Most students went a year and a half of the pandemic without regular interaction with large numbers of their peers. Their social skills atrophied or, at the very least, stagnated. And they were thrust back into learning environments full of rules. Add to that the trauma of the pandemic itself — the fear and anxiety, the closeness to illness and death, and the financial strain on families caused by a disrupted economy and society. Consequently, we find that symptoms of depression and anxiety have doubled during the pandemic, with 25% of youth experiencing depressive symptoms and 20% experiencing anxiety symptoms. There also appear to be increases in reactive emotions or behaviours such as impulsivity and irritability — associated with conditions like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
In today's world, schools face the challenge of staying relevant and meaningful. They need to address issues like emotional resilience, fairness, equality, and using innovation to make education more connected to future job skills and value creation. When schools struggle to adapt to modern demands, it can lead to common behavioural issues in children like impulsiveness, anxiety, defiance, procrastination, conduct problems, lying, aggression, and difficulty focusing.
These behaviours often appear at certain times (like bedtime or school), during specific tasks (like homework or chores), in certain environments (like structured classes), or around certain people (like authority figures or household staff). Identifying behavioural issues and choosing the right therapies depend on factors like the child's age, development, and how severe the symptoms are. Most behaviour change requires multiple strategies that everyone involved in the child's life agrees on.
Addressing behavioural issues involves identifying the problem, understanding the context in which it happens, tackling the root cause, and finally giving the child a broader perspective and healthy ways to cope. This process begins with helping the child reflect the wrong behaviour, empowering the respondents to rationalise the action, and chart out clear consequences. While professionals can provide Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to address chronic, long-standing or severe cases, the basic steps involved in CBT can be effectively leveraged even for self-counselling. These include five primary steps:
Making a list of problematic behaviours;
Recording unproductive thoughts;
Creating replacement thoughts;
Reading your list often; and
Noticing and replacing emotionally disruptive behaviour patterns through mindfulness.
Adults entrusted with the care of impressionable children are also advised to observe and reward positive behaviour as a reinforcement strategy, since a lot of behavioural issues stem from undue focus on negative actions. In general, it has been shown that people of all ages greatly benefit from having a routine that helps them intentionally and diligently work toward reaching their full potential, which the American psychologist Abraham Maslow identified as one of the highest levels of achievement.
Students must develop not just intelligence and emotional quotients but also the adversity quotient, which is the ability with which one can handle adversity. How well they navigate the challenges of life, both now and in the future, will probably shape the course of their lives. They must be oriented towards imbibing a sense of equilibrium and constancy in order to ensure quality of life. To achieve this, a happiness curriculum focusing on mental health is crucial. It helps students create value in their lives and navigate the emotional challenges of a rapidly changing, volatile world. Heritage education provides a strong sense of identity that strengthens character building. Knowledge of our traditions offers stability and pride, and the strength of our country’s ancient systems and the contributions of our ancestors build confidence in our place in the world. This kind of support is a necessary part of what schools should offer.
Value and life skills education must be made a mandatory part of the school ethos. A life management system for students, which encompasses critical thinking and problem solving in addition to empathy, compassion and altruism is the need of the hour. Students must be taught to accept differences and celebrate uniqueness. Schools must accommodate students who are economically disadvantaged, physically challenged, or have different intellectual needs, including those with non-academic talents, as Howard Gardner's theory suggests.
In addition to this, to create an emotionally healthy environment in school, the goals of individual students should be recognised and supported. Schools should value not just achievements but also efforts, with progress reports reflecting both academic and extracurricular successes. This can be achieved through art, sports, and technology-based education, which cater to different strengths and learning styles, along with vocational options supported by NEP 2020. All children should receive basic literacy, numeracy, and life skills to navigate life with confidence and dignity. Inclusive education, with the principle of “No child left behind,” is crucial to achieving this.
Schools should also focus on facilitating philanthropy through CSR activities in the community, which empower students to assume socio-civic responsibility and collaborative action with tangible outcomes. School CSR projects can be a strategic instrument for creating awareness and avenues for equity and equality as well as social stewardship and leadership. Leadership and self-reflective learning are crucial ingredients of a student’s transaction with his or her changing environment.
In the continued pursuit of our objectives, it is imperative that education fosters a significant and constructive partnership between the home and the school, the two primary learning spheres of a child, especially in the early stages of development, which is crucial for the building of a strong foundation and subsequent reinforcement of the learning outcomes. This is why teachers must ensure constant communication with the students’ parents or primary caregivers, which will also enhance the dimension of socio-emotional learning, a crucial component in learners’ holistic development.
While it's important to continuously emphasise the value of hard work, it's even more crucial to encourage doing your best and learning from failures. Children must be taught the merits of delayed gratification, introspection, perseverance and commitment. We must create learning spaces that provide students with practical, real-world experiences to supplement their theoretical knowledge; cultivate problem-solving skills by tackling real challenges in diverse environments; foster collaboration and effective communication through group projects and activities; encourage students to analyse situations, make informed decisions, and think critically; bridge the gap between theory and practice, enabling students to apply their learning in meaningful ways, and promote self-confidence, adaptability, and a deeper understanding of their chosen field. Let’s remember John Buchanan’s advice to leverage school education to harness and call forth the greatness that resides within each of us.
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