Pupil views, accountability and entitlement

[Mike Temple]

Having read the last 3 TES papers together, I was not surprised to see a dearth of real substance around the issues surrounding pupils in school, especially those who are disaffected. Following my last post, it would seem that continued engagement in worthwhile, purposeful, goal oriented activity is essential for future wellbeing and even survival in the following decades.
The article 'Pupil views?No, let them make decisions' caught my eye and the content seems to ask some pretty searching questions

It advocates pupils expressing their views on their own education and their involvement in the factory education system we have at the moment, one that is undoubtedly going to measure our children more and more in the future and try to pigeonhole them regardless of their views or needs. The old adage of 'good education = good job' just doesn't hold up to scrutiny, yet it's what most teachers preach day in day out during those exam years 10 and 11. No surprise then, that the students fail to complete coursework and refuse to redo assignments. Going to university is even more remote from the workplace as many graduates simply do not match their degrees to any real career path - it seems like the courses are there for the universities to succeed, despite there being no job at the end of 3 years.

Careers advice is not much better and many teachers are simply not trained to give the advice, yet take on posts of responsibility to do just that. Imagine any other subject being taught purely on your own experience of the workplace - I think teachers are possibly the least qualified to share their wisdom (or lack of it) around employment pathways.

The ESSA English Secondary Students' Association seem to be taking the matter seriously and are pursuing routes to make change. It advocates them being co-constructors of their education - now there's an idea. Actually asking the pupils what they really need from their time in education, perhaps even as simply as working in their preferred learning style can make a difference. Suggestions like Podcasts for revision, text reminders and updates (pushing bluetooth), virtual learning, video conferences, wikis and forums, all of which are easily and mostly freely available, but just not used. Recent statistics showing that only around 30% of schools are making good use of ICT would underline the lack of this type of approach. I just don;t think it's acceptable any more for teachers not to be using technology and adapting their learning and teaching styles to the 21st C, some of them are still teaching in the 19th! Without a real push for change, teachers will carry on teaching boring, uninteresting lessons and expecting students to sit still, write notes and discuss matters from time to time. Not enough, I hear thousands of pupils say. Not enough, by far.
Students are saying "I demand an entitlement to an up-to-date curriculum, delivered in and up-to-date manner with content that relates to me and the world around me."

Timetables are just that. They are not fixed to start at 8.30 and finish at 4. Some schools have started their days at 11am and have seen massive success in attendance, engagement and results. The naysayers would deem that this flexible learning does not match the workplace and children should learn discipline to get up early and work all day. Again, in the 19th C that would be appropriate, but for today's market, not so. Flexibility, passion and motivation are key factors in future success and we need to be seeing much more of this in our schools.

Do read the article and post comments

[Richard Crook]

As a worker and a dad I'm all for flexible working hours and surely that must mean flexible learning hours. Sometimes school staff operate as if in a bubble; unaware that the majority of the working population don't have school holidays, and are happy to meet at 6pm. My own experiences with schools has been varied, and probably mirrors the ethos of each school. At the end of the day an open, transparent management will embrace engagement with learners and see value too in making the school accessible to parents and local residents alike.

So yes, let's start the school day at 11.00, but only if I can work from home for the first part of the morning (or bring my children into the workplace and nip off to do the school run before returning again at 11.30. One employer had a big problem with me bringing my children into work, yet the last time the need occured we all had a great time- my 10 year old loved using the shredder, doing some filing and going over to the network printer to retrieve documents. All in all a good experience, and my colleagues enjoyed having a youngster brighten up the day.

As for careers advice, I can't agree more; teachers are the only profession who go to school and stay there for the rest of their adult life. We need to be more fluid with the way we see divisions- workers in industry can play their part to break them down by offering teaching sessions and using ICT to connect real-world learning with the classroom (for example why not a local engineering firm host a videoconference with a school to look at resistive technologies.) And teachers need to be given the freedom to get out more- shadowing opportunities, secondments and short periods of time spend looking from the outside in can have dramatic effects; bring new perspectives, alternative ways of approaching problems and even seeing yourself.

And lets not forget the older population who have an enormous reservoir of knowledge and experience often stagnating whilst a nearby school stresses out over lack of resources and time.

Let's have a walkoutabout week- all chairs go under desks and we all get out and about and make some new connections. Like when it snows and everyone leaves their car at home- this simple change helps people make new relationships and find alternatives. ICT can only help this process, so let's get going.