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Addressing ‘Real-World Issues’ in Education, Without the Trauma Dumping

I’ve been reflecting on a really interesting newsletter I received from Robert Pondiscio (Pondiscio, 2023) on 24 September. He addresses the notion of primal world beliefs, researched by Clifton (Clifton, n.d.); He criticises classroom curricula and argues that we “marinate children in bleak narratives”. I thought this phrase was very evocative. The idea of primals, or primal world beliefs, refers to the core, emotionally reactive beliefs that get triggered in the classroom. This really makes me reflect on my own curriculum practice: For me, it has always been about toeing the line between addressing important, meaningful discussions and lessons, while also instilling joy in the sessions.

I feel quite anxious when I look at the world around me and the things that are happening- and I know young people do too. This newsletter challenges the notion that by simply educating children on the big, ‘scary stuff’ out there, we are adequately preparing them to deal with those challenges. Oversaturation of aggressive news headlines doesn’t necessarily make us any more equipped to handle the outside world; in fact, it might have an adverse effect.

I’m not always sure I’ve got the balance entirely right. I see the value of critical literacy education as absolutely fundamental to my practice. Part of that is grappling with difficult concepts and challenges are embedded in my lessons, because I never want to patronise young people. I think it’s important, particularly for the students I work with (who might otherwise have been underestimated) that they feel we are grappling with interesting and significant material.

This idea comes at an interesting time in my career because I am also leaning into more primary teaching and upskilling myself on student-led approaches. Creativity has always been a passion I’ve sought training in, and it really influenced my master’s. When thinking about how we teach children to be critical thinkers, I use creativity as a parallel notion. It’s vital that we get children to think independently and open-mindedly. I often think of Sir Ken Robinson’s (Robinson, 2006) work on the question “Do schools kill creativity?” and how we build creativity back into education. He uses creativity as a strategy as much as a philosophical principle, arguing that it is children’s fundamental right to have creative outlets. He strongly asserts that we need creativity to be able to deal with the challenges of the future.

When designing curriculum, I now want to have these two questions central to my planning:

  1. Are the conversations and ideas that we are exploring honest?

  2. Are the ways that we’re exploring them conducive to creativity, exploration, and playfulness?

This word playfulness is a tricky one when it comes to teenagers. I think we almost believe we need to bombard them with heavy material constantly. Life can be hard, and we cannot live in a bubble, of course. I have no interest in trying to protect children from the inevitable reality of their own experience. However, the real world isn’t this abstract place children are disconnected from, requiring forced, aggressive reminders. Perhaps some gentleness, fun, and possibility-seeking will give them the emotional intelligence and resilience they actually need to arm themselves against what’s out there. This approach instils a sense of confidence and the ability to trust their instincts and experiment.

Mary Myatt’s (Myatt, n.d.) Just Read campaign- The research is abundantly clear that when we have intellectually rigorous reading opportunities over a prolonged period of time, purposefully delivered, and we read as a class or in a group (or in my case, one-to-one), it is not only sufficient to enjoy reading together, but it actually shows improved outcomes in trials. This is another example where joy is not something to be frivolously overlooked but is integral to my teaching practice- and not at odds with academic rigour; the two go hand-in-hand and support each other.

My upcoming group classes are where I am really going to delve into this approach- I have redesigned my 10+ group to ensure there are more opportunities for teens to unlock their imagination and tap into the world around them in a more explorative way. See http://www.msreedteach.com/packages for more information.

And if you’re a fellow educator, I would love to know: what ways are you building joy and creativity into learning? Or what ways could you do that, reflecting on some of these ideas?

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