency. I am a libertarian and by the look's of it, you clearly aren't. To each his own..
Of course families matter. They also matter in healthcare, judicial systems and all other public services. Yet you only pick education. Why? It’s your column but a piece of advice: be prepared to defend it with FACTS. I don’t see anything here except wishful thinking and personal accusations when presented with a little pushback.
Youcsnnot change the family dynamic, but as I’ve pointed out multiple times in multiple jurisdictions globally, that when prioritizing best practices in schools, results can change. Ignore that factor at your peril, but doing so indicates you’re not serious about improving the system for those that matter most: the kids.