Expectations That Change with the Times

Christine Koh, author of the Boston Globe article, “Parents can care about education and still be OK writing this school year off” took the words right out of my mouth.

Last summer, when it became clear that even if school opened, it would be far from normal, I began to wish for something completely unattainable. You see, 2020-2021 marks Caroline’s senior year and Katherine’s freshman year in high school. These are big years. Like really, really big years. I decided that it would be great if there simply was no school this year. For anyone. Like the entire educational system could just hit pause. By doing this, in the fall of 2021, Caroline would enter her senior year and Katherine would get to be a freshman in a (fingers crossed) post-pandemic world. Sadly, there is a global economy and all that comes with it, so this wish of mine is completely unrealistic but this is what I wanted.

What I am sad about this year has nothing to do with any kind of academic slide. I completely agree with Koh who writes, “My empathy and appreciation for educators and administrators has soared to new heights, while my expectations about academic achievement have completely bottomed out.” Like Koh, I find it pretty crazy that in the world of education, we are trying to carry on as if everything is ‘normal.’ We are holding kids to grade appropriate benchmarks in the middle of a pandemic. We are pushing for the same level of academic achievement we pushed for when the term ‘face masks’ referred to cream we used to get rid of wrinkles instead of cloth we use now to block a deadly virus. Needless to say, times have changed. Shouldn’t our expectations change with them?

I wished for a complete pause so that the girls could have the experiences that exist outside of the classroom- the once in a life time opportunities like a fall semester filled with meeting new friends from the other middle school or a senior year soccer banquet. You can learn Algebra I or Language and Composition any time. It’s the experiences that are tied to your freshman and senior years that are so dependent on the calendar.

While I know that, sadly, we did not hit pause this year, I do hope that academically, as a society, we can take a deep breath. When the school doors open fully, be it this spring or next fall (knock wood), I hope that our kids are given time to process this past year. To benefit from the inevitable personal growth that has happened. To test out their undeniable resilience. And to do all of this in an environment that acknowledges that the greatest learning this year did not come from a text book.