This is the six and final post in our series Teachers, Students Or Parents – Who Should Be Blame? (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5)

By now that you have understood the basic role of parents, teachers and students in education as well as who the stakeholders of education are, who do you think should be blame now for the poor performance of students in school?

Ask teachers and you will likely be told lot of reasons why parents should be the ones to be blame.

Similarly when you ask parents this same question too, you will no doubt get lots of suggestions why teachers must take this blame and the same goes for students as well.
Let us look into few of these reasons and see how it assessment can help us in finding solution to this important question.

Blaming The Parent

If we look at the impact any one teacher has on a student’s first 18 years of life, it comes out to roughly 0.5% which is a fraction of a single percentage point.

Thus, if students first eighteen years of life were condensed into a 24-hour day, their entire school experience would last fewer than 4 hours.

They would be under the influence of the home and family for the other 20.

The teacher’s part in reality would certainly last about a minute and a half.

This does not excuse teachers from failure, but it ought to put their role in a student’s life into a good perspective.

It also helps explain why, in spite of all of the time, money, and energy invested into our educational system, we have not yet been able to accomplish the widespread goals we have sought.

Sadly, there are still so many parents who do not take their roles in their children’s education seriously enough.

And the odds of overcoming apathetic, absentee, immature, or careless parenting are heavily stacked against both children and teachers alike.

When parents take a positive and active role in their children’s education, it becomes difficult for even poor teaching to derail learning.

Nevertheless, embracing the importance of parenting is critical to improving education.

If we accept it and work to discover a real solution for it, we will unlock an opportunity to make a difference that will pass the test of time.

On the other hand, if we insist on pretending that a student’s home life has little or no impact on his education, we will find ourselves entangled in an ultimately unwinnable game.

Teachers used to become troubled when educational leaders renowned holding them solely accountable for student achievement.

They just shake their heads and grin because blaming a teacher when a student from an unsupportive home fall short is like blaming the flight attendants when the plane crashes. 

Most parents don’t want to take the blame because they don’t want to admit their child isn’t perfect and to a certain extent because they feel guilty and thinks it reflects poorly on them if their child is at fault.

The other reason why most parents blame teachers is simply because their aim is just to distance themselves from their responsibilities and their obligations towards their kids.

Educators have explained that today children are coming to school with poor skills in speaking and listening.

They urge the school to do more to improve pupils’ oral skills, but do not question why it is that pupils are starting school not able to converse and to listen effectively.

Just what is happening in the homes of these children? Why are they coming to school developmentally delayed?

Kids learn how to take turns in a conversation, how to ask questions, how to react to what others say, how to follow instructions, how to tell jokes through doing all these things.

They will not learn how to behave as social beings when they are stuck in front of the TV for hours every day.

They need their parents to exhibit an interest in them and to be around them, helping them to play with their peers and to learn the rules of social behaviour.

Too many kids start school without the social and verbal skills to have the ability to take part in lessons and to behave well.

Too many are starting school struggling to hold a knife and fork, unused to eating at a table, not able to use the lavatory properly.

These children are not living in absolute poverty. The majority will be residing in homes with televisions, computers and PlayStations.

What too many of them do not have are grown-ups who are prepared to give their time and energy doing that challenging, but most essential of jobs: raising their children properly.

Schools do not exist in a vacuum. If they are to succeed, then more parents have got to put more effort into their parenting and into creating the conditions whereby their children come to school ready and prepared to learn. 

Blaming The Teacher

If you are a teacher, then sit back and listen to what parents have got to tell you:

Teachers are sure to be blame. It is their job. Most parents today are not educated enough to the level that their kids are now being taught in school but with good instructors around, these kids are able to learn and succeed in their studies.

Teachers now blame the whole thing on parents. Children are not held accountable and neither are they.

There is a hard enough expectation to work to keep ends meet.

If you are a single parent, After picking your son from after school club and getting home at 7pm, there is absolutely no way you will tell him to go do math after a whole day of school.

Where does the learning end and childhood starts, it’s just like employers telling you to take your work home without additional pay.

An expectation for a six yr old to read and do math 7 days a week is ridiculous and unthinkable.

Do you sit and catch up with him before his sleep time or do you force more school work that he should have done in school? Exactly how do you teach him moderation?

This is why we have a generation that is constantly working, because we do not know when to shut down and relax.

Also to mention is the fact that the materials supplied is never satisfactory. 

What a parent learnt in school is not what his child is doing.

Sometimes you teach your son or daughter his sums the way you know best and the teacher at school will mark him wrong because your way of teaching could not fit around the school curriculum which means he has to do it all over again using their complicated way.

They’ll tell you to stick to his level and not teach him ahead. Can you imagine?

Isn’t that extremely off putting and limiting?

Take a child who is in nursery and taking his sweet time to talk for example.

A teacher can call you in and ask you to speak only one language at home which is English because they have problems understanding the child’s blended sentences in school.

This is particularly ridiculous because it limit the child’s knowledge for the benefit of making life easy for the teacher in school.

If teachers won’t let you teach your way then they should be able to fully do it their way and not add extra expectations on what is already a hard time.
 

Today in many homes, you’ll find children, that are reluctant to go to school each morning.

These types of students usually wake up with several stories and reasons not to go to school. Some perhaps feign illness all simply because they don’t enjoy school.

Who is to be blame? The teacher of course!

In choosing a career in teaching, we ought to take a look at ourselves to know whether we are cut for it.

Our teachers have an essential role to play in developing our kids.

When things not work out with the social, moral and psychological development of a child, parents primarily blame the school, indirectly, it is the teacher!

In considering the growth of a nation, education is paramount and so, once again, the teacher becomes the focal point.

What Is Your Take?

Schools cannot correct all the wrongs of our society and teachers cannot become substitute parents.

Both parties need to work together therefore parents must be helped and be given assurance to take back control.

They are in charge of setting boundaries for their children’s behaviour and adhering to those boundaries when the going gets tough.

They are responsible for setting a good example to their children and for devoting that most precious of resources – time – to ensure that children feel known and valued as individuals and as part of the family.

Teachers on the other hand must also see their profession as a calling that demands a great deal of patience, love and care.

A teacher should impart knowledge and a teacher should be inspiring.
Our various spiritual leaders are worthy testimonies to this fact. Teaching is a noble profession and hence, teachers should be noble in their dealings too.

Students must also be taught to take responsibility for their own studies.

They must be made to understand that no matter how good or bad a teacher is, no matter how good or bad a parent is, majority of the work depends on them.

An independent learner does not wait to be provided with all materials needed before he goes to study,

He goes to work researching and finding his/her own materials without waiting for help from a teacher or a parent.

When kids are taught to be independent, things naturally falls into place and playing the blame game becomes unimportant.

Conclusion

The role of schools is to educate younger generation, so that when they go out into the society they can become productive.

They can be functional members of society who can work, who can educate others, who can become role models.

But is that really the case? Of course not.

Have you ever wondered why the government, family, church or religious bodies and the business-industry all have an interest in the development of kids?

Because their future depends on it.

Imagine how these industries would be when there are no responsible, discipline and educated persons to fill up important positions?

When our older folks are gone and there is no one to pick up from where they’ve left, how will it look like?

That should tell you how the education of kids is important.

So now who do you think should be blamed, parents, teachers or students?

Or better still let me rephrase the question.

As you give your answer to this question, take it that you are teacher, parent or even a student.

What can you do on your own to make the education of younger ones better?