Latest / Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families / #1206 - Rethinking School: Why Alternative Education Might Be the Best Choice for Your Child

Transcript

#1206 - Rethinking School: Why Alternative Education Might Be the Best Choice for Your Child · Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Good grades. I'm going to say optional formal training. Being
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: certified definitely helps. Today a conversation that has inspired well,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: we've been inspired by one of our kids based on
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  Speaker 1: some educational decisions that we've made that honestly have been
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  Speaker 1: really hard but seem to be bearing fruit. I'll do
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: better tomorrow. Welcome to the Happy Families Podcast for another Friday,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Real Parenting Solutions every day on Australia's most downloaded parenting podcast,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: we are Justin and Kylie Coulson. Every Friday, we unpack
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: the week that was. We look at what's working and
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: what's not working in our parenting in the hope that
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  Speaker 1: it's going to help you in your parenting to be
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  Speaker 1: more intentional, to get things more right, to help the
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: family to function better. Today, it's all about education, because Kylie,
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  Speaker 1: you're going to kick it off with a win.
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  Speaker 2: Having been in the homeschooling system now for a couple
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: of years, I've been intrigued and blown away with the
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: kinds of conversations that I'm having with parents, more so
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: who are still in traditional schooling systems and feeling really disillusioned.
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  Speaker 2: One of the biggest challenges that students are having outside
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  Speaker 2: of bullying, and I guess the emotional challenges is the
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  Speaker 2: fact that they feel like school is just this rudimentary
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  Speaker 2: list of things that they have to tick off, but
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  Speaker 2: none of it makes sense to them because they are
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  Speaker 2: looking at it going when am I ever going to
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  Speaker 2: use this in the real world, How is this ever
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: going to be beneficial to me as a beautician or
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  Speaker 2: as a pilot, or they just can't see the life value.
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  Speaker 1: I had a conversation with a school principal just in
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  Speaker 1: the last few days who literally said, our school system
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  Speaker 1: is completely outdated, completely outdated, and it is not fit
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  Speaker 1: her purpose. His words, not mine, but certainly our experience
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  Speaker 1: with homeschooling it's just been revolutionary. I love that we homeschool.
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  Speaker 1: It's really hard. It changes your life completely, but I'm
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  Speaker 1: so glad that we are doing it. But that's not
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  Speaker 1: really what today's I'll Do Better Tomorrow is about. This
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  Speaker 1: is not an advertisement for homeschool and it's not.
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  Speaker 2: An advertisement for alternative schooling either, but our experience has
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  Speaker 2: been a really positive one. A few months ago, I
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  Speaker 2: was in the car driving behind a bus that was
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  Speaker 2: advertising Industry School. I had no idea what industry school was,
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  Speaker 2: but I thought, you know what, I need to look
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  Speaker 2: this up, because Lily had at that point decided that
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  Speaker 2: she really wanted some kind of formalized schooling, but we
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  Speaker 2: knew that we didn't want to send her back into
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  Speaker 2: traditional school system.
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  Speaker 1: Lily's our fifth daughter. She was in grade nine last year,
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  Speaker 1: going into grade ten this year.
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  Speaker 2: So when I looked up what industry school was, I
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  Speaker 2: kind of had an idea that we were looking at
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: trade school, and I was very nervous about what that meant.
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  Speaker 2: But as I looked more into it, I was blown
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  Speaker 2: away at the exposure that the kids got to different
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  Speaker 2: kinds of industry based learning that would not fall under
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: your traditional plumbers, builders, mechanics, maybe it engineering, that kind
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  Speaker 2: of stuff. But what I loved even more was the
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  Speaker 2: acknowledgment that their year twelve certificate was their highest priority.
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  Speaker 2: I think previously to this kind of format, trade school
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  Speaker 2: has always been about you finish your ten at high school,
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  Speaker 2: then you go off to trade school year eleven and
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  Speaker 2: twelve and you get yourself an apprenticeship or traineeship, and
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  Speaker 2: it's really about learning on the job. But any formalized
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: education is lost, it no longer exists. So what I
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  Speaker 2: loved was the mix of these two ideas of acknowledging
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  Speaker 2: that for some kids, traditional schooling just doesn't work. They
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: love hands on approach, but it shouldn't come at the
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: expense of an education that not only is worthy, but
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: pertinent to their life experience. So we decided to give
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  Speaker 2: it a go. We had a look at all of
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  Speaker 2: the different options. So you could do hairdressing, you could
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  Speaker 2: do beautician work, you could work with horses, which was
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  Speaker 2: a huge plus for our year ten daughter, and there
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  Speaker 2: was just so much opportunity there. So we went along.
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  Speaker 2: We had an interview with the principal and I just, oh,
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  Speaker 2: my goodness, I wish. I wish that every school student
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  Speaker 2: could have access to the format and the ethos that
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  Speaker 2: this school is offering our child. What I love is
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  Speaker 2: we have five weeks of education block each term. We
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  Speaker 2: have five weeks of industry block each term. What does
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  Speaker 2: industry block look like? When we first signed up, I
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  Speaker 2: didn't really understand a lot, and I thought that what
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  Speaker 2: was going to happen was five weeks of every term.
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  Speaker 2: Lily was going to get to spend time with horses.
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  Speaker 2: That's what I thought. She was also going to get
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  Speaker 2: signed up to do a traineeship, and she was going
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  Speaker 2: to start getting paid to do that while she was
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  Speaker 2: at school. That's what I thought was going to happen.
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  Speaker 2: But essentially, what I discovered over the last few weeks
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  Speaker 2: of term is the acknowledgment that while she is part
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  Speaker 2: of Industry Block, these next two years, year ten and
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  Speaker 2: eleven are all about exposure to different kinds of trades
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  Speaker 2: and industry options. Up until now, Lily's had a very
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  Speaker 2: narrow concept of what it is she wants to do,
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  Speaker 2: and she is adamant that she knows what she doesn't
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  Speaker 2: want to do. But what Industry School has done is
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  Speaker 2: exposed her to lots of different options. And the conversations
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  Speaker 2: we are now having are, Hey, Mom, I wonder what
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  Speaker 2: it would look like to work in aviation. Where the
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  Speaker 2: heck did that come from? Another day, I'm thinking about
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  Speaker 2: doing some work experience at the local police station. Do
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  Speaker 2: you think they'll let me. Here's a kid who for
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: the last few years has been adamant she wants to
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  Speaker 2: be a beautician. She loves all things beauty here and makeup,
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  Speaker 2: and we've been really happy to encourage her to go
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  Speaker 2: down that road. But what I love, love, love, love
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  Speaker 2: love is this acknowledgment that that's great if that's what
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  Speaker 2: you want to do, But let's just have a look
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  Speaker 2: at what ours is out there, because unless you actually
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  Speaker 2: have some hands on practical experience with it, you have
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  Speaker 2: no idea if it's what you want to do or
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  Speaker 2: not want to do. And the conversations we're now having
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  Speaker 2: with this kid is just blowing my mind because she's
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  Speaker 2: actually excited about options instead of boxing herself in and
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  Speaker 2: saying this is it, this is all I want to
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  Speaker 2: do with my life after the break.
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to pick up on that because my I'll
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  Speaker 1: do better tomorrow is very much associated with what you've
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  Speaker 1: been talking about. And I really want to address the
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  Speaker 1: elephant in the room when it comes to the way
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  Speaker 1: we are approach alternative school in it. Okay, so, Kylie,
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  Speaker 1: you've just shared this great story about Lily. She's been
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  Speaker 1: at the industry school. There are campuses in Southeast Queensland
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  Speaker 1: in all the major centers, but trade and technical vocational
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  Speaker 1: schools are all over the country, industry connected schools. If
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  Speaker 1: you've got a child who hates school, alternative approaches, this
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  Speaker 1: is the thing. If you look for an alternative approach
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  Speaker 1: you feel like maybe you're a failure. You feel like
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: maybe your child's a failure. I had this conversation with
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  Speaker 1: a principal of one of these schools just in the
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  Speaker 1: last few days, and he said he asks the kids
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  Speaker 1: as they sit down in class for the first time
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  Speaker 1: in grades ten, eleven, and twelve, how do you feel
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  Speaker 1: that you're here? And he said, overwhelming them, they just say,
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  Speaker 1: I feel like I'm failing. I feel like I've failed school.
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  Speaker 1: I feel like I'm a failure as a person because
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  Speaker 1: I'm not in the mainstream of schooling. And yet so
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  Speaker 1: much mainstream schooling, as you said, doesn't feel purposeful. It
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  Speaker 1: doesn't feel like it works for our kids. It just
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  Speaker 1: feels like we're following this standardized path. And what's fascinating
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  Speaker 1: is when I talk to parents about this, they say, oh, totally, totally,
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  Speaker 1: totally get that school is all of these things that
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  Speaker 1: are not ideal, But there's an unwillingness to step outside
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  Speaker 1: of the mainstream with your own child. We still go
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  Speaker 1: with the conservative approach. Why because that's what we've always done.
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  Speaker 2: We also need the validation that our kids are on
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  Speaker 2: the right path and aligned with everybody else right, you know,
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  Speaker 2: as a homeschool mum. I have no idea where my
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  Speaker 2: kids actually sit on the continuum of learning. Am I
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  Speaker 2: screwing them up? Like? Have I taught them everything? Or
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  Speaker 2: are they're massive gaps if they were to go back
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  Speaker 2: into the school sets. I don't know.
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  Speaker 1: Here's the thing, though, I love the fact that our
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  Speaker 1: daughter Lily left school at the end of your eight
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  Speaker 1: She left with a term to get and for nearly
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  Speaker 1: a year and a half she was homeschooled. You're eight
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  Speaker 1: year nine. This is not the first couple of years
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  Speaker 1: of school where you can probably just teach the kids
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  Speaker 1: to read and write and do some basic addition and
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  Speaker 1: subtraction and you're there. You're eight year nine maths and
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  Speaker 1: science and all those things. She's gone back to school
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  Speaker 1: in year ten and she's absolutely nailing it. But she's
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  Speaker 1: also really happy to be there. And I think this
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  Speaker 1: is the main point that I want to highlight here.
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  Speaker 1: If you've got a child who really hates school, they
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  Speaker 1: need to know that life is still going to be
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  Speaker 1: much more successful if they just push through to the end.
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  Speaker 1: They just need to be in an environment that is
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  Speaker 1: supportive of them. And you've got things like vocational industry
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  Speaker 1: connected schools. You've got school based apprentices apprenticeships, I should say,
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  Speaker 1: there's distance education, there's online school. There are flexible learning centers.
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  Speaker 1: There's a group called edmund Rice Education in Australia. They
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  Speaker 1: run these flexible learning centers that are specifically designed for
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  Speaker 1: students who have disengaged from mainstream education. There's Steiner and
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  Speaker 1: Montessori and other all termed of philosophies. There's busy school,
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  Speaker 1: there's homeschooling, there's tape community college programs. There are so
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  Speaker 1: many flexible ways for kids to do school if they're
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  Speaker 1: not doing well in the mainstream environment, and it doesn't
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  Speaker 1: mean that they've failed or that you've failed. It's that
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  Speaker 1: we're using, to quote Scott Galloway, medieval institutions to train
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  Speaker 1: our children to live in an era where we have
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  Speaker 1: god like technology and they don't match up. They simply don't.
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  Speaker 2: It is an acknowledgement that each of our children is
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  Speaker 2: individual and we have a different way of doing things
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  Speaker 2: and learning.
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  Speaker 1: This is what the school principle said to me. He said,
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  Speaker 1: every school, every school gives lip service to the fact
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: that they treat each child as an individual. No, they're
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: a number and that's what he said. He said, But
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  Speaker 1: they don't. They don't because if that individual child is
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: not able to conform to the mainstream school expectation, then
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  Speaker 1: they just don't fit. And there's only a limited amount
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: that most schools will do before they say you just
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  Speaker 1: don't belong here. This is not working out. These alternative
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  Speaker 1: schools are not supposed to be dumping grounds for kids
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  Speaker 1: that don't fit. As parents, if we can adjust our
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: view of schooling and be a little bit radical, our
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: children are going to actually enjoy themselves so much more.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: Here's the biggest thing for us. We've got this daughter
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  Speaker 1: who is now at the industry school. No, this is
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: not a paid advertisement. We're not doing anything that they
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: don't know where doing this podcast because we're talking about
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: our daughter, not the school. But she's gone back to
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: school in grade ten. Their ethos is if it won't
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: fly in the workplace, it doesn't fly at school. So
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: there's Are they perfect with a no bullying policy or anything? No,
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: of course, no school is, but my goodness, they are
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: responsive to issues more than that though. She's getting exposure,
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  Speaker 1: as you've said, massive exposure to so much opportunity in
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: so many industries her eyes are wide, but also the
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: schooling expectation is different. She will finish it twelve. She's
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: not going to do an atar path. Oh but guess
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: what when you go to these schools, they're so flexible
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: that you can still study early university programming, which means
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: that you can get into university without the atar and
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: without having to go through all the stress and drama
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: and headache and awfulness of what so much so many
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: of our experience at school. So you're oly better tomorrow
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: links in with mine because you're saying we've had this win.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: Our daughter's experiencing range and breadth because we've stepped out
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: of the mainstream school system. We've gone with an industry
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: focused school and it's had an impact. Mine is. I
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: had a conversation with a school principle of one of
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: these schools, and it's been such a refreshing way to
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: see that people are thinking of disrupting education.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: You know what else?
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: He said, The biggest stumbling block is parents because they
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: don't want to think what have I done? Why is
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: my child not doing well? And how does it reflect
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: on me? He said, if we can get past the
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: pride and the status that's associated with going to this
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: school versus that school. We can do so much. You
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: know what, As he said, fifty percent of the kids
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: in this year's intake in his school are coming from
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: independent schools. That is, these are parents who have been
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: paying for a private school for their kids and it's
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: not working out, and they've said, we've got to do
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: something else, and for whatever reason, the state school system
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: is just another version of private school from their perspective.
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  Speaker 1: So they've gone to an industry focused, a vocational focused school,
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  Speaker 1: and gone, all of a sudden, our kids are so happy.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: Last quek comment, I couldn't find the office, and so
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: I looked across and I saw a boy grade eleven.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: I said, hey, can you please help me to find
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: the office? This kid was one of those independent school
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: students who'd swapped. He'd gone into this new school in
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: grade eleven because he hated school. I said to him,
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: how's it going now? He said, I just love it.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: I love the learning, I love being at school. I'm
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: excited to finish year eleven, year twelve. I've already got
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: my I on a couple of different apprenticeships that I
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: can do, and I feel like my future makes sense.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: I just was like, Oh my goodness, why why, why, why, why?
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: Why are we doing this to our kids. Why are
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: we pushing them so hard into systems that don't work
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: for them? And you know what, as an electrician, he'll
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: be fully qualified by the age of twenty one. He's
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: going to be making more money than university graduates for
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: at least five, six, seven years, if not more, because
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: we've got a skills shortage and this kid's going to
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: fly anyway. My old do better tomorrow is let go
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: of the pride if your child. If you've got a
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: high school kid or even a younger kid who's struggling
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: at school and it just doesn't feel like they belong.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: There are so many alternatives, and I know it's meant
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: to be an older better tomorrow.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: It is.
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: We've done two different alternatives, an industry school for our
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: daughter and homeschooling, and our children are better and happier
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: and more confident because of it.
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: I think about a conversation you and I had a
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: number of weeks ago on the pod about the acknowledgment
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: that I would rather my kids hang out with other
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: ADA adults as they totally life totally and what I
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: love about This model is my child is surrounded by
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: other industry based adults who they can learn and glean from,
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: and the exposure is enormous because they are not just
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: with a classroom teacher who either they gel with or
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: not gel with. They are being invited into other spaces
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: where they get to learn and just understand the world
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: through different perspectives. It's amazing.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: This was not the podcast I thought we were going
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: to record, but I love with a conversation where the
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: take home message at school is important. Education matters, but
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: there are so many different ways that you can do
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: it and your children will benefit. So long as you
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: value education, it doesn't have to be the standard way.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: I'm going to recommend a book dark Horse. Dark Horse
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: by Todd Rose. It's just popped into my head and
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: I think that it really highlights the different ways that
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: people can find joy, success and meaning in life. Let's
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: wrap it up. The Happy Family's podcast US is produced
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: by Justin Ruland from Bridge Media. If you would like
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: more information and resources about making your family happier, visit
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: us at Happy families dot com dot au and have
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: a great weekend.