LIFESTYLES: Back to School – Where is the thread between elementary, secondary and post secondary?

Where the Canadian elementary school system does everything to contribute to an individual’s sense of self despite endearing little errors and mistakes in course work, the post secondary system is ready to rip it all apart. The creative approaches to learning at the younger level – ‘the merry singalongs and believe in yourself’ approaches – all vanish as you enter high school and college.

While I see high school as a general period of abandonment of young people figuring out their puberty, socializing and relationships in a rough peer world, figuring out post school future all on their own, it is post secondary academia which shakes you up to harsh reality. Professors who pride themselves in being blunt don’t look for creative ways to dress you down. Depending upon the rigours of your course, you can be crushed under assignments. While many students in Asian countries have learnt to deal with the pressure at a much younger age, the product of a Canadian public school system can reel under the shock. On top of it, a system that charges no user fee in the public school system suddenly adds the immense burden of tuition. Add the costs of housing and living for students studying away from home and a western model that expects young people to pay for their way, and you have students who can barely surface from the pressure.

Media messaging about the general outlook for young people doesn’t help and if you aren’t the star performer in the class, then heaven help your self esteem. There are students who don’t think they have any clout in the outside world and don’t have any sense that they matter at all. It is good to be realistic and know that a diploma or degree is not going to make you God’s gift to mankind but it is also good to believe that your particular area of studies is leading you somewhere and that piece of paper at the end is going to matter.

Students struggle in the post secondary era. For the ones pursuing professional education, it becomes an intense and competitive perusal of admissions into graduate schools leading to a life time profession. For students pursuing more general studies, it becomes more a pursuit of development and interests and the ambiguity of what all it can lead to.

I would argue that this stage for many post secondary students is one of budding maturity and self reflection and some of the nurturing components of the elementary level need to be transferred to the secondary and post secondary environments. University and college academia can be more humanized and the elementary teachers can be tougher on harder skills. Overall, our students deserve a better thread between the two systems.

Manpreet Grewal is a freelance writer who has young adult children in post secondary and is a manager in a non-profit organization involved in hiring young people. Email her at manpreetgrewal@shaw.ca