As teachers, we have a duty of care for our students.

But some of the messages we send out can be more harmful than we realise.

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Here are some of the more troublesome lessons we can give our students:

Dangerous life lessons

‘Work hard and you will achieve’

Unfortunately, we do not live in a meritocracy. We need to prepare students for the reality of the unfair and unjust society that they live in.

Hard work is not enough; many will need to learn to hustle, to develop the confidence and interaction skills that their peers from more privileged walks of life usually possess. They will need to learn to pick themselves up and dust themselves off when disappointed. 

‘If you can dream it, you can do it’ 

This quotation, often falsely attributed to Walt Disney (it was actually made by a Disney employee in the 1980s), has the potential to set many a young person up for failure. Dreaming is not enough.

Sometimes you need a massive dose of luck and some good connections. 

The real world is tough, and the chances are you aren’t going to make a living out of gaming or YouTube. Young people need to know the importance of having a contingency plan. 

‘The purpose of education is to get a job’

Since the introduction of league tables, Ofsted ratings and narrowed curricula, you could argue that the joy has been squeezed out of learning. 

Students aren’t encouraged to learn just for the sake of learning; everything has to be quantifiable. The subconscious message is that everything needs to have a clear purpose and outcome, otherwise it’s a waste of time. 

‘Rules are not to be broken’

This is a tricky one. I’m not denying that rules are helpful; they offer structure and boundaries, which are necessary and reassuring, particularly for younger learners. 

But being a compliant drone is not an asset in today’s world. Again, we need to teach our young people to think critically and to be discerning in the rules that they break.

‘Conformity is good’

Many schools understandably take great pride in their smartly dressed students, and I would not dispute the benefits of school uniform in terms of social justice.

Strict rules regarding appearance can have a negative effect, however. Are we not stifling our students’ sense of identity, their creativity?  

‘Academia is everything’

Everyone needs literacy and numeracy skills, but the emphasis placed on these skills and related academic subjects sends out the message that academia is king.

At best this can be frustrating, and at worst damaging (in terms of self-esteem) for those young people who, for whatever reason, find academic subjects challenging. 

Students who are not academic, but who possess skills in other areas, such as in practical subjects, rarely get the recognition they deserve.

The introduction of apprenticeships has seen a gradual move away from this sort of thinking, but there is still a way to go.

To be a successful society, we need a workforce with a broad range of skills. 

Gemma Corby is a freelance writer and former special educational needs and disability coordinator