I have a fantastic idea for the future of education. It’s relatively simple, at one point each year, every student in the higher classes in an elementary school – grades 7 and 8 in Yorkton’s elementary system, but I’d argue grades 5 and 6 are also suited for this idea – has to “teach” a class in one of the entry grades, like kindergarten or grade 1. It wouldn’t be an important class, just get the kids in the group to complete some form of task, maybe a craft or an art project. They would be supervised by a teacher just in case it got out of hand, but they would be mostly left to their own devices, having to corral a room full of rambunctious kids and get them to successfully achieve a task.
The idea came largely as a way to get kids this age to get a feel for authority. Kids this age are starting to get more responsibilities but they’re also not exactly used to being in charge of something. It’s the age where some are eligible to start babysitting and are better suited to being left alone at home, but it’s also the first time this is actually happening for a lot of kids. While parents often teach their kids about responsibility, it’s something that is better learned by experiencing it, and giving kids a class to take care of is a great way to just throw them into the fire and see what they do. Some kids will thrive, some kids won’t, and both options are an acceptable result. The lesson isn’t in whether or not they succeed, but what they learn in the attempt.
The main reason I think it’s a good idea to give kids an idea of what it’s like to be in charge is to give them some idea of what the people in charge of them have to go through on a regular basis. Short version, kids can be annoying, and for the most part they don’t realize why they are annoying. Which isn’t really a knock on the kids themselves, lots of them are great kids, and most of them just need someone to help them realize that what they’re doing might be unacceptable behavior. That’s naturally what parenting is overall, but it would likely be an easier job if the kids themselves had some kind of awareness of what a parent or teacher actually goes through. Making them do the job itself is going to be a great way to give them that perspective.
There are naturally already programs to get younger kids and older ones together and learning from each other. I’m not proposing anything new or different, just something that would be mandatory for all students. Most of these programs are going to be voluntary, and a lot of kids are going to avoid them if they can. It’s the same as not every kid being a babysitter, or not every kid having younger siblings who they have to help with, some don’t want the opportunity to be in charge.
This way, you make them take command, not for very long but long enough that they have the experience. Then after, the kids that like it can sign up for different extra-curricular activities or to take some babysitting courses to take care of the younger kids. At a minimum, you might get some kids who are a bit less difficult to deal with as they might realize what being difficult does to people who are actually in charge.
I realize that I’m not a parent or a teacher, but I have had to deal with kids who are a bit rambunctious, far from inclined to listen to you or maybe just not really interested in what I have to say since I’m not their actual parent or teacher. And most of the time I can’t help but think I wish they had to take care of a kid just like them, so they realize what they’re like. I’ve also known some of those kids to get a bit more sensible after they have had to take care of friends’ kids or their parents had another child. So why not force all kids to take a little responsibility over a few others?
What do the younger students get out of this? They get a class with a different teacher, and they probably get some sort of craft to take home to their parents. In truth, it’s not that exciting for that class. But it’s a good way to bring the school together and get the two ends of the age spectrum to know each other. Elementary school is probably the age where the biggest changes happen from when you start and when you leave, but something like this could bring both ends of that age spectrum together.
I’m sure that there are plenty of local schools who do things like this already, I know that I’ve visited several who have programs where older students read to younger ones, or get older students to help with events and extracurricular activities. It might be the case that I’m proposing something which already exists, and if that’s the case I’m happy that is the case. I think it’s a good thing if older students in elementary school know what their teachers, parents and guardians have to live with every day, by putting them in charge of some of their younger schoolmates. I just can see that some kids really need to learn a bit more about what being in charge is all about.
