Criticisms of schooling theory continue to pour forth from PGCE student friend. She tells of a consistent inability of lecturers to follow through on the consequences of their arguments, and of an almost unfailing inability to notice the contradictions inherent in what they are saying, so that directly opposing arguments are often consecutively presented without any explanation as to how these two arguments are supposed to co-exist. This happens particularly with regard to the issues of respecting personalised learning and dealing with a classroom of thirty pupils.
All in all, this story of failing schools strikes one as really rather surprising. If teachers are supposed to swallow this bunkum, how is it that not all the schools are perceived as failing? But then again, those who are doing the judging are likely to be educated in school, so there we go.
8 comments:
AOL is not allowing me the direct link, it just forwards to the main page.
Ooops..yes. Link sorted.
Yes...I think so...yet the degree of delusion in this regard can be quite staggering. Some time ago, I took Ds to a small independent school that claimed to be entirely child centred as regards their learning. What a travesty that was! We left that morning, having detected virtually no difference between that and any other school experience.
Can I ask what school it was, Carlotta?
It was a tiny and I think it was called Llangattock, though my memory is somewhat vague. I do remember that there are at least two places with the same name. This one was in deepest Monmouthshire.
Is it this one?
http://www.llangattockschool.co.uk/
"Here children's progress can be limitless, as they learn AT THEIR OWN PACE[...]"
"We like the children to wear navy and cream wherever possible."
LOL!
A good generalism I have learned. When you see the words "Waldorf" or "Montessouri" run for your lives.
That's the one! Oooh...shudders. The degree of self-delusion is quite staggering!
Also do agree strongly with what you say about Waldorf...I've never met a more weird potentially coercive environment: we would have had to stop breast feeding much earlier than we wanted to had we subbed there; we weren't allowed to listen to music in the car on the way home because we were meant to converse; and forget about being allowed to watch TV or have any plastic toys in the house...heaven forfend!
Absolutely they (waldorf and montessori) do have ideologies like any institution. We managed a year at Steiner without giving up nursing, music or barbie! We were known as the family who 'give their children a lot of power' but that's fine by us!
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