Job Discussion Forums

[aaronschwartz]

At this juncture we identify and sympathize with the remarks of Michael Moore, President of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, Blackpool, England, made at the annual association meeting, �[Students] are being railroaded into a testing culture that squeezes the joy of learning and turns schools into factories. � Too many [students] are turned off learning because they are fed up with what they see as a boring curriculum diet that has little choice and less relevance to their lives.�� He stated that �straightjacket education� was �being doled out by robotic teachers day in and day out.� (Woodward, (4/16/03), Upon first blush, this article re-published in the China Daily, was thought was perceived to be about higher education in China, but was in fact about primary school education in Great Britain.

(Taken from something I saw and lost on the net.)

[Roger]

I don't know how true his claims are, but the complaints have of late become legion. Why? Is it in the best interest of teachers to side with students? Ah, yes, be friends with our darlings and form an united front against the upper echelons of the education establishment...
But to paraphrase some wisdom, "every people have the education they deserve!" Without tests and exams we don't know if any benchmarks have been achieved by our learners.
What were the big worries of students before our time?
The teacher's cane! Yes, until recently, bodily punishments were tolerated in England. Now, students have "human rights' too. No one must touch them against their own will.
Oh, that's fine with me. I do not wish to hit them. Never wanted to do it. It does show, however, once you have overcome your more barbarian instincts, new perceptions find new problems that easily outgrow the old ones.
When there are no exams left to perform, students will find that they don't get enough time off to watch their favourite TV programmes.
and, that will be another big item on the next generation's agenda!

[baby predator]

I am a product of the British state school system, and I have many good things to say about it, but by far my biggest criticism is that there is too much testing.

By the time I left school, I was a test passing machine. I had spent so much time being prepped in exam technique, doing dummy papers, and digesting just enough information to pass the test with an A then forget everything I learned that all I knew was how to pass. I had no idea how to learn and no idea how to direct my own study. Result: when I got to University, I had no clue how to immerse myself in a real educational environment. I'd been so used to having everything mapped out for me, that being left alone to read books, do my own research and find out how to write papers by myself left me floundering. It took me three years before I managed to pull myself out of the mire and get decent marks again. I enjoyed fully one year of my four year degree, and now my biggest regret is that I wasted three valuable years because I didn't know how to take advantage of them.

At University, I was also able to compare my own education with those of my classmates who had attended private schools, Steiner schools and more enlightened state schools. I still despise private schools on principle, but there is much to be said for the style and content of the teaching they provide. I was surpirsed to meet for the first time people who had a thorough knowledge of a second language, or a love for literature, who were able to recite poetry and who had internalised the laws of physics and chemistry rather than disgarding them at the school gate. School had always been a chore for me, even though I found it easy. I had never understood that you could enjoy school. It was a pain for both teachers and students where I came from.

I am very glad that I wasn't subjected to physical violence at school. My teachers, though overworked, were mostly friendly and encouraging. But one and all, they told me never, never to become a teacher. They warned me that there was no time to do the job they had originally aspired to do because of the mountains of paperwork, the bureaucracy and the testing requirements. They were nice people, but they were all totally ground down by the system, just waiting for the day their pension fund would be large enough for them to retire (or ill-health would force them out of their job).

Yes, there need to be benchmarks to measure the system by, but when league tables and cost-efficiency ratios are the only thing driving education, something is seriously messed up.

Anyone else have any experiences they'd care to relate?

[Bertrand]