When we think about education — whether our own, children’s, or students’ — we tend to dwell on the past or focus on the present. Yet, like Ebenezer Scrooge, we often forget Charles Dickens’ all-important Christmas ghost: the Ghost of the Future.

That’s the blind spot in many classrooms and workplaces. We pore over what has happened. We ask students and trainees how they feel now. Rarely do we ask the harder question: will today’s experiences – easy or hard – prepare them for tomorrow?

Over time, grit and grind can create magical outcomes. Credit: Getty Images

This idea is particularly relevant this month, as year 12 students prepare for their final exams. Those final weeks of preparation are hard. In homes across Australia, the ritual feels familiar – the high-schooler bringing study notes to the kitchen table, the university student pulling another late night.

Perhaps all we parents can do is smile and offer the words of encouragement that worked for us decades ago: breathe and push on. The exams will be over soon, and the effort will matter long after the marks fade.

The strain of exam season doesn’t fall on students alone. Teachers feel it, and parents especially so. We want to ease the load for our children and learners, and can’t help but wish for an easier way. And when we try to comfort them, we often end up looking to our past or their present. Rarely do we look........

© The Sydney Morning Herald