In reading “Prisoners of Time,” a report done back in 1994 on education, it confirmed a lot that is very evident – time is of the upmost importance and should not and cannot be wasted. In my own life, I learned early on how important time is in life and education. The expense of being better taught was weighed with the expenses of other needs and wants. In the end, some made it, and some did not. In Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, it expresses that some choose to put forth the time to be great, and their effort is met with circumstances that can potentially transform their lives. We all see this all the time, and so do students and their parents. Why is it that $1 dollar can win you a jackpot while 30 years with a company has changed from being a sure retiree to a person that will have to continue working after these years and may not even receive the gold watch. These thoughts may seem a little weird, but the truth is everybody does not make it, and to those students and parents that see more failure than others, their life and time may be seen differently than myself, you, or even the authors of “Prisoners of Time.”
With
the information contained in “Prisoners of Time,” I believe digestion and
understanding is important to apply its principles to students and
parents. I recall a student telling me
his mom told him he had to get a job to bring in some money for the
family. Instinctively, I thought as a
Senior, a job can wait. But after
talking to the young man’s mom, she had placed in him that getting a job to
support the family was more important than receiving his diploma right
now. With thorough understanding of
“POT,” I was able to be more understanding that it may not have been his time
for education and put away my own convictions.
I am sure many read “POT” and naturally assume education is the key, but
I do not believe it is. Time is the
key. If this young man was told he would
live as long as Methuselah, no one would question his family’s decision to work
right now because he could go to school later, and that is what I think “POT”
was alluding to. What if schools did not
set parameters on time as best as they can in order to accommodate as many
students as possible?
During
this time of pre-celebration for graduation and the end of the natural school
year, many parents are inquiring about “how much time does my student have to
finish the class?” It would enjoyable to
say, “It is truly up to you all.
Education does not have a set time to be complete but to make it in time
for your school graduation, it is important to complete so many assignments
each week so that your paper work goes in on time.” This deals with the accountability mentioned
in “POT.” As we have so clearly learned
as adults, everyone is accountable to someone or for something. But when we think back to our childhood, many
of us enjoyed carefree living and what seemed like endless fun. At what point did we become accountable? What if multiple variables arose? What if at age 5, we were not allowed to be a
child but had some type of adult responsibility? What if all these were reversed, and we were
not allowed to be an adult even at age 18?
My long rambling point is that those parents that hold their children
accountable for the 18 year old things; then the 19 year old things, seem to
have a more natural progression. It does
not mean that everything is easy, but when their child was 5, this parent was
allowing their child to be responsible for 5 year old things. If all was equal, it would seem things would
be easier, but the truth is, the only thing equal is time. What happens inside of that time is what is
different.
As I
continue applying the principle of “POT” to students and parents, I hope to continue reforming not only their minds but
also my own. During conversations with
educators, I remember the thing most stressed was time and dealing with
it. At the time, I did not quite
understand, but after a few months thinking through their comments, I see why
they kept discussing it. Many are
conditioned as Prisoners of Time. We
often do everything at a set time. If we
must be to work at 8am, we must wake at 6am every day. Eat breakfast at 7am and leave the house by
7:15am. While at work, we must eat lunch
at 12pm and be back on duty at 1pm. The
day is not over until 5pm. When we get
back home, everything is scheduled. Then
we do it all again until the weekend.
This conditioning is tough to break.
This has nothing to do with whether we enjoy or don’t enjoy what is
being done within the day but that we are time driven. The more we remain within this conditioning,
the tougher it is to break unless we dislike something more than the
conditioning. In listening to others
around me and within education, it was easy to pick out those who were
conditioned and those that were not. As
people shared and stated things like I was a stay at home parent or I ran my
own business, their comments on time made more sense; myself included. I have definitely had a mind shift that
students and parents should be able to be educated from 3pm to 8pm, and work should
be allowed to flow 24/7. Ironically, in
freeing the students from the imprisonment of time, educators will have to make
a huge commitment in the dynamic of responsibility mentioned in “POT.” This commitment is why I admire great teachers,
and through the support of families, I know we can begin to make time work for
us as we help the youth of tomorrow toward success.
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