What is education? If education is defined as teaching students academic skills with which to work in the post school world than we have failed in our delivery of sound education. How do we know this? For starters, most kids hate schoolwork because of the misconceptions about education. Even if students make good grades the majority would opt to do something else if offered to them. Pure discipline and parental pressure are the main reasons students motivate and discipline themselves to spend endless hours in the preparation and delivery of work. Certainly, the majority of students would not say that they love “the what” or “the how” that they are learning.
Virtual learning, a growing phenomenon to substitute for regular schooling, only exacerbates the problem, and yet long distance learning is flourishing. The answer as to why is simple. Students find school uninspiring, they don’t want to get up in the morning, wash their hair, take a shower and ride on a bus in the what seems like the middle of the night. So more and more are staying at home and learning through a lifeless screen with no personal commitment or emotion on either side. Without emotional commitment students cannot learn properly. They cannot achieve to their potential.
Kids are unable to engage emotionally with their subject matter through the computers who teach them. As the New York Times of September 23, stated so aptly” when the human brain mates with the computer’s, we get the automation of judgement”. Instead, good teachers, those who are and make you think as well as feel, are the real textbooks. They are the ones enabling students to participate in the lessons and therefore experience the lesson. For the bright students at Matlock Academy the second part is easy. The concept that the Academy and its successful alumni have been fully involved with through the last thirty years, is one of engagement in the subject matter. And if an individual student has expressed a very specific or unique interest, that too is honored. The Academy serves the students’ needs rather than the other way around, while keeping the underlying truth in the forefront: that emotions are the gateway to the brain.
Within the Matlock Academy, a calm and positive environment, in which students are challenged at a level which they can meet with reasonable effort predominates the day. Meditation and deep breathing are part of the curriculum, and students experience a good balance between the stress of goal reaching while being present for the journey. Despite teenagers’ claim to early adulthood, they are still children and are in need of that space in which to be both child and adult. Being allowed to linger over a new concept or geometry question is not a sin. It is following the natural rhythm of things. Everyone knows there are four years in which to complete high school and gain the academic requirements. The student body is comprised of bright learners to whom new and fresh material has to be presented so as not to bore them, the task becomes more and more difficult as freshmen enter Matlock with an abundance of knowledge, a result of their multitasking from a young age. For teachers the task is to prepare and present lessons imbued with tolerance, compassion and depth.
Homework is assigned only when needed. Exams and tests are given when the teacher needs to measure the amount of learning that has taken place. These are some of the reasons that students consistently make the grade and get accepted onto the first choice college. Allowed to be who they are while at the same time challenged to grow, our students rich or poor, meet THEMSELVES at the academy. They are encouraged to think of themselves, their peers and their staff as equal human beings, no matter who is driving the brand new BMW parked in the school parking lot. This is why students tell us over and over how much they like the school and the staff. Ultimately the tes comes as our alumni leave the Academy. For them learning has been a pleasurable and challenging experience and they will only accept a continuation of such involvement and purpose in their academic lives.
Matlock students are encouraged to find who their inner voices and use them. Naturally, parents still exercise a strong influence. Neither laissez faire parenting nor controlling parenting allows the student to reach their potential. A difficult balance between the two is recommended. Matlock Academy is creating workshops for parents where these themes can be explored and practiced. Ultimately, if a graduate of Matlock is a lifelong learner, in college or in the world , he or she is considered a success. They have learned to be present for the journey as well as where it takes you. Rare discoveries for young people.
Just as lifelong learning is the ultimate goal for schools, and enabling students to feel satisfied in their pursuits there is another element which exists in schools. It is an element that cannot be duplicated by virtual learning unless a religious component exists in the home. The element which is taught within the curriculum of most schools consists of passing to the next generation a moral and ethical blueprint of appropriate and acceptable behavior within our society. Schools are constantly charged with teaching and reminding students about fair play, ethical issues, and sound morals. Staff can repeatedly teach the moral lessons through subject matter such as literature or social science, or just as a lesson within itself. Consequences for those who break the rules are demonstrated in many different ways inclusive of observing a receive punishment so that the lesson can be learned through a third party.
Discussion and communication can take place between staff and students regarding the rules which have been broken. At times, a mere session between principal and student is enough. How will students receive this kind of message, a reminder, if they are virtual learners. Students who have entered the Academy after long distance learning, often are devoid of social knowledge. Are we ready to not prepare our boys and girls for society just because “they are great on the computer? “Parents who attended or attend spiritual services and receive uplifting lessons about what is right and what is wrong rely on such lessons for their everyday living.
Children should go to school daily and receive these messages from the teachers in order to be prepared properly for the world into which they will enter. Our society demands it and we should not fail our young people by substituting a screen for human interaction. We have a duty to teach them the right way of interacting with their fellow human beings, and not to justify what suits our efficiency through convenience which all too often is supported by an agenda of cost. If we successfully impart these lessons with our academics, then we can trust that today’s teens will be tomorrow’s responsible citizens, and we will be able to depend on them to accomplish with integrity what needs to be done to protect the planet and the human beings who live on it.
The MP Principal, Ms. Daphne Grad, is both a Life Coach and Stress Reduction instructor. She has utilized these disciplines to help students and their parents in finding the correct path for each individual. Additionally, these skills have enabled her to motivate MP seniors towards their college goals since often there is so much at stake. Ms. Grad utilizes listening, intuition, motivation, empowerment, and meditation to enhance the process of decision-making for the future with balance, wisdom, as well as creating open ended possibilities.
