A lot of work goes on in the background in education. Parents take pictures, clap hands, and take their kids home. Much of the effort is never really seen. For some it may seem like the end product is what matters especially in the Asian context. Results, scores, tests, we pass or fail.
I recall a parent meeting I had two weeks ago regarding a student who had just come into the international school setting from a local kindergarden school. Results were demanded immediately. Fortunately enough the parents were open about how they spoke to their child and that they had unrealistic goals and expectations for their child. They wanted results and perfection. I simply wanted her effort and to cultivate her to enjoy school rather than resist it. Being fear driven at home had to be changed. Instead of seeing mistakes as being negative it should be seen as part of the learning process. We need to teach risk-taking as one way toward successful learning. Teachers know this, they see this everyday. Some parents simply need a shift in their thinking. At church the other day an India Christian apologist spoke of how in his culture children were shamed in an effort for them to try harder. One consequence of this was a huge percentage of suicide attempts at the end of the school year. Instead of focusing on the end we should reexamine the means.
These ideas weren’t what I originally intended to write about. What I had thought of about 8 minutes ago was that a lot of work was put into making the Acceptable Use Policy. This is one single document a school would use but it took hours of time to look at, review, edit, and finalize. Fortunately there were people in my group such as @chezvivian, @donovanhallnz, and @chamley_ who were patient and diligent enough to get this process moving more efficiently. Between the beginning and the end of the process I had been in China, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Macau. The ability to collaborate with others around the world is incredible. Of course at times there were some difficulties. I was unable to attend our Google Hangout because of the time differences and life happening outside of the COETAIL world. I also saw that some people were most definitely working harder than others. That’s you @chezvivian. Behind our AUP there was a lot of background noise unheard by those not directly involved in the process of creating our school policy. Below is what we came up with. Enjoy it and see you after the summer in Course 3.
