Our future is unpredictable, but studying trends helps to illuminate us as to what could happen from here on in. Using trends to inform our ideas about the future of education aides educational decision making (OECD, 2016).
Family Matters - Some Key Trends Affecting Families/Whānau
Trend/Issue One:
The predominant family model of the 20th century, for example, the father who goes to work and brings home the bacon, the stay at home mother who looks after their children, has changed. Over the past 50 or so years, the number of reconstituted families, single parent households has increased. Families are becoming smaller, people are choosing to have offspring later in life, or choosing to not have any children at all. Divorce rates are on the rise, the number of couples getting married is on the decline, or couples are choosing to get married a lot later in life. Same sex marriages are increasingly becoming legal and more common in a range of countries globally.
Implications: As a teacher, I need to be aware that one individual child could be with dad and step-mum one week, then mum and step-dad the following week, and then with the grandparents during the holidays. Multiple notices and messages need to reach all parties. Be flexible when it comes to parent/interviews or three way conferences. One individual child may require two separate interview times as their parents may not be on speaking terms. At school, encourage open discussion with regards to the diversity of family structures to help students be accepting and more tolerant of each other, and also to help shape positive attitudes about different family structures. Keep the lines of communication open with whānau and give them a voice about their child's education. Use Class Dojo to send a quick note instantly to whānau about something awesome the student did at school.
Trend/Issue Two:
With regards to personal health within families, in general the trends show that people are healthier and live longer as improved medicine are more readily available. People are more aware of the disastrous health effects of fast food, sugar, processed foods, smoking on the body, and are also are more aware of the health benefits of healthy eating, and regular exercise. Despite this, child obesity has been on the rise over the last decade, as well as cyber-risks (cyber-bulling, stranger danger), and reports of high stress levels in children are also on the rise.
Implications: What are you doing today that promotes hauora within your students? Students need ongoing education about healthy life-styles. Not just learning about how to be physically healthy, but also how to look after our mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. Talk to the students about what's going on in their lives. Take an interest in what they have been up to. Listen to their stories. Check in with them when you can. Students learn better from teachers who like them and understand them and who are genuinely interested in their lives.
To address high stress levels in children, lessen the amount of homework or perhaps, ban homework altogether! Or change the homework where the tasks are more about lifestyle, such as planning and cooking a three course meal for the whānau, taking up a new hobby, or learning a new skill then teaching it to someone else.
Integrate digital-citizenship into the daily/weekly teaching programme. Just because children are 'savvy' with digital technology, don't always assume they know how to use it responsively and appropriately. Encourage open discussion about cyber bullying in the classroom. Collectively establish clear guidelines around the use of social media. I am currently using an online platform called Edmodo with my literacy group where my students are connected to other students in various NZ schools. The students have responded it to it well and are excited to be using it, but we do need to re-visit our guidelines every so often and I also need to be present during online discussions. With regards to cyber-bullying, a lot of this happens outside school time, so make use of the local police to come and talk to the students about the importance of being safe online.
References
OECD. (2016). Trends Shaping Education 2016. OECD Publishing:Paris. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/trends_edu-2016-en
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