Academic Relevance Is Connected To Dream Relevance

I remember as a child desiring to one day become a pro football player. I loved football with a passion and worked hard in the gym as well as studying the playbook just to make sure I did my job correctly. I also remember thinking that I was a pretty good basketball player as well. Between the two, I was going to play for somebody’s pro team in the future! Well, unfortunately the many dreams I had of scoring the winning touchdown or hitting the winning basket did not come to pass. I was pretty good, but not good enough. There is a happy ending to this nominally sad story. I have a college degree, the first one in my family to do so. I have a career in which I am privileged to help thousands of youth and adults annually. I have authored three books (with two more on the way) and I am happily married with three beautiful children. Ladies and gentleman I am proud to say that the life I am living today is directly connected to the fact that I realized the importance of finishing secondary school and graduating from college to achieving my goal of professional sports. IT WAS THE DREAM THAT MADE MY ACADEMICS RELEVANT! If it were not for the dream, I am not sure if I would have graduated from college for I had no personal examples beside the pro-athletes who did it.

Educational relevance is a by-product of dream relevance. From my perspective, they cannot be mutually exclusive. I worked hard in the classroom because I was confident that I could achieve my dream. My children attended a tutorial program called Kumon that was heavily focused on math. 90% of the kids in the program my children attended were from India or parents were from India. I am sure that with India’s emphasis on math and sciences, Kumon kids have a dream of one day working in a technology field or some other field directly associated with math. Their dream is driving them to take this “Grilling”* related tutorial program on top of their regular course work. While many kids are outside playing after school, Kumon kids are pushing themselves academically.

If we want students to see school as relevant, we must help them capture and develop a dream plan. I have been sharing the same message for close to two decades and I will continue to scream it from the mountaintop until academic and political leaders get it. We will never improve academics with a focus on instructional practices only; we must help kids connect their dreams to the importance of the classroom. Until then, we will continue to see our academic numbers slide in comparison to country’s like India who have helped their kids get a dream. Kumon kids work hard and I am sure it is directly connected to the fact that they have a picture in their minds of where this hard work is taking them. We need for all kids in this nation to make this critical connection if we are truly going to leave no child behind.

Speak Your Mind!  Are kids getting it in school?  From your perspective, how can we help them make this connection?