Right now, we’re all focused on managing the return to school, and on all the questions that come with taking that step in the time we’re living in: how to return, when to return, with what aim? It might seem odd then, to take this week’s post to consider learning beyond the classroom. In the context of an ever-shifting academic landscape, though, it’s all the more important to remember those parts of the learning process over which we can have more control.
We depend on schools for so much, as families and as a society. But social scientists and public policy researchers have long argued that focusing on school as the only source of education ignores the broader context in which students live, and the important educational impacts of that context. Put simply: kids are sponges, and their ability to absorb lessons from their environment doesn’t magically begin and end with the ringing of the school bell (especially true when the school bell no longer sounds at all for so many!). Thinking of education as a job that students can clock in and out of can build bad habits and leave opportunities on the table. This is not to say that homework should be an all day everyday activity! Rather, it’s about more consciously acknowledging that the way kids spend their time outside of school plays an important role in shaping them as individuals.
This is true regardless of age, but because it’s a context we often encounter, let’s think for a moment about what this means in the world of college admissions. If we stop to think for a moment about how an outsider - say, a college admissions officer - will come to understand and evaluate our students as individuals, it makes sense that those activities that extend beyond the school context are often most prominent in their narrative. How a student performs in school (and even in certain school-sponsored extracurricular activities) can tell us a lot about them, but independent ventures that are pursued without the guiding structure imposed by school, and without the extrinsic incentives of the school context, can feel inherently closer to a student’s genuine passion and motivation. If you can empower your students to develop these independent opportunities - especially in a time when the school context is not as reliable as we’ve come to expect - their initiative and natural curiosity will stand out.