In education we often put our efforts into preparing our students. We focus our efforts on  preparing them for the next grade, preparing them for high school, preparing them for university and preparing them for the ‘Real World.’ While a future focus can be a good thing, it does potentially rob our students of a quality education in their present. 

For this reason, I struggle sometimes with the idea that we spent a year of learning simply to prepare for the next year of learning. If we accept this premise, the ultimate result of this is a “tail wagging the dog” situation. This would mean that grade 12 ultimately determines what we do in Kindergarten which seems a little ridiculous. 

A focus on preparing means that if we are putting all our efforts into preparing Grade 7 students to be Grade 8 students, we are denying them the experience of actually being a Grade 7 student. If we work hard to give students a solid Grade 7 experience and focus on what they need at that time, rather than what they need later, they will actually have a stronger base to be ready for that later. I know this seems like semantics but it is about choosing a goal. If the goal is to get ready for Grade 8 then you will make certain educational choices. If your goal is to give them a solid Grade 7 experience, then you will make slightly different choices, which will likely be more appropriate to the situation rather than a potentially upcoming situation. 

Being cognizant of where students are now, means choosing more developmentally appropriate goals for them in the moment. It also means that you can be responsive to the students where they are now rather than simply pushing forward to meet timelines. To be clear, there is typically a curriculum that must be followed, and the curriculum does assume prior knowledge will be taught, but I would argue that if you aren’t responsive to your students in the moment they are unlikely to learn and retain it anyhow.

Similarly, if a student makes the unfortunate decision to drop out, then all that preparation has gone to waste since they will not find themselves in the situation anyhow. However, a focus in the moment will mean they are equipped at least with the knowledge appropriate to their grade level. It may even be that for an at-risk student, you would want to pivot to equip them with a set of social-emotional skills rather than focus on curriculum to keep them in school. 

But what about the preparation itself? What things are we actually preparing them for?

There are some statistics that show that only about 10-15% of students attend university. As such, designing an educational system that is meant to prepare all students for university really is only designing it for those 10-15%. While we can absolutely make the case that all students should be prepared for whatever comes next, it does discount the variability in our students in what they may want to do for themselves rather than what we might want them to do. If we were preparing students for what comes next, it may be worth determining what most students do and use that as a metric for guiding our practice rather than looking at a narrow slice.

Similarly, we talk about students needing exams to prepare them. The only thing it really prepares them for for sure, is more exams. Now, there is a lot of evidence to support the benefits of testing so this is not an anti-test comment, it is simply an observation that outside of academia the only test that most people write is their driver’s permit. The actual test itself is a testing of your driving skills rather than the knowledge they have of it. Perhaps the inclusion of more performance-based tasks is a better method of preparation.

Finally it comes to ‘The Real World’ it isn’t always as real as we pretend. We tell students if they are late they will be fired from their job, but, this rarely happens unless it is a pattern. We are late all the time for various legitimate reasons. We often submit our own reports late but we still remain employed. If we are late with a bill payment we often just get an overdue notice or reminder rather than a termination of service. Very few adults are required to solve complex math equations or analyze poetry. Those are absolutely vehicles that we use to help students to think, but there are many ways to do that so there should be a recognition that some of the curricular outcomes are somewhat arbitrary if we are simply using them as a medium to encourage critical thought. The same type of critical thought could likely be accomplished using other mediums as well. 

We should be preparing students to be good learners and good people. Spending our efforts preparing students robs them of a grounding in the present. Being overly concerned with what they need to know later shifts the focus from what they need to know right now. We anchor our efforts in an uncertain future rather than in a very relevant present. Again, this may seem like semantics, but a shift in mindset often leads to a shift in practice. Let the future grades take care of themselves, and focus on the students that are right in front of you.