The Flat Tire

Do your students resemble a flat tire?

There are many reasons why a car gets a flat tire.  Glass in the road, potholes or debris such as nails all play a role. 

While it is important to figure out what caused a flat tire, it is even more important to actually do something to fix it.  

Perhaps no other road is littered with more flat tires than the U.S. education system.  The K-12 and post-secondary roads are filled with students who have had their air deflated. 

Regardless of location, type of school or grade level, today’s challenging global economy continues to place new obstacles in the way of students.   These obstacles are like glass in the road and have caused schools so much stress that students feel stuck.  When you talk to them it’s as if they are trying to drive a car with a flat tire. 

When students resemble a flat tire even the smallest amount of forward progress is a challenge.  Negativity ensues.  Teachers, staff, students and the community at large get depressed.  The entire school suffers.  If a school gets too many flat tires it stops moving altogether.  If a generation of students are flat then the country as a whole suffers.  As someone who can influence students you need to increase your level of awareness to identify where the flat tires are and ask yourself what you can do to help fix them. 

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.”  We know that education is a flat tire.  In schools all across the country flat tires line the hallways and classrooms.  Time and again reports, studies and commissions have all identified the causes of flat tires.  Recent results to inflate the tires and get the educational system moving forward have met with little progress.  It is time to think differently and take the bold action necessary to, as Daniel Pink said “prepare students for their future and not our past.” 

If you are a parent, aunt or uncle or grandparent, or a teacher, school administrator, employer or mentor, consider the following questions.  Remember, you are an influence on students, either intentionally or unintentionally, for their improvement or their detriment.

The challenges faced by students today, and the problems in our education system, are overwhelming.  Even if you knew where to start it doesn't seem like you can make a positive difference.  The reality is that you can be the catalyst for change and hope in the lives of some students.

The key is to do something.  Only through taking action can you tackle the problem.  Consider where students can get more energy - from positive assistance, an acknowledgment that they face tough issues and a willingness to show them how to access resources and think through problems or a resignation that all the problems they face are beyond their control?  Aren't all the problems we face beyond our control?  We know that life is a series of challenges that require the ability to think clearly and take decisive action.  Students do not yet understand this.  Equip them with the skills to set and achieve goals and you will have made a positive impact that will help them today and tomorrow.

Learn more about how you can help students using the free resources in the MEAPA toolbox on this website.  Check out the two workbooks available for students at MEAPA's publications.  You can make a positive impact in the life of a student today.