Today’s teaching methods are different from those in the past. Aside from using a lot of technology, teachers have now also changed their techniques in carrying out lessons. They no longer just stood and talked, while their students sat quietly and listened. Instead, they created a more interactive environment, where students and teachers could trade ideas.
Many parents and even educators themselves argue that traditional teaching methods are still the best. But if you consider that most adults today are unhappy or unsure of their skills, you’ll realize that it was because of their education. The system back then focused too much on academics, leaving little room for humanities and creative endeavors. As such, many adults are stuck in jobs they hate, or barely make money in the careers they actually love.
So if you want today’s kids to grow up without experiencing those struggles, you have to modernize your way of teaching too. Don’t assume that the modern educational system makes children lazy and entitled; that’s a very backward way of thinking. Embrace adaptation, because it corrects the mistakes of the ineffective teaching methods of the past.
Besides, adopting the new doesn’t mean throwing away traditions altogether. You can still teach traditional moral values without subjecting kids to old punishments and treatments. Here’s how to do just that and succeed:
Teaching Respect
Kids shouldn’t only respect their elders. They should also respect everyone else, regardless of their age and standing in society. As a respectful person, a child can recognize boundaries, avoid an entitled attitude, and reconcile their differences with others.
But many educators get one thing wrong about respect: They tend to establish themselves as superior to their students. While you’re indeed a student’s figure of authority, students shouldn’t feel small around you. Instead, they should feel safe to ask questions, share ideas, or even express disagreements to you. In the past, teachers educated solely from their point of view. They didn’t consider anything thought by a student acceptable. But that must change now. To earn your students’ utmost respect, you should also respect them by listening to their ideas, theories, educated guesses, and questions.
Teaching Love for Learning
It’s normal for kids not to consider studying their favorite activity. We were once like that too, and as adults, many of us won’t say that working is our favorite activity either. But we have to love learning at least.
When kids develop a love for learning, they’ll appreciate their education more, and be inspired to take their studies seriously. However, you can’t make them love learning if you’re forcing them to do what they don’t like. For example, if your kid would rather take private music lessons, but you keep insisting that they should study mathematics instead, don’t be surprised if they lose all energy to study. Kids can also develop a passion, which needs your support to be fueled. So don’t disregard their interests. Let them engage in it. As a result, you’ll watch them grow with an enthusiasm for learning anything.
Teaching Tolerance
Tolerance is the skill to respect other people who make different choices than yours, such as a religion, for example. The sooner children get exposed to people of various religious beliefs and cultures, the stronger their tolerance will become.
Creating flexible learning environments is a great way to instill tolerance in students. A classroom shouldn’t accommodate only a single religion, culture, or race. Instead, it should provide equal learning opportunities for all. Muslims, people of color, and other marginalized groups shouldn’t feel excluded in lessons. This way, students will develop open-mindedness and a wider awareness of the world outside of their bubble.
Teaching Adjustment
All children must learn that they can’t have everything their way. Many adults complain that kids nowadays are spoiled and entitled, blaming technology for it. But it’s not technology’s fault per se. Rather, it’s a result of an incorrect way of disciplining kids.
For example, if a kid whines because they can’t find a tablet to play with, the proper way of dealing with them isn’t to give in to their whining. Instead, you should teach them to adjust and make compromises. They can have their tablet back, but only if they finish their homework and pack up their things. In a way, their tablet becomes a reward. This method may be old-fashioned, but it still teaches adjustment effectively.
Traditional moral values aren’t dying. They’ll only die if we stop teaching them. So, destroy the idea that all of today’s kids are entitled and spoiled. Bad kids are just products of bad parenting and education. But if you lead them by example and treat them as equals, they’ll develop solid moral values that no amount of modernity can break.
