It is back-to-school time which means I have a bunch of new tutoring students. I’m spending lots of time explaining to parents what I do, how I work, what I believe about learning and child development, and what I strive to accomplish with my students.

I’m usually hired because a student is struggling with some school subject (most often, math), and so the surface goal is to help them improve in that area. But my overarching goal is to guide and support each student toward becoming a more confident, effective, autonomous learner, to understand and deal with his or her own learning strengths and quirks. I want my students to grow up to be good thinkers,  confident and successful adults, active and sensible members of society.

One thing that happens too often is that schools and parents shelter kids from consequences. This is mostly well-meaning; we believe that kids aren’t ready to face tough realities. We often keep kids in the dark about their own learning issues (most of the IEP meetings I’ve ever attended, in which plans are made to adjust a child’s schoolwork due to some diagnosed learning disability, consist of parents, teachers and professionals, but do not include the child). We worry that kids aren’t mature enough to handle discussions about their learning challenges, that they might be frightened or upset by having their issues put on the table.

I think we often don’t give kids enough credit or respect. Kids don’t need to be told that they are having learning problems; they compare themselves to their classmates, struggle with assignments, do poorly on tests. Of course they know something is wrong! It can be terrifying for kids to be left in the dark about their learning issues. And, it serves to distance them from the whole educational project. School becomes something adults do to them, something they must endure and try to ignore, not something important that really matters in their lives.

I see the same sort of dynamic in our political system. Politicians, who want to be re-elected, shelter the public from hard truths and difficult choices. As a result, the public becomes detached from the realities we need to face, and government becomes something done to us, not something we own a stake in.

I loved this TIME essay by Joe Klein, in which he describes a system called a kleroterion, which originated in ancient Athens and is currently in use in certain parts of China. Groups of citizens take turns grappling with real, complex problems and making actual governmental decisions.

Is the American public smart enough to actually understand real issues and make tough, responsible choices?

photo of Parliament, London

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    Last reviewed: 31 Jul 2011