Never a week goes by when someone is having a go at schools and/or teachers. Every one of society's ills is blamed on the establishments that are charged with the education of our children. If kids display a lack of manners, it is the school's fault, bad behaviour, abuse of drugs, knife killings, you name it are all the fault of the school.
We are living in strange times where the needs of the workplace are constantly shifting and because of this, the politicians like to fiddle with the running and the purpose of our education system. More and more is being squeezed into a curriculum that has been overburdened for decades; more and more is expected of teachers, who are constantly bombarded by "new" initiatives that pop in and out of fashion every few years or so, and then there is the accountability that has shifted from student to teacher.
I was browsing through some of the old textbooks that we used in the seventies; the Nuffield Science scheme and the Schools Council Integrated Science Project, and the quality of the material and the demands placed on students were worlds apart from what is expected today. Yes students are still expected to learn, but it seems to me that the emphasis is no longer on the process of learning but on the assimilation of a lot of unrelated facts. Practical work is being phased out on economic grounds, and health and safety concerns have reduced worthwhile experiences to a complete sham.
Taking children out of school has become an administrative nightmare as well as a dangerous activity, taken on only by the brave or foolish, and so for many children, school has become intolerably dull.
Social pressure is a huge factor in how attitudes have changed too. Learning is seen as being uncool and succeeding academically has very little street credibility. Many young people want to be successful, but their role models are footballers or talentless celebrities that shoot to fame via reality TV shows. Some come from families that place no value on education, but see schools as containment for their children for part of the day. They are not taught the most important of life's lessons at home, the parents expecting someone else to take on that role, or not caring one way or the other. Education is not valued by much of the population; it is seen as irrelevant by some and who can blame them - for many the curriculum is irrelevant. We seem only to value things that we pay for and everything else is taken for granted.
Educational standards are not down to the schools, they are the responsibility of all of us, parents, grandparents and adults in general have a role to play is changing the attitudes of young people and engendering responsibility and self worth in a generation that is in danger of losing its way.
We are living in strange times where the needs of the workplace are constantly shifting and because of this, the politicians like to fiddle with the running and the purpose of our education system. More and more is being squeezed into a curriculum that has been overburdened for decades; more and more is expected of teachers, who are constantly bombarded by "new" initiatives that pop in and out of fashion every few years or so, and then there is the accountability that has shifted from student to teacher.
I was browsing through some of the old textbooks that we used in the seventies; the Nuffield Science scheme and the Schools Council Integrated Science Project, and the quality of the material and the demands placed on students were worlds apart from what is expected today. Yes students are still expected to learn, but it seems to me that the emphasis is no longer on the process of learning but on the assimilation of a lot of unrelated facts. Practical work is being phased out on economic grounds, and health and safety concerns have reduced worthwhile experiences to a complete sham.
Taking children out of school has become an administrative nightmare as well as a dangerous activity, taken on only by the brave or foolish, and so for many children, school has become intolerably dull.
Social pressure is a huge factor in how attitudes have changed too. Learning is seen as being uncool and succeeding academically has very little street credibility. Many young people want to be successful, but their role models are footballers or talentless celebrities that shoot to fame via reality TV shows. Some come from families that place no value on education, but see schools as containment for their children for part of the day. They are not taught the most important of life's lessons at home, the parents expecting someone else to take on that role, or not caring one way or the other. Education is not valued by much of the population; it is seen as irrelevant by some and who can blame them - for many the curriculum is irrelevant. We seem only to value things that we pay for and everything else is taken for granted.
Educational standards are not down to the schools, they are the responsibility of all of us, parents, grandparents and adults in general have a role to play is changing the attitudes of young people and engendering responsibility and self worth in a generation that is in danger of losing its way.
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