Most schools have a standardised approach to the wide variety of individual personalities in their care, and Modern Learning Environments (MLEs) are usually busy and noisy, over-stimulating students and distracting them from their work. Teachers are often overwhelmed by the behavioural issues of the few and frustrated that they cannot adequately support the many students who just want to get on with their learning. Everyone suffers.
Over half of NZ students report being bored at school. Standard lessons do not allow for students’ personal interests or reflect different learning styles. When your child says school is boring, they are telling you they are not being challenged or stimulated in a healthy way.
New Zealand’s schools have one of the highest rates of bullying in the world and most teachers feel unable to deal with it effectively, given the number of students in their charge at any one time. Bullying can be verbal, physical or social, but the effects on well-being are devastating whichever form it takes. Your child may not tell you or even realise if they are being bullied.