My son has been whinging about having to go to school almost every morning this year. He has absolutely no idea how lucky he is to go to a good school with some amazing teachers where he gets to foster friendships and learn so much he didn’t previously know.
Philip turns 12 this year so he’s becoming harder to influence. My earnest speeches about how appreciative he should be, how he should value every moment and enjoy school instead of dreading it falls on deaf ears. I am one more eye-roll away from turning to stone. Drastic action was required.
There was no way I was going to let my son forget how much he loved to learn.
Philip has such a thirst for knowledge, such incredible interest in so many topics. He’ll talk to my husband about the economy and my brother about programming. He and I watch documentaries together – our most recent ones being about computer hackers Anonymous and the amazing Aaron Swartz – and Philip will teach himself things at home. He’s learning to touch-type, he’s learning how to program, he creates code, videos and websites.
He’s one smart cookie with a brain that moves at a million kilometres per hour when presented with a topic that interests him. If something doesn’t interest him, he does very badly. That’s not the sort of personality that does well in a traditional education setting like primary school.
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Firstly- I have a degree in social science. I absolutely love my degree in social science and would recommend it to anyone interested in the humanities, however, if you are specifically after research skills and already have an undergraduate degree I wouldn't do an undergraduate in it to get research skills. Probably honours or a masters in social science/arts instead. Really no point doing a whole new undergraduate.
Secondly- I also have a teaching degree and am a high school teacher. I have NEVER worked in a school where children are taught or encouraged to think/look/act the same. In fact, we teach the kids to debate with each other, to embrace their differences, to value each other because of them.....and every school (and the vast majority of teachers) does this.... in the public system at least. I really don't understand where the public gets this kind of nonsense from.
Thirdly- Your son is going to work for probably 50 years over his lifetime... allowing him to take a day off when he is bored/doesn't want to do something/isn't doing the right thing/only tries when something is personally interesting is kind of not setting him up for reality. You can get him interested in learning again without taking him out of a LEARNING ENVIRONMENT to do so. I'm not against taking kids out of school for important/family activities occasionally, but this seems like sending mixed messages.
guest, I couldn't agree more!! The "only trying when something is personally interesting" is the bane of my existence. As a university lecturer I see this often enough that it depresses me. My students choose to attend my classes and yet there is always a number of them that are unable to self motivate and engage themselves when faced with essay topics not personally hand drafted to cater specifically to their preferences. It worries me that children are being taught that their own self interest is an appropriate lens through which to view the world and an appropriate internal guide to whether an effort should be made.
"He’s one smart cookie with a brain that moves at a million kilometres per hour when presented with a topic that interests him. If something doesn’t interest him, he does very badly."
No-one needs to be taught how to engage with something that already interests them- education and growing up is about learning to do well under less than optimal circumstances and how to persevere when the world is not specifically shaped to meet your whims. The biggest gift you can give your children is to teach them how to do what they need to do when its not what they want to do.
Jo, can I recommend that you undertake Honours instead? By all means, If you want to start from the beginning you can, but I think it would be worth exploring this option. An Honours thesis tends to be shorter than a Masters by Research thesis, but you still get the opportunity to learn fantastic research skills. I recall you saying in an earlier post that eventually you'd like to complete a PhD, Honours is a fantastic foundation for this. Good luck with your studies 😊👍