Principal's Blog
2018 Term 3
Jumping off the Conveyor Belt
School is a strange beast. If I made the claim that children of the same age display the same social, emotional and academic level as their like-age peers, I would expect a retort along the lines that all children are different and have differing levels of maturity and ability, and develop at varying rates and in different ways. However, the inbuilt assumption of modern schooling is that like-age equals social, emotional and academic equivalence. I see this assumption as problematic. Chronological grouping of children is a new idea, between two and five generations old depending on what part of the world you live in. This feature of schooling now appears axiomatic, a fundamental structure upon which the practice of education must be built. What’s more, such groupings are designed to be maintained over time – a conveyor belt that carries with it the assumption that children learn and develop at the same rate.
Amongst the hardest conversations I have relate to placing students – the task of determining what class or year a child should be in when I want to lift the child off the conveyor belt. The terms society uses are ‘keeping them back’ and ‘accelerating them’. I don’t think within this frame. My goal is always to place each student where he or she will do best. And yet, on quite a few occasions this has become a controversial objective – and I must admit that I don’t entirely understand why. It can feel like some parents with whom I have this discussion carry a serious weight around this topic, a burden of concerns and worries.
I have the advantage of having seen the fruits of prioritising ‘fit’ over age, and also of watching what can happen when ‘fit’ was not prioritised when I felt it should have been. Yes, there can be (and often is) a small knock to the child’s ego when they are told they will be in a group that they perceive to be below them. I cannot fudge on this point. But in my experience this is generally short-lived (unless the parents cannot let go). The upside is that after few days or weeks the child is able to relax – which often leads to us experiencing a nicer child, a happier child, and a child who is now better able to hear and process what is going on around them. Their learning accelerates with this change. To use mainstream language – they move faster through being held back. But this is a ridiculous way to express it. I would re-frame it as: when we feel comfortable and not out of our depth (however measured) we do better.
I have occasionally watched a child struggling to keep up with their class, struggling due to being in a group that is not the best group for them. The result of this is that their growth is obstructed and they do less well. They are held back through not being ‘held back’. The experience they have of themselves as less on top of it and less competent than their fellows can lead to these children feeling less confident and understanding themselves as less able.
You might ask then, given what I’m describing, why I’d let a situation of this kind occur. The answer is simply that the parent has greater authority and influence over the child than the school, and if the parent can’t or won’t affirm this decision my call will end up being undermined. When the child indicates unhappiness with this decision and perhaps complains about being ‘held back’, it is crucial that the parent clearly supports our decision. When this situation cannot be achieved, I am stymied in doing what I believe is best for the child. These (thankfully rare) cases where I watch a child doing less well due to lack of ‘fit’ are the saddest part of my job, where I am frustrated in bringing about a better outcome. My experience here is that I am stuck between two bad choices. If the parent does not back this decision, it will end up appearing to the child as punitive rather than supportive. Children have keen emotional radars and if they feel that their parents are unsure or upset about the decision, it is experienced as a demeaning punishment and the boost to their confidence fails to occur. This lack of support of our decision by the parent leads to the child feeling like a failure, not because of the grade change but because the person they love and respect has shown them it’s a negative. In this situation it feels better to struggle on.
Unsurprisingly, when the move to put the child into the best class is perceived as moving up, it is usually less problematic. However, from time to time this situation is also experienced as difficult for the parent. Again, I don’t see this change as ‘moving up’ or ‘accelerating’ the child – just moving them to the best place for them at this juncture. Our assessment of what is the best place for each child is ongoing – I feel class groupings as fluid rather than fixed. I cannot remember a year when we have not moved a child mid-year or mid-term or even mid-week. It seems strange to me to keep a child where they are for the simple reason that they started the year there. Again, it seems like a self-evident truth that we should place all children where we feel is best for them – and given that children develop at different rates it will sometimes be the case that this does not align with the calendar year.
Timothy Berryman (Principal)