Changing to 24/7 secondary schooling: the disgrace of a profession

 

Mr Pat Hargreaves

Whangamata Area School
Coromandel, New Zealand

 

The fact that our educational system seems to have remained largely unchanged, despite the rapidly evolving world around it, is an absolute disgrace. It has remained largely unchanged due to a dictatorial power base that has worked mainly for its own benefit. This is not the unseen Ministry, or a covert business group, it is teachers as a collective group who have maintained and propagated an education system that no longer is appropriate. The following questions attempt to briefly explain the thought behind this statement which many, no doubt, may find provocative.

Do children have rights?

Many teachers would argue that they have too many, yet we do not allow them the right to choose their education, let alone their educators. Without choice, there is no autonomy (Lindley, 1986), and without autonomy independent work, such as an online forum, may be unlikely to be successful.

Do our current educational practices encourage autonomy? It would seem that they absolutely do not. The teachers, particularly in secondary schools, have become conditioned to the idea of subject specialists as critical to educational outcomes (Gilbert, 2005)). They purvey knowledge; the students memorise and regurgitate this knowledge. This is a dependency cycle and is counterproductive to personal autonomy. It may also be why so many people remain dependent 'victims' throughout their lives. Victims of employment, media, self-help gurus and politicians. They are conditioned to wait until someone tells them what to know and what to do.

Will teachers actively embrace change if they understand it is in the best interests of their students?

It would seem unlikely that this would be the case. In an environment where students have educational choice, there is the likelihood that some, if not many, teachers may not be employed if the students don't select them as an educator. This creates huge issues in terms of job security and salary structures. Many may argue that education would be nothing more than a popularity contest if students were given choice. However, the bottom line is that teachers simply have too much to lose to support a radical change in the current educational structure (Rapp, 2002).

The largest inhibitor in changing secondary schools to a 24/7 format, combining teacher facilitators with technological tools, is the firmly entrenched and archaic educational system. This system is maintained by the teachers within it.

• Years 0-8 follow a teacher dependency model, convenient for teacher planning, which does not prepare students for individual autonomous learning.
• Secondary school teachers will have their job security threatened if full choice is handed back to the students and caregivers. They will actively resist this change out of self-interest.
• The current system is a convenient daycare system that many caregivers are likely to resist.

Imagine these scenarios

• Imagine students who go to work with their parents, spend time with them and share their educational journey in partnership with the school. Many businesses, believe it or not, are ready for this (Roddick, 2000);
• Think of a school that actually is able to fit in around a family's particular desires and lifestyle.
• Imagine a family that is able to control its own education provisions.
• What if great teachers were recognised as such within the community; their students seeking them out, rather than leaving it to chance?
• Imagine breaking the cycle of dependency that is prevalent within our societies by helping to educate young people with their own autonomous responsibilities.

References

Gilbert, J. (2005). Catching the Knowledge Wave. Wellington: NZCER Press.

Lindley, R. (1986) Autonomy: Issues in Political Theory. London. Macmillan Education Ltd

Rapp, D. (2002). 'Social Justice and the Importance of Rebellious, Oppositional Imaginations'. In J ournal of School Leadership, Volume 12, May 2002.

Roddick, A. (2000). Business as Unusual. London, Harper Collins Publishers.

 

Mr Pat Hargreaves is a teacher at Whangamata Area School, in Coromandel, New Zealand.

The Discussion Forum on this Workshop Paper is now closed.