As Parents Get Angry, Here’s A Simple Way To Fix Schools Post-Covid

George Costanza, the beloved Seinfeld character, hated the concept of work. His modus operandi was to look annoyed so that people believed he was busy and people would leave him alone. In the final coup de grace he built a bed under his desk at the office so that he could sleep on the job.

The Costanza character parallels generations of undirected school students who have never had the opportunity to learn how to follow their passion toward a career goal.

Because Covid upended the 150 year-old education system, many kids had the opportunity to realize that there are different methods of learning and that the traditional method does not fit their needs or their desires.

In Fairfax County, Virginia this year, 10,000 students did not return to schools that were in a district typically considered among the best in the country. The shift is owing not only to Covid’s impact on families and kids themselves, but also to the fact that those families saw what they were getting was not what their kids wanted anymore.

What a year of online and blended learning in charter, private and district schools taught us was that we have underestimated the power of how kids could take control of their own education.

Before 2020, students were still beholden to the archaic education system made and in place before cars and movies were ubiquitous and cell phones and computers even existed. Imagine any other industry not having to adapt to people’s needs.

Given a rare chance to learn virtually from amazing blended learning and online programs, parents throughout the country found that by providing new learning environments their students were more excited and they, as well other parents, were more engaged. In Boston, a city councilor helped create a learning pod for her 5th grade daughter and others in hopes of challenging the traditional Boston Public Schools to do better. Meeting at a community center and working with parents was something that Julia Mejia found rewarding. “We’ve never had an opportunity to do something for ourselves. It’s empowering.”

Learning to work independently and pursue a passion is what motivates students that typically fall through the cracks.

Jemar Lee from Cedar Rapids, Iowa knows this story all too well. Having failed repeatedly, gotten into legal trouble, and about to be kicked out of school, he was given some sage advice from a school official who directed him to a small, personalized learning High School called Iowa BIG that would help turn him around.

“My whole education career I wanted something where I could have ownership, something where I didn’t have to sit in a classroom and be lectured and have my capabilities be based on standardized tests…” said Lee.

He would go on to thrive and succeed in a new project-based program that put his math, reading comprehension, history and science skills to the test in service of helping to create a new housing grid for the city.

His example is illustrative. Learning should turn on a light bulb, instead of shutting down passion. By learning what he could do well, and what he wanted to do, he is excited about work.

Think about the many young professionals whose lives changed when they could not return to their offices and many who are still not eager to return to work. Some 4.3 million quit their job in August (about 2.9% of the workforce) – and over 5 million of the unemployed have simply stopped looking for another.

Covid shined a light on how uninspired adults felt about work. Could the two be related? Are young adults desensitized? Sitting in boring antiquated classrooms for 12 years that did not care about individual needs, it became the accepted norm to sit in uninspiring offices and places of work.

The U.S. education system has never had to pivot to fit the needs of children or the economic opportunities the changing workplace had to offer. The break and change from Covid exposed this fact.

And yet both anecdotal evidence and recent research is clear that students are set up for success when their experience is personalized and they are given the freedom to problem-solve, use their creativity and pursue their passion.

The experts at KnowledgeWorks put it this way: “What would happen if we empower all educators to engage each student’s unique learning style and personal strengths while ensuring high expectations for academic growth? 

“We could spark a generation of confident and skilled learners ready to contribute to their communities and to the workforce.”

George Constanza was the sitcom example of a man who was never inspired to do what he loved to do. And when people like George become a cog in the wheel of uniform education, they lose any sense of excitement school can produce. Let’s create the opportunity to help more Jemar Lees who are illuminated by their education and find their calling and voice.