Having worked in teaching and training most of my adult life, I had become increasingly interested in sharing what I had learnt. But I was unsure how best to do it. My daughter-in-law finally persuaded me to ‘get it down’ in a blog….so here goes!!
Achieving ‘Common sense learning, education and schooling’ is something I’ve always had as a distant goal. In ‘retirement’ however, I remain frustrated that it still seems a long way off. As a society I believe we have lost our way and I see it reflected in the education system we have operating now.
So, key questions I think we should be asking are:
- What kind of education and schooling should we be receiving in the 2020s?
- How should we be learning?
- What should we be learning ?
- Who should decide what and how we learn?
- Where do I start with something like this?
I decided I should start by reflecting and acknowledging where my views about all this come from.
I’m aware that our core values and our social and political views emerge in our early years: “Give me a child till s/he is 7 and I will show you the wo/man”. What we see, what we are told, what we read and what we experience as part of a particular kind of family and community in those early years has a strong influence in the formation of our opinions, values and beliefs , going forward. New life experiences as we get older then provide degrees of support and/or challenge to these early assumptions.
This is why I decided , before giving my ‘answers’ to the 5 questions above, to start this blog by reflecting on the learning experiences I had as a school student and why and how this led to the views I have had for some time about the learning and education that I believe should now be operating in our society and which I think should be a matter of ‘Common Sense’!!
Early Education
I remember going to at least 5 primary schools due to our continuous moving as an RAF family. Perhaps, as a result, I don’t remember too much about the teaching I received or what I learnt.
At school number one, on the positive side, I remember learning by singing the alphabet and loving the tune used and that I sang it at Christmas to my grandparents.
On the negative side I unfortunately remember being threatened and stood over whilst I forced down and retched on my school lunch of butter beans when they appeared on my plate. I became quite adept from then onwards at scattering most of them under the table. Needless to say I have never eaten them since!
School #2
At school number two I learnt, wrongly and only temporarily, that people who lived in the ‘Airman’s Quarters’ were nasty and unpleasant. This followed a visit by me and a friend to the playground that was situated near these quarters rather than our own ‘Officers Quarters’. I foolishly left my new Xmas present, a toy rifle, by the swings and when I realised and went back it had gone. We were sure we knew who had taken it but we received a polite rebuff from the parents when we knocked on the door. Looking back I remember being angry at ‘those kind of people’. I felt they were very different and not like us nice people at all. It was only much later that I realised it had been part of an accepted apartheid type of structure that I was cocooned in, being isolated on or near airfields in the middle of nowhere . I remember nothing about the school other than the existence of outside toilets; a new experience!
School #3
At school number 3 I remember a very strict female teacher who made me enjoy subtraction, multiplication and division by explaining it in a way I understood and allowing us plenty of time to practise. On the negative side, though I enjoyed singing the times table and remembered it quickly as a result, I often received a sudden and hard slap on my leg if my concentration wandered.
School #4
At school number 4, I learnt (was taught) that I was very average in ability and effort. It said exactly that on my reports and my seating position in the classroom reflected the fact as I was placed 18th out of 35. The fact that I can remember my exact position bears witness to how ingrained and significant this bit of ‘learning’ was to my assumptions about what was ‘normal’ and my own self-esteem.
On the more positive side I have very clear memories of the project I chose to do, the first time we had a free choice. I chose the big story of the time which was the Munich air crash. It was probably the first time I had had to read a newspaper story in detail and it had a strong affect on me. As a result I produced a detailed piece of work that I put up on my bedroom wall complete with the commendation I had received for it. I also became a life-long Manchester Utd. supporter as a result! At the same time as receiving 4 gold stars, I remember mumblings about an 11+ exam which was about 18 months away and somehow, probably at a parents’ evening (which was strictly for the parents only!) that I was unlikely to pass it so wouldn’t be receiving any additional lessons to help prepare for it. This was probably the first time I unconsciously suffered the consequences of the ’Self-fulfilling Prophecy’ but was, not surprisingly, quite unaware of it.
School #5
My last Primary school, number 5 was a very different experience all together! It was in a tough area of Liverpool and very different to my previous rural village schools. I arrived as a clear outsider so was relieved to find that my fellow pupils were curious rather than hostile towards me. I was soon asked, very politely as I recall, to join a gang although I don’t remember this Gang actually doing anything. I soon learnt to be friendly with some and respectful of others but was never aware of any bullying. The only bullying I recall was from a particularly amorous and aggressive girl who was always demanding running races round the playground!
I distinctly remember being very pleased to find myself in the top 6 of the 30+ pupils in the class rather than my previous 18th in Essex. I never asked myself or anyone else why however. Classroom learning? I recall only two things: One was the really clear and gradual teaching (revising?!) of long division and the other was the seemingly endless lessons competing to find the correct map references for the various towns, villages and landmarks and places in the atlas called out by the teacher. I remember enjoying these sessions nevertheless!
In terms of other learning two things stand out. Firstly, the school nativity play and the enjoyment of rehearsals after school that included tea made by my rather lovely class teacher at the time! I remember the feeling of having some control over the outcome through choosing costumes and learning lines, it seemed informal and very daring at the time.
Secondly the combination of fear and thrill in going on a school camp for the weekend without my parents. The Unknown surroundings, doubts as to what was going to happen, getting myself up and getting ready for the day were new and welcome and made me realise that I needed to be able to stand on my own two feet.
I also found myself, with about 8 others ,having after school lessons with the headmaster. This was to prepare us for the now familiar and dreaded 11+, an exam, the significance of which was unknown to me at the time. I was also having private lessons once a week in the evening which I assumed was quite common.
These sessions consisting rehearsing over and over the same IQ related questions and answers that would be needed. These were also aimed, though I didn’t realise it at the time, to prepare me for an entrance exam for a direct grant/private secondary school in Cambridge. I vaguely remember my parents chatting about it with some Air force friends when we had lived in Essex. Their son was at the school and had obviously recommended this school at the time; just so weird, thinking about it now, that I thought being sent away to a boarding school hundreds of miles away was perfectly normal!!
