"Fuckit Lizzie - hard work yields improvement."

Yes, Richard, it most certainly does. And that is why my daughter has improved so much since she came out of school, because she decided *herself* to work hard, feeling that she wanted to, as she was finally free to study what she was interested in, to do two jobs, study for her degree, learn to drive and put money in the bank, all at the same time.

The trouble is, many children will not work hard when school expects, wants or demands that they do.

Our children have very little childhood any longer. Their innocent world grows smaller, faster, every year...and inbetween that they have to spend many hours AFTER school and during holidays and weekends slogging away at subjects they have absolutely no interest in, for homework. Why?

As far as inner city schools go, you need radical thinking, as in 'beyond current belief' thinking to bring those children in, and you will not bring them in with a National Curriculum that demands they MUST do this and that, and be tested at every given opportunity.

I actually have to admire some kids, because they've outwitted the control freaks and their demands. How? Simply by refusing to learn any longer. You cannot FORCE a child to learn. It is a natural instinct, and school is actually turning that off.

Do they ask why?
Do they ask the children why?

Nope, because they cannot take their feet out of the concrete that was poured into their buckets so long ago, and they are still doing things the same old way..."We teach. You learn. And YOU learn what we demand you learn, in OUR way!"

It no longer works.....

And there was a campaign about this a while back, I saw the posters and smiled, as their spelling was almost the same as mine...
Educashun Isn't Working! they screamed from billboards...trying to get people to ask why it's not doing that.

All the money that's poured in, the millions and billions and yet never have so many children dug their heels in and said 'NO!' before.

Many children do not have the capacity to concentrate for long periods anymore. The computer age has blown the way we learn apart.

It was interesting the other day, watching a programme about the internet revolution and how it's changed the way people think, gain knowledge etc. How it's actually changed the way our brains WORK.

They interviewed one of the tutors at Oxford University and he was saying how one of the first questions new students ask him is "Is there much reading to do, Sir?" and when he tells them there is a GREAT DEAL of reading, they groan and ask how long the books are.....then, they groan even more, saying how they don't read much, hardly ever...They do eventually knuckle down to read, but he almost has to teach them how to do that first.

Now, you and I will mourn the passing of reading books, mourn the loss of magic that goes with that, but the kids don't feel that way, because their magic comes from another source. Hopefully, they will discover the joy of reading at some point in their lives....

Maybe they'd discover it if they were simply allowed, for two hours a day, to curl up in large beanie bags in school, in brightly coloured classrooms, which felt like comfy, cosy rooms, with a coffee bar in the corner, serving soft drinks, some music playing, just softly..and they were actually trusted to be left to read, to read *whatever* they wanted, un-interrupted, with no worry of being asked questions on it later, just being able to experience the pure joy of reading...or even listening to a book being read to them via headphones, able to chill out, lie on the floor, feel at ease.

Maybe if they were allowed to learn EVERYTHING without the constant worry of being tested...?

Many children now think, feel and learn very differently to how we did. Their brains do not understand the 'old' ways, just as ours do not understand the 'new'....but somehow, somewhere, in some way, we have to learn to meet in the middle, instead of demanding that 'these bad children' do it 'our' way. They are not bad, merely bored and pissed off.   They already have shite home lives, and they don't want to spend the majority of their day in a shite school environment being tested, assessed, weighed and measured.

Perhaps, for the first time ever, teachers are going to have to start learning the 'new' way, from their pupils.

Many teachers have always had much to learn from their students, but perhaps have been too long on 'transmit' Perhaps now has come the time to switch to 'receive'.


Bert, my daughter always wanted to count on her fingers for math. The class wa never allowed to, getting told off severely if they even dared to think about it. This confused her brain totally because she could no longer 'see' the quantity of the sum. Then the mental arithmetic tests started with five seconds per answer being allowed and well...that was it..chaos and anxiety in her head...

Years back I read a great book written by a math teacher from the 1970s. He told of a day when he had to address a meeting of fellow mathematicians. He was doing some calculations on the board, and used his fingers to work it all out. He was laughed at by his companions. He then told them he had no problem with anyone using their fingers to work things out. Indeed, he thought it eminently sensible and part of what fingers were for! He also believed anything which helped to make maths easier was a great way forward. His audience went very quiet.

Yes, to make mathematics a game, fun, is a great idea.