I have been watching this programme on BBC3 (an altogether upsetting experience because of the sporadic functionality of my TV aerial!) which follows a group of 16-18year olds who have been given the chance to run a school for 3 weeks. The teens are in charge of a group of thirty 12-year olds, teaching them, feeding them and generally getting them over-excited before home-time.
Despite the fact that it's reality tv - and one must always doubt the actual authenticity of these things - they are a real mixed bag, and it's very interesting viewing. They're all there for different reasons, whether it's their own experience of being bullied, being the class clown, being the class genius, or hiding a love for poetry, and they all want to radically change the education system.
What is interesting is how they all started out with really exciting, different ideas about how to shake up the education system and make it more relevant to kids, but have gradually drifted into a very structured, traditional school set-up. They do some things differently though. Teachers and pupils are all on first name terms. They give high-fives. They eat cereal while teaching. They swear a little too liberally.
I can't wait to see what happens when the children have to sit exams. I can't imagine they've learn much more than they do in 'normal' school. So, I think this programme says something important. Children know what they want in school, they know how they want to make learning exciting. But they don't know how to manage time, plan, lead and put their ideas into practise. Teachers need to listen to what their pupils are telling them, and then do it. Then we might be getting somewhere.
Leave Us Kids Alone continues Wednesday 24th October, 10.45pm, BBC3
What is interesting is how they all started out with really exciting, different ideas about how to shake up the education system and make it more relevant to kids, but have gradually drifted into a very structured, traditional school set-up. They do some things differently though. Teachers and pupils are all on first name terms. They give high-fives. They eat cereal while teaching. They swear a little too liberally.
I can't wait to see what happens when the children have to sit exams. I can't imagine they've learn much more than they do in 'normal' school. So, I think this programme says something important. Children know what they want in school, they know how they want to make learning exciting. But they don't know how to manage time, plan, lead and put their ideas into practise. Teachers need to listen to what their pupils are telling them, and then do it. Then we might be getting somewhere.
Leave Us Kids Alone continues Wednesday 24th October, 10.45pm, BBC3
1 comment:
Fair comment.
I think that the kinds of technology we have today can contribute greatly to children's learning, but the structure under which it really thrives is not really understood by teachers and schools.
The problem is that schools have been around for so long that we cannot imagine life without them.
What we really need to do is look at how children learn best, and adapt our way of facilitating learning to fit this. This could well involve some children spending a day or two a week at home, working remotely(or perhaps in small groups) on tasks, communicating via e-mail, messenger or video conferencing, while teachers concentrate on pupils who are weaker and need more attention. The technology we have can support this kind of learning environment, using the web, wikis, VLEs and other computer and web applications.
Schools do have other important social functions, including as socialisation and community, but learning happens in a wide range of environments, besides schools.
Some would go so far as to say that children learn, not because of but in spite of school. ;-)
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