Back to school

Did you enjoy school?  Did you love learning from your teachers?

Or were (are!) you like so many of my students who really do not want to be there?

Many of my teenaged students struggle with morning lessons - particularly on a Monday after a week's break.  They would far rather be in bed and maybe come into school later in the day.

Or students who are very close to taking their GCSE exams at the age of 16.  Exams upon which our Government place huge emphasis - the students, the teachers and the schools are measured and placed in league tables, based on the results. 

Poor results mean that the schools have more frequent inspections, may be forced to become an Academy and parents may not choose to send their children to the school, due to those results.

What are we teaching our students?  That they have to play the game? 

At the moment I am running revision sesssions with students who are on the borderline of achieving the results that our Government considers to be a 'good' pass.  That is exactly what I am doing - teaching them to play the game of getting the most marks they can from what they know.

I have spent the past week, whilst I have had a holiday from teaching in school, learning, studying, developing my knowledge and abilities.

When I asked my students today who had done any study over the break, only a small handful admitted that they had done so.

Have we squeezed the love out of learning in our education systems?

It is a topic I shall return to often because it is one which I feel passionately about.

Do let me know about your own experiences in school.  Did you love it or hate it.  Do you wish you had paid more attention whilst you were there?  What do you think would improve the ways in which we help young people to gain knowledge and to grow?

I would love to hear from you.