The wisdom of Mr. Gove.

[MrGongGong]

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/teacher-blasts-education-secretary-michael-gove-at-royal-television-society-awards-9200832.html

[Serial_Apologist]

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...s-9200832.html

Bottom of the class!

[MrGongGong]

Bottom of the class!

Some of the pompous responses are worthy of our old mate Simon :laugh:

[teamsaint]

more insanity from our control obsessed " leaders".

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/children-should-start-school-at-two-says-chief-schools-inspector-sir-michael-wilshaw-9233687.html

[Serial_Apologist]

more insanity from our control obsessed " leaders".

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/ed...w-9233687.html

I would think the unholy combination of play-deprivation and thwarted over-expectations will continue to provide the unhappy divided nation of people at each other's throats this government wants to keep enslaved and in the pockets of the rich and powerful, TS.

[teamsaint]

I would think the unholy combination of play-deprivation and thwarted over-expectations will continue to provide the unhappy divided nation of people at each other's throats this government wants to keep enslaved and in the pockets of the rich and powerful, TS.

Very true, and very sad, S_A.

One thing that keeps me optimistic is that many people do see through this control obsesssion.
Vox pop sites like footy forums are a cause for hope, despite some of the daily mail sentiments that also get expressed.

Nothing is for ever.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

more insanity from our control obsessed " leaders".

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/ed...w-9233687.html

Complete insanity! The Foundation Curriculum is based upon a template created by Frau Alpensinfonie in the late 90s. Unlike the new insane proposal, this one was based on play, and what was appropriate for the age and development of the children. Force feeding has long-term repercussions.

[MrGongGong]

Complete insanity! The Foundation Curriculum is based upon a template created by Frau Alpensinfonie in the late 90s. Unlike the new insane proposal, this one was based on play, and what was appropriate for the age and development of the children. Force feeding has long-term repercussions.

Indeed

How many so called "successful" students do you encounter who get half way through their degree course and find that they are bewildered by why they are there and WHAT it's all about anyway ?

And

how many times do I have to say to music students that it's called PLAYING for a reason ?

[Anna]

I would think the unholy combination of play-deprivation ....

Children learn through play, clapping rhymes, counting songs, etc., and I cannot think of anything more ridiculous to try to enforce some 'formal' education on a class of two year olds (some of which will have far more advanced verbal skills than others, as children do, this is normal) Surely the solution is to support parents, not to remove the child? As an aside, reading that these 'poor and disadvantaged children' come from families where the income is £16,000 and below, if I were such an economically deprived parent I would feel mightily narked that the mere fact of that monetary poverty meant it was assumed my child wasn't receiving the necessary nurturing and encouragement from me! (I wonder if Gove et al have ever been hands-on parents with fractious two year olds?)

[jean]

It all depends on what you mean by formal education, though.

My sister-in-law is deputy head of a primary school in a very deprived area. A proportion of her intake in reception class every year cannot hold a pen when they arrive. They are also not toilet-trained, cannot tie their shoelaces, have poor verbal skills because they've been in front of a TV all day and nobody talks to them, and some cannot even walk properly because they're kept strapped into buggies.

Of course parents should be able to teach their children all these skills and given the support to understand how important they are, but failing that, a good nursery would pick up the pieces. I think the point was that some nurseries were not doing it, and school-based nurseries could be relied upon to perform the task better.

(And remember this was a suggestion from OFSTED, not Gove.)

[teamsaint]

I would imagine that high level Ofsted officials rather like their well paid jobs out of the front line, and are smart enough to know which way the political wind is blowing.

Jean's point about five year old with low level life skills is still one about the social structure rather than school education.

[jean]

It's about both, and it needs to be tackled by as many means as can be thought of.

Even Sure Start, so disgracefully truncated by this government, only reached the parents who were ready to be reached.

.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It all depends on what you mean by formal education, though.

My sister-in-law is deputy head of a primary school in a very deprived area. A proportion of her intake in reception class every year cannot hold a pen when they arrive. They are also not toilet-trained, cannot tie their shoelaces, have poor verbal skills because they've been in front of a TV all day and nobody talks to them, and some cannot even walk properly because they're kept strapped into buggies.

There are different issues here. I couldn't tie my shoelaces before I went to school. I couldn't hold a pencil either. But I was ready to learn because I had learnt to play. My mother was a teacher, but hadn't hot-housed me.
Neither had she strapped me in a buggy with the TV (though were the only ones in the street to own one).

[teamsaint]

It's about both, and it needs to be tackled by as many means as can be thought of.

Even Sure Start, so disgracefully truncated by this government, only reached the parents who were ready to be reached.

.

Probably a fair comment, but I worry that its "cart before the horse " stuff.

Until those in the top 10% (1 %, 0.1% ?) have a real interest in change , I fear things will stay broadly the same. 20% plus leaving 12 years of full time education illiterate and innumerate, a big group at the bottom of society thoroughly unengaged with the rest of their country (let alone the wider world), a big chunk of the middle class working like nutters just to buy a small home,and so on and so on.

[jean]

There are different issues here. I couldn't tie my shoelaces before I went to school. I couldn't hold a pencil either. But I was ready to learn because I had learnt to play. My mother was a teacher, but hadn't hot-housed me.
Neither had she strapped me in a buggy with the TV (though were the only ones in the street to own one).

Miss out the shoelaces, then. They're not essential to the argument.

Just think about the rest.

Any child multiply deprived to the extent I've outlined is going to be seriously disadvantaged throughout their school career.