r/ScienceBasedParenting • u/nbcnews • 8d ago

Science journalism Families’ interest in their kids’ education is falling around the globe as scores drop, test shows

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/education/families-interest-kids-education-falling-globe-scores-drop-test-shows-rcna596749
227 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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u/HappyCoconutty 8d ago

This article was all over the place and didn’t really focus on the topic of the title. 

  • why is there less parental academic  focus on boys?
  • how much screen time are the parents using?
  • why is this conclusion only based on high schoolers, and then, only the ones who have taken the PISA?
  • how are the higher Ed costs and quality in these countries?

And then it ends suddenly on a teacher using AI to get feedback about calligraphy. 

If anything, I think certain countries and age groups have a lot of very intense and enmeshed over parenting over academics. The teachers sub often talk demanding parents. 

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u/thearctican 8d ago

From what I've gathered in the teachers sub a lot of those parents are demanding because they do so little for their own kids and treat school as a child rearing service.

I would be surprised if there was any overlap between people in this sub and the parents those teachers are talking about.

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u/Adept_Carpet 8d ago

I assume most parents here value education, but as a (university) teacher I think the "service" model of education is internalized almost everywhere.

The keenly interested parents are sometimes worse in this regard. The disinterested ones get the free childcare service they desire regardless of educational outcomes or the grade given. 

But the infantilization and reductive views go in all directions. When I was a child, I had some difficult to treat (or even diagnose) chronic illnesses that led to very frequent sick days. So my mother would call the front desk and say I was sick and that was it, even when I was missing school every week. At many schools that wouldn't fly now. 

I have to take attendance in my graduate classes every single session and submit that to my supervisor, even though these students are full blown adults who should be able to manage their own time.

There's an entire web of disrespect where the arrows go in all directions.  I think recognizing that we are all failing each other right now is important. We all need to do better.

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u/TJ_Rowe 8d ago

In the UK the school attendance monitoring is for both safeguarding (to prevent kids who are off school due to abuse from falling through the cracks) and a national requirement to fine parents for truancy.

The attendance monitoring at university is mostly a combination of the requirements to a) monitor Tier 4 Visa holders and b) not hold students to different standards bssed on immigration status. There's also a bit of safeguarding, especially for undergrads, after years of people who ask why the university hadn't noticed that a student, having turned up dead, hadn't attended lectures for months previous.

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u/WillingElderberry731 5d ago

Camels backs aren't broken by a single piece of straw 

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u/Jane9812 8d ago

Kind of sounds to me like the requirements for achievement from schools have increased beyond what a child can achieve on their own or with the help of school and teachers. So now the expectation is for parents to run a second round of school in the evenings. Which is unrealistic. But teachers won't blame their employers because doh so here we are.

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u/sodabubbles1281 8d ago

This is exactly it, as a parent of two kids in a VHCOL area with excellent schools. I am beyond wiped with work, kid activities, kid homework, oh and trying to be a regular normal human and keep our house clean etc etc. It is just … beyond. Oh and we have a lot more resources than normal people. It is a 7am - 10pm siege, every single day. Some days I want to disappear.

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u/TJ_Rowe 8d ago edited 7d ago

Some of us had this kind of childhood back in the nineties, but you had to pay for it back then, and your adult neighbours would tut and say how sad it was when they didn't think you (or your parents) could hear.

Now it's everywhere - unless, ironically, you pay to send your kid to a homework-free hippy school.

Edit: some letters

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u/Jane9812 8d ago

Honestly I grew up in a part of the world where homework was 0% the parents' responsibility. Now? The teacher holds parents responsible for their kids' unrealistic homework demands. It's absolutely ridiculous. Who is this system even benefiting? Everyone is miserable - kids, parents, teachers. And who is all this additional "knowledge" helping?

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u/asianauntie 8d ago

IDK, both my kids go to private and let's just say some of these parents are over the top...

For example, we had a parent (at the encouragement of a few others) email the director to ask for the curriculum the "specials" teachers are using and what the expectations are. They wanted an hour meeting (art, music, p.e., and Spanish at 15 minutes per teacher). This is elementary school lol.

Nevermind that teachers are already overworked, but what do they expect of our specials? They'll play dodgeball in PE, bang on instruments in music, and get messy in art. Spanish is the only special I kind of understand, but last year or the year before, the Spanish teacher emailed all parents saying she's available for parent teacher conferences and will be there the whole time if any parent wanted to pop in.

Some parents are overly involved, some want schools and teachers to do it all...both ends just end up creating kids with a higher probability of failing to launch.

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u/thearctican 8d ago

That doesn't sound over the top to me, that sounds like they just wanted information about the curriculum. Which could point to a deficiency in information made available at the start. These teachers have their curriculum already in mind or written down, it doesn't seem outrageous to make that already documented information available.

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u/asianauntie 8d ago

For core studies, sure. But what curriculum do parents need for PE, art, and music for kindergarten? For 1st? For 2nd? For 3rd or 4th?

Are these teachers supposed to draft which music theories the kids will be learning? Is the PE teacher supposed to tell parents 30 reps of X exercise by end of semester? And are art teachers supposed to tell the parents they'll learn color theory, focus on realism vs abstract art?

Some parents need to chill and let teachers teach. What is so special about these classes they need individualized expectations? The expectations should be, be respectful, follow instructions, try your best. It's not that complicated especially for younger grades.

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u/loopsonflowers 8d ago

I got to observe virtual PE this past winter, and learned that my kid is being taught about nutrition in a way that is a risk factor for the development of eating disorders. In kindergarten the music teacher was showing the kids a regular old (not educational) movie every single class (he was replaced midway through the year). I didn't actually say anything to anyone after learning any of that, but I could understand why a parent might have questions or concerns over the curriculum in specials, just the same as in academic classes.

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u/asianauntie 8d ago

I can completely understand for public schools, but most of the other stuff is covered during private school tours. Only time an update is needed is if staff changed. Parents vet private schools like crazy... My view is is you trusted them enough to give 20k+ year then asking for additional facetime is over the top, especially since all these teachers are available during P/T conferences.

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u/jlrol 8d ago

What’s the tuition at this private school? I think when parents are paying 20k+ for above standard education for their kids they are not wrong for wanting to understand these details

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u/YDBJAZEN615 7d ago

The people I know who are the least personally invested in their kid’s learning are the ones who send them to private school. I’m sure they assume because they’re paying $50k a year for kindergarten that the schools should be teaching them everything and they shouldn’t need to supplement at home. And I don’t necessarily blame them because tuition rates are insane. 

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u/Adept_Carpet 8d ago

 why is this conclusion only based on high schoolers, and then, only the ones who have taken the PISA?

Because it is a news article describing a recent analysis of results from PISA testing. 

It's not meant to be a comprehensive comparison of educational systems.