It is a general consensus that our schools are making our children future ready to get into the collaborative, dynamic and diverse world out there. It is believed that if a child secures good grades and receives some talent certificates, the child is successful. Is it enough for a child to be future ready?
Today I wrote this article as a reflection for a Whatsapp forward video I just watched. (Video is in the link at the end of the article). In this video, one of the corporate people tells that the young generation which is entering the jobs are not socially ready and competent. They come with job skills and not with social skills which are equally important to work in diverse teams as today. He further says, now we have taken this responsibility at our offices to teach the young the required social skills. People who are working will very well acknowledge that when we work with organizations, actually we are working with dissimilar people for a similar goal and vision.
Isn’t the right time for schools to take the responsibility to create an environment for our children at schools to learn these social skills. Social skills could be like, working with people, forgiving, understanding emotions, the way of giving feedback, patience and not being impulsive and many more. The speaker in the video also puts blame on failed parenting, which we can discuss on a different occasion.
Picture reference: https://www.better.org.uk/what-is-a-social-enterprise
A year ago I went to my cousin brother’s school to ask permission for a leave, it was an occasion when we had a marriage in our family. When I spoke with the principal, she asked me whether studies are important or family functions. For a few seconds, I was wordless. I came back to my uncle’s home and told about my conversation which I had with the principal. My uncle asked me is not family bonding and get-together equally important for a child’s healthy development and well-being. I being a counselor thought about it for a while and really felt the need of social development for our children.
And when I watched this video I recollected the conversation I had with the principal. The schools should take responsibility for not only academic but overall wellbeing and development of the child. And school alone cannot give all the life experiences. The child should be given an opportunity to explore people, society, and culture outside the school too. A book called ‘The development of children’ which is co-authored by Michael Cole of the University of California, discusses the importance of social-emotional development for our children. It says, children’s social and emotional lives develop through socialization, through which they acquire the standards, values, and knowledge of their society, people and cultures. Children build their own experience through socialization with people, through which they develop their own patterns of feeling, thinking, and behaving in a wide range of situations.
The good news is countries like the UK and Singapore have already designed a curriculum called SEL- Social and emotional learning. Hope we have realized the value of socialization for our children. Social well-being is when we have good relationships with family, friends, neighbors, and also social stability and peace. It is important for parents and schools to work together for our children’s holistic development.
I am Maaz, Learning Strategist @ Credence Learning Foundation, trying to understand and build system for holistic development of the child. With a special focus on social and emotional development.
Click to
watch the video mentioned in the article:
Annexure:
Singapore SEL:
UK SEL: