Where to now?

Standardization kills creativity. The Leaving Certificate is the leveller for secondary school students here in Ireland. Using it we rigorously examine our students each year in an effort to compare their academic ability. It rarely seeks opinion preferring to extract regurgitated ‘Cliff-Notes’ over original ideas. It affects the morale of not only the students but the teachers too. Ken Robinson says “The problem comes when these tests become more than simply a tool of education and turn into the focus of it”. (Robinson, K. 2009 p. 237). Personally speaking this element of our current education system hugely affects my morale. I find myself telling students to learn Irish essays off by heart because this is what it takes to succeed in the exam. I spend more time preparing for the exam, than I do on actual language skills and this is hugely frustrating. It’s also promoting the demise of the Irish language. What can we do?

“The most powerful method of improving education is to invest in the improvement of teaching and the status of great teachers”. (Robinson, K. 2009 p. 237). Time and again teachers complain about the inadequacies of the system, about how “The Leaving Cert is a test of memory and not of intellect”. But teachers are not the problem. Schools up and down the country are full of fabulous teachers working within an ailing and archaic system. Robinson suggests that we focus on personalization rather than standardization.

We need to discover the individual talents of each child, to create an environment where they want to learn and can discover their true passions. Lessons need to be student-centred and lessons should be what student interest dictates. Students should be able to interact, communicate and collaborate.

Robinson also asserts the notion that “school systems should base their curriculum not on the idea of separate subjects, but on the much more fertile idea of disciplines”. He feels that this would make a more “fluid” and “dynamic” system.

Finally education should be personal taking into account the individual learning styles and talents of each student.

Follow Your Dreams

Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent

When Susan Boyle stepped out onto the stage of Britain's Got Talent in April this year, she was asked "What's the dream?' She answered "I want to be a professional singer". Audience and panel alike were aghast that this dowdy strange woman could expect her dream to come true. Susan Boyle is proof that we should never give up on our dreams no matter how far-fetched they may seem.

Susan Jeffers 'Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway'

Susan Jeffers wrote a book about how fear was preventing her from taking responsibility for her own life. Fear can infiltrate our lives and inhibit our growth. This kind of fear would be especilly prevalent if we choose to take a less conventional path in life. Susan tells us that one of the things that finally evoked satisfaction in her life was recognising this fear for what it was and by not allowing it to influence her choices. The video below gives an overview of Jeffers' best-selling book.

Meerkats and Me!

Meerkats are very sociable animals and they survive by a sophisticated system of teamwork. Inspite of the fact that they are known to nod off on the job they are fairly dependable  and display tremendous support for one another. We humans form groups for the same primal reasons as the meerkat. However, being part of a group encourages uniformity of thought and behaviour. The desire we have to conform is very powerful and sometimes especially so in adolescence. Unfortunately for us creativity and conformity rarely mix. The psychologist Solomon Asch carried out a conformity experiment in 1951-The effects of 'groupthink'

"I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference"

Robert Frost (1874–1963). Mountain Interval. 1920.

1. The Road Not Taken

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same, 10

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back. 15

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference. 20

The biggest obstacle to achievement can be self-doubt. The decision to take the path of least resistance can prove irresistible especially if your own fears are compounded by those of your family and friends. It might seem rational for a parent not to want their child to study ceramics because you'd be much more likely to get a secure job  by studying commerce. But it can't only be about getting a job. Wouldn't it be much more sensible to seek employment that satisfies and inspires you rather than just securing employmet for employments sake.

Lady luck's a knocking, can you hear her?

In his book The Luck Factor, Richard Wiseman writes about his study of four hundred exceptionally 'lucky' people. He recognices that people who consider themselves lucky have four distinguishing characteristics:
1.They maximize chance opportunities - and are good at creating, noticing and acting upon these opportunities when they arise. 2.They are good at listenin to their intuition. 3.They expect to be lucky and anticipate a positive outcome. 4.They don't allow ill fortune to control them.

Wiseman conveys the notion that lucky people, those of us who have satisfying jobs, perfect partners etc, these people actively seek out their luck and remain optimistic that they will find it. We cannot sit back hoping that  luck will find us. Students should be actively encouraged to seek out a career that invigorates them. Richard Wiseman on luck

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