What Is That Big Invisible Hole In Our Schools?

Schools teach children how to make it through life without teaching them how to navigate through society. Is it the education system or the apathy of the educational institutes to bring reforms to our schools?

Of all the shortcomings in the schooling systems, the one that stands common across the globe is the idea that life is a competition for the first place.

This idea, this system, bodes well as long as a pupil is in school. He/she is competing for the first place or at least the bare minimum to clear the tests. The students are in charge, in control, of their grades. They can work hard and get their grades up. There’s a set rule. A definitive way.

But the moment they enter their careers. The rules change, for most of them.

Now, the norm is not competition, it’s coordination.

They work in teams, which has people with different backgrounds, different temperaments, different languages, different ambitions and different work ethics. Something that was never a factor in their exams. Sure there was the odd class activity but it was irrelevant to their overall grades, hence not taken seriously.

Now, in their professional careers, no matter how hard they work, the outcome is not in their control. It’s always a team effort. On most occasions, their individual efforts aren’t acknowledged. They don’t get to come first because they’ve worked hard. They don’t know how to handle backlogs, feedbacks, and most importantly — a lazy team member who believes in doing the bare minimum.

They take a bad team performance as their own personal defeat. They start doubting their capabilities and end up cornering themselves. Their self-esteem takes a beating. They think that because they don’t understand something on the first go, they aren’t meant for the job.

In school, it doesn’t matter if they have friends, whether they are able to communicate verbally what they feel. They are only required to put their heads in their books and get by.

This doesn’t work in the workplace. They have to get along, albeit at the lowest level, with other team members. It’s half the job actually.

That being said, there are people who aren’t as social as others. The amount of energy it takes for introverts to hold conversations with strangers at work or even some old colleague is enough to put an extrovert in ecstasy for weeks.

How does an introvert navigate these structures where socialising is the currency?

I do not claim to know the answer, but I am also not responsible for making schooling policies. I am only asking that is the best we can do for our children?

There is a pressing need for every senior to tell his/his junior team member that it takes time. Talk to them in a way that is not intimidating. Don’t force conversation on day one just for the heck of it and then ghost them for days. Don’t use your seniority and creative genius as an excuse for infantile behaviour. Don’t leave them on ‘read’. I know you got work but tell them that you will get back later. Add this ‘ :) ‘ smiley. It helps.

Tell them that they’ve just begun. It will be a while before they actually become a professional. Shield them from the big waves while they learn how to deal with the ocean.

They also need to know that it is not their fault. They are completely fine. It’s the schooling system that dealt them a bad hand. It trained them for something that does not exist in the real world. They were taught to be competitive because it is easily quantifiable. How do you measure coordination?

There’s a need to educate children on how to work with others. How different people have different ways of thinking and how listening is an important part of a conversation. There’s a need to teach children that their grades are secondary. The goal is to take a weaker student over the passing line even if it means that you score lower marks. To ensure that their friend never has to think twice before calling them up.

The fabric of society is made of thin threads that connect people.

It is good that children are taught to give money to the poor and help the needy but they should also be taught about asking for help because someday, and like everyone, they will hit rock bottom.

Again, I don’t know the solution. I am just a pessimist looking at a big invisible problem.