Column: For keiki, schools need more solutions-based thinking

This past week, media outlets were reporting discouraging news about the state of education in America: Our K-12 students are falling behind and failing at a drastically higher rate than in previous, non-COVID-19 years. Worse yet, the data seems to show that at-risk students — a demographic that lumps together low-income, minority, English language and special education learners — are being disproportionately affected.

I am a secondary education English Language Arts teacher in the Hawaii public school system. I was one of the many teachers arguing at the end of last year that students would be OK, that teachers, students and parents would be able to work together this year to recover the education losses from the shutdown in March.

Then, the pandemic worsened. Then, the start of the 2020-21 school year was delayed. Then, most of our public-school students continued to work online through Quarter 2.

None of these decisions was the wrong one; they were not ideal, but they were sound, weighted, evidence-based decisions to ensure the safety of our communities. But no one can argue there have not been consequences.

Teachers are very aware of the learning deficits this year’s educational challenges present. Teachers I collaborate with say they are working 10-20 hours longer per week in the online and hybrid learning environments, and yet feel as if they are getting further and further behind. Teachers are creating, adjusting and refining curricula every single day to overcome a constant barrage of new and unfamiliar challenges and meet our students’ needs.

Students are doing the same. Even those struggling in distance learning are showing up, asking for help, and putting in extra time and effort. But it often feels Sisyphean, especially when all we keep hearing about are the problems.

We have become a problem-oriented society. Everywhere you look, people are arguing about problems — most of the time, the same issues that we’ve been discussing for the past decade (or longer). Now is the time for Hawaii to pivot to solutions-based thinking.

I survey my students at the end of each week; this is just one of the ways I work to address problems before they become insurmountable. And my students are always coming up with innovative, solutions-based ideas for tackling the current challenges to their education.

Here is a sampling, from the everyday to the grandiose:

>> More one-on-one time between students and teachers, even if it’s only five minutes.

>> Have each subject/class post a list of skills that students must master by the end of the year that both students and parents can access and look at whenever they want. When a student masters it, they check it off. “Like a learning To-Do list because sometimes I’m not even sure what I’m supposed to be learning.”

>> Have some classes with both parents and students, so parents know what teachers are teaching and can better help their kids with their work at home.

>> Give more assignments that relate to the real world, and lessons that help students who are struggling with real-world problems right now. “Like for kids with parents who lost their jobs.”

>> Free internet to students and teachers!

Most students aren’t hamstrung by cynicism. Some are also not bound by the kite-strings of reality. As you can see, they have tons of creative solutions. They may not all work — maybe none of them would work — but at least these 14- to 18-year-olds are tackling the issue from the right perspective by looking for solutions.

Our leaders can take a growth mindset tip from our teens: Be bold, take risks, don’t give up, and focus on solutions.

Brooke Nasser is an English and news-writing teacher at Kalani High School; she also is a freelance filmmaker and journalist.