Reports the Guardian yesterday.
At last an independent group with considerable authority is speaking out. An exhaustive study that must be heeded.
As a former teacher in both primary and secondary schools, I agree wholeheartedly with their findings.
This is one area of Labour's policies that has been disastrous for young people and their parents.
At an early age children need to develop naturally in a positive stress free environment with as much contact with parents and friends as possible.
They have an abounding drive to find things out. This is how they learn to speak with all its rewards of communication. The last thing they need is to be regimented in larger groups. They need as much one to one interaction as they can get, to answer and develop their individual exploration of the world in a positive encouraging atmosphere.
Teachers who love education, know this, and are dismayed by government diktats.
Many of those that had a long experience of teaching found the new emphasis over the last ten years, unwillingly imposed from on high by Head Teachers, unacceptable to their sense of what was right.
Most of them who were proactive and had that highly valued quality of self motivation, got out of a spirit crushing system and found other jobs .This happened all the way from the classroom to the Head's office.
Coming before an election - will this register with the voters?
The Liberal Democrats have been consulting with teachers and concerned parents for the last few years and will have a well thought out policy. I don't trust the Conservatives one bit with their "bring in the army" approach.
"Zit Down"
"Don't move.You vill zit quietly ant listen to vat I zay"
"You vill learn vat is good for you"
"No questions allowt"
"Vat is dis - Vy? Vy? Vy?"
"Vee know vat iss bess for you"
Know wonder Ulverston kids misbehave as they occasionally do. Try experiencing their 'learning' environment at Victoria High.
Teachers turn into bullies when they are themselves put under pressure.
Keeping my fingers crossed for the future!
1 comment:
Frankly, I don't think even the Conservatives are that bad! And it is possible to have a well-constructed environment that allows free interaction and learning through play. Pressure to perform is the killer. I had a classroom provided with every means for imaginative play. Much learning to read was done by playing games on the blackboard with the children seated on the floor. They loved it. Lively wall displays and a choice of learning apparatus. Individual child-teacher contact essential too.
When I moved from Reception to Year Three, a visiting education inspector praised my orderly 'freedom to move' groups and informal teaching methods. The children were happy and doing well. He also said how disappointing it was to find the Reception class with children formally seated facing the blackboard. (My informal play equipment had been moved out) I was sad too.
Much depends on the teacher and school policy. But learning to pass exams is the killer. Young children are full of wonder - it is a crime to kill the joy of discovery. It is also a crime to have a 'free for all' situation where chaos reigns and no real learning is achieved.
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