Schools Have It Backwards … Again

Thursday was “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day”.

This day kind of sneaks up on me every year as it is not usually on my calendar yet every year I think to myself, “Why doesn’t this happen more often?” So I decided to take a few minutes to investigate.

I learned that the day began in 1992 in order to counter act, “…young women’s loss of self-esteem.” Which made me wonder why I wasn’t I aware or apart of it as a young, female student during that time?

I learned that there is a theme to the day every year which are all quite motivating and pertinent. Which made me wonder why we’re not made aware of it as teachers as we could make a connection to it in our classrooms?

I also heard more of my friends sharing stories about how they had little ones in their places of employment and how it was both eventful and enjoyable. Which reinforced my initial line of thought (and clearly how Indi-ED will operate differently), why doesn’t this happen more often?

What I think would be interesting for parents to hear is that this was the only mention of it to teachers here in Pinellas County, “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day is celebrated nationally on Thursday, April 28. However, it will not take place within the district due to the administration of the Florida Standards Assessments. This practice is similar to previous years.” Which made me wonder if this was one reason why I’m not more conscious of it?

If you can’t find a more glaring example of how backwards our school system works, here it is. The one institution that claims that it is preparing our little ones for their future careers, is indeed not allowing the one opportunity our kids have to actually be exposed to something that may allow them to see a relevance for their learning in a real life situation or better yet, could allow them to find a career that could inspire them and give them something to strive for, to even “take place” because of a state assessment.

Parents, it is many little examples like this that I share in hopes of opening some eyes to what is actually happening inside of our schools and to our children.

At Indi-ED, one of our major focuses is to involve our students in the real world. For them to consistently partner with experts or adults who have mastered crafts, specialties, and professions that could not only provide a spark that could ignite something inside of them, but could alternatively add to a self-awareness that would allow them to know that indeed, a certain profession is not something that they’re interested in-equally as valuable.

Experiences provide connections and understanding. How do we expect our children to know with certainty what they want to do when they grow up if we don’t involve them in the process of seeing what is available to them?

Indi-ED students, I can assure you that this day is already on my calendar for next year. I can also assure you that we will be doing it differently in two ways.

The first, is that you will have already been exposed to what your parents do as most of them have already volunteered to have us into their professional places of work but also because they will be apart of our daily lives (I’m not kidding when I say that I love these families already!) but also a multitude of other professionals .

The second, is that you will have already had a voice in the process. You won’t just get to see what your parents do, but you will be able to see what professionals in a line of work that you are interested in do.

Beyond looking forward to 2017!