Well here I am again considering what to write, I think I'll continue with my educational journey so far. If I wasn't taking this course at the moment I'm sure that I would be seriously worried about my state of mind. You see, I love education, not just learning new things but exploring HOW to learn. It's comforting to know that other people have a passion for knowledge too. At times I wonder whether I should 'get a life'. Fellow teachers and pupils alike seem amazed that on one of my evenings 'off' I'd rather be at university than sat at home staring at the latest instalment of 'I'm a Celebrity'.
The thing is that I am genuinely concerned about young people today. I know that sentence makes me sound old beyond my years but it's true. Last week faced with 28 keen Year 7 pupils I reached an all time low when a number of them told me they'd never even heard of William Shakespeare before. At first I laughed "Well of course you have" I said with encouragement, "What did he do?" As their searching eyes began to glaze over it dawned on me that they were in fact telling the truth.
This experience is not an isolated incident, and one all too familiar to anyone who teaches. It has made me think and I think it could be seen in two ways: either there is no point in me being a teacher as children seem to be lacking in some way, or that this is exactly the reason I became a teacher, to spread knowledge.
A bad workman blames his tools, and therefore I choose to favour the latter idea. These pupils have obviously slipped through the net at primary level and it's down to me to save them, not single handed I admit, but every little helps. I must admit that the lessons since that disturbing revelation have been well received, and every member of that class can now give you a list of facts about the great man himself.
The thing is that this raises another question. So my Year 7 class can rave on about William Shakespeare, chapter and verse, but what help will this be to them in the real world? Am I worrying about the wrong things? Should my priorities lie in more 'useful' skills? Are we failing young people today by making them study things which have no relevance to the 21st century?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I know I'm very old but I have never regretted being almost brought up on Shakespeare. I was educated in Warwick, a few miles from Stratford, and we used to go to at least performances a year, then, when we were old enough, cycle over in the summer holidays to get standing tickets for the rest.
Not all that long ago we took some friends children to AMSND, it was a very funny, very bawdy, outrageous performance which had the whole audience rolling in the aisles, at least half the audience were school children. One of the kids with us, who had read it at school said, 'I didn't know it was supposed to be funny.' I think part of the problem can be that some teachers, not you obviously, HAVE to teach it without really liking it or appreciating it. Although I was very lucky and went to a very good school I was an adult before I realized how funny Emma is.
I think if you can engage the interest of the children, I don't think it really matters how, you are opening a door for them through which they may go through,though some of course won't!
erratum: at least two
I wasn't taught much that was useful at teacher training college, but one exhortation has stuck: 'Don't overestimate your pupils' previous knowledge, or underestimate their power to learn new things'.
But yes, it does appal. About 30 years ago I was shocked by Year 10 pupils never having heard the quotation, 'Greater love hath no man than this'. Some thought it might have been Shakespeare, so at least they'd heard of him then. And the book 'Red Badge of Courage', which my head of dept. was convinced they'd love, left them cold. They'd never heard of ancient Sparta, so couldn't see the humour in the protagonist's mother urging him to send home his dirty socks for washing instead of to return with his shield or on it. Having been brought up with TV war news reels they'd never imagined that war was anything but a bloody, inglorious mess. And that I found truly encouraging.
Post a Comment