Educational Rant- Voice

Educational Rant- voice

I chat with my students a lot.  I listen to them.  They have a lot to say.  Yeah, teenagers, of course, they have a lot to say,  you may think.  They have ideas.  They have opinions.  They are actually pretty good at thinking outside the box.   I have a theory about this.  I think they are good at it because they have not yet been completely pushed down by society.  They have not yet experienced repeated times going up against a system to be pushed back.  They are new at life and they don’t know it.  And this makes them think about possibilities and what could be.  They do not know everything yet, though they think they do, and because of this, they are able to think, question and wonder.  I know, it sounds odd, teens thinking?  Teens questioning?  Well, they do if you give them a chance and you listen.  The thing is, I have them at an age where this mindset is starting to fade.  They are getting cynical.  They do not believe their ideas will be heard and if they do that belief is starting to fade.  They don’t think anyone is listening.  They feel they do not have a voice.

I had the pleasure of teaching social studies last semester and the nature of that class gave me a lot of insight into what kids are thinking.  And the one theme that appeared over and over again, was that they feel unheard.  No one listens.  No one cares.  But, when they see that I am listening, they speak.  They have ideas.  They have solutions.  And I leave a conversation inspired.  I leave my classroom with hope for the future generation.

I think back to when I was in school.  When I was 15 or 16.  Did I have ideas?  Did I feel unheard?  Did I think so much about the world I live in?  I don’t think I did.  I mean, maybe I did but was so involved in all the other things that are important to a teenager.  I grew up in different times.  I grew up with books.  I had to go to the library to get information.  I had to wait hours to talk to someone on the phone.  My school had computers- in one room.  No icons.  I was taught to not question and to accept.  I didn’t get the idea of questioning until I  got to college.  Now, my experience may not be the same as yours, but I have a feeling that back then things were different.

I don’t recall feeling a lack of voice, but I wonder if it was because I didn’t need it.  Maybe today’s kids with the access they have to the world around them, need a voice.  Their world is bigger.   They are a new age of learning and as educators, we are not grasping that.  We are still doing what has been done for 200 years.  Sure, we are more creative.  We come up with cool fun lessons.  We try out new techniques in the classroom.  We use technology. But, the question is, why do we need a classroom?  Why do we need textbooks?  The skills my students need are not found in a text and they need experience that doesn’t need to be given in a box.  They need to learn how to decipher information.  They need to learn how to discover, research, discern.  And the thing is, they know this.  They know what they need to learn.  They don’t know it exactly as I stated it, but they sense that what they are learning is not really what they need.

My question then is why do they not have a voice? Why do we not listen to them?  I have been recently looking for documentation to apply to my evaluation.  I have to support what I do with documents or proof.  One of the items I have to prove is that I involve students in the learning process.  It doesn’t say this, but it implies- do I give them a voice.  What I find ironic, is that I am supposed to be doing this.  Yet, as a system, as far as policy, as far as the government is concerned- they do not give our youth a voice (or even teachers for that matter).  The act of having them collaborate on a rubric is not enough of a  voice.  What if the assignment that rubric is attached to has no meaning to them?  Then it is a fake voice we are giving them. Some may argue that they are too young to know what they need.  Some may say that they need to be able to bend to authority.  But here’s how I see it-

Someday they will be making policy, decisions, coming up with ideas thinking for themselves.  At least that is what I hope they will be doing.  Someday they will be the authority. Why not start now.  They are ready.  They are ready to stand up for themselves and to have a say and a voice.  As a teacher I want them to have a voice.  I want to hear their ideas and thoughts.  I want to believe in them because sometimes I see them as the only hope we have for change.  But I fear unless we feed their need to be heard we will kill that desire to be heard.  They will end up just being compliant and going along with the status quo and education will continue on for another 200 years being the same.  

My daughter was complaining last night that her friend was arguing with her that birds were better than wolves.  Yeah, I know, whatever.  She was very upset that this friend would not be convinced.  My spouse’s response was to tell her to respond by walking away and let it go.  Basically, he was telling her to quiet her voice to make peace.  And I said no.  You stand up for what you believe in.  Argue with your friend and listen to your friend.  Bring a book with you and support what you believe.  Look for information.  I told her, you may not convince her and that’s ok.  But be heard. And listen. Exercise your voice and make yourself heard.  As she gets older I want her to know how to be heard and not sit passively by while the world decides her future.

We need to listen to our kids.  We need to really hear them.  We need to teach them that they are important and that their voice can be heard.  I want to teach this as a class.  I want them to ask and fight productively for the change they know they need in their world.  And right now their world is school.  We need to hear them.  We need to listen to what they need to be learners.  We need to show them they are heard by helping them to make a change in the system they are a part of every day.  

 

In almost every school I have worked there is a mission statement.  The common theme of this statement is to create lifelong learners.  If we really believe that we want to create lifelong learners let’s give those learners a voice so they do not give up and give in.  Give them the chance to be heard.  Teach them to stand for what they believe in.  Let’s prove to them that we are listening and that what they say matters.  It is time to hear our youth.