School Presentation Days

School Presentation Days

Last week, not only did I witness the presentation day, but I also officiated and participated. A group of year 7 students eagerly awaited as I read out the lucky "winners" of an assortment of prizes. They dutifully applauded and wished the recipients well and it was all made more surreal because of this. However, it did point out to me one important fact - society perpetuates the idea of gaining and accumulating achievements. It also seems to ensure that winners are celebrated and the 'losers' are expected to watch and applaud. For the sake of this discussion, I will refer to any who did not receive an award as a loser. 

It seems to me after all the years teaching, its a few more than 30 now, I should not be surprised. I know that there will be 'late bloomers' within the group. All year I have been preaching the import of having a growth mindset and then resorting to this seemed an about face.  I also know full well that there will be all sorts of pressures on each and every one of the faces that I was looking at.

But with all of the talk of lifelong learning, I still find it amazing the way we celebrate achievement.  It prompted me to resort to twitter

Society seems to praise winners and look down at 'losers'. I'm sure that it is the same worldwide, but I wonder about the effects - both short and long term?

I did preface the awarding process with a comment about the growth I had witnessed during the year - physical, emotional and academic. I also wonder if that was seen by most of the students as genuine or even meaningful?