"A student-centred world"

 In recent years (secondary) education has become more and more about meeting the individual needs of every student. Everyone who is anyone seems to believe that what we, as schools, need is a bigger focus on the autonomy of the learners. They need to become more independent, they need to be able to choose what and how they want to learn and these needs are supposed to be the centre of a school's universe. 

But, how realistic is this? You see, I am a firm believer of the fact that students should be allowed choice and that we should teach them to be independent. But can we truly expect an eleven year old to make well informed choices about their own education? If we give them a choice between English or pimping sneakers or debate club, can we really assume that their initial choice is the one they will be most happy with? Isn't it insane to offer students choice after choice after choice while we, as adults, often sigh and groan about the huge amount of responsibilities we have, responsibilities that go hand in hand with the choices we have to make? Are we, by giving our kids so many choices and putting their needs front and centre, truly enabling them to become more independent learners? Or are we taking away one of the most beautiful things of growing up? The beauty of not knowing, of shrugging your shoulders and saying 'I don't care', of blindly following the instructions of a teacher because to be honest you don't really give a damn about school anyway. Aren't we asking and expecting too much of our children? In our drive to make them more-well rounded people and to make them feel as valued as adults.. are we not making their lives a lot more stressfull than they need to be? 

And what about the teachers? Do our needs and wants not matter? Do we even play a role in this student-centred world? Does our expertise even matter? As our actual teaching hours are reduced year after year in favor of 'fun and engaging' projects or new types of educational concepts while the demands of the curriculum remain the same, are we not setting our teachers up to fail? Between overly critical parents, overly demanding management and unreal expectations from our ministry of education, what is there left for teachers to do? Do we give up and follow along meekly despite our firm belief that all these new educational systems will never work? Or do we rebel and take a stand? 

The questions above are things I struggle with on a daily basis and I will be the first to admit that I don't have an answer to them. What I do know is that with all of this talk about giving students more choice, more freedom and more say, everyone has, ironically enough, forgotten to ask the students what it is that they really want. And I'm not talking about researches done amongst students who voluntarily filled in a survey, or informal talks with students who in their spare time are a part of debate club, drama club and the student council. No, I am talking about the hundred plus students that I teach every week. Nobody has asked them what it is that they want...  Luckily, the teachers haven been asked, but unfortunately nobody seems to be listening to their protests, worries or opinions. So, who then exactly is deciding what is happening in our schools? If it's not the teachers nor the students coming up with these bright new ideas nor are they influencing them in any way, who then has decided that this is the new way forward? And what qualifies these mysterious people to make these choices? Because surely educational decisions should be made by the people it concerns, namely the teachers that teach or the students that learn. Especially if we value the latter's freedom of choice and personal responsibility. Kind of interesting then that teachers and students rarely seem to factor into these decisions. I wonder why that is?