This is week five of our new school at home project. This follows on from 5 months of school at home which was enforced across the country before the summer holidays. Son is in now in Year 10 which is the third year of secondary school – that’s a lot of numbers in so few words. Spot the sad Accountant. Don’t worry I have undergone counselling and I have not relapsed into accounting for two years now.

Something struck me today. That wasn’t just the incessant rain hammering down on our little hill. It was a teaching thought. How much information is spoon fed to our children and how few opportunities are given to them to think freely. Over the last 5 weeks it’s basically been learn this and then answer some questions on what you have been told to learn. The sources of information are closely controlled. Set texts. Set webpages. Set topics. So few opportunities to explore, to follow interests. In that period I can think of Art giving a chance to pick from a limited selection of options to explore Japanese Art. Another subject provided a chance to briefly research diseases (well that’s a barrel of laughs). Computing has allowed pupils the opportunity to pick which mini homework modules they can work through – but it has to be from one set site. Everything else has been carefully set.

Why not let the next generation learn to think for themselves. Follow their interests. Have fun learning. Maybe that would be a start of recognising that each child is unique.

No that’s not allowed. The current Government actually thinks it’s not controlled enough. For example schools have now been instructed to ban any material classed as anti capitalist. Where does that leave the discussion of climate change. More straight jackets applied to education.

It really shouldn’t be like this.

Surely the needs of our children outweigh the needs of the few.

51 thoughts on “The Few”

  2. I agree. There should be opportunities for kids to explore their interests. I remember many times being given an assignment where we had to choose the theme. Whether it was an art project or a report it’s always great to be given the choice to explore something that inspires you. School should be more flexible.

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  4. I think that is unschooling. You let the child follow their own interests and questions, and they do not follow a set curriculum. Mine doesn’t have those kinds of minds to be successful. One would further pursue his interests in the fine art of “napping.” The other would delve deeper into the fine art of “back talk.” The final would explore every avenue of ONE topic, depending on the season. Hawklad may do better, but it is an option!

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  7. I’m gonna start cursing again…🤬🤬🤬🤬 BoJo Trump school is creating perfect little non-thinking robots. This is every whack a doodle dystopian future come to life! Parrots and Tape recorders (dating myself with that one😉) can repeat back what you say too… are our children being turned into birds & machines?!

    School is supposed to give you some basic, foundation knowledge and teach you how to find out more. It’s supposed to spark your curiosity and help you fan that spark into a flame.

    What use will a society full of fact reguritators be? Who will “think outside the box” and find creative solutions??

    I guess it’s up to parents to inspire the love of learning. What is the tax money paying for if this is all children are getting? I know it’s not teacher’s salaries. Who’s getting the money?

    Sorry, Gary. I’ll stop ranting🤐🤐 education is a biggie to me! Our kids are going to be running things if we don’t wreck their future. They deserve better! 💌💌💌

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  10. Agreed! I think the future could be full of happy and successful adults if children were allowed to learn more freely. I think back to my time in school and there’s a lot of information I took in but didn’t retain. Why? Simply put, I wasn’t interested. I did what was required to pass the class and move on. Wishing you two all the best.

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  12. First of all…that is a great cloud photo! And yes, I agree, children should definitely be allowed to follow their interests. Of course the government wants to control what they learn. Wouldn’t want them learning inconvenient historical facts, for example, even thought everyone’s archives are full of those. Free thinking of the masses…OMG there might be an over throw. Can’t have that. But how are they to prevent kids from searching the web in any case? The only thing that concerns me is how to inform kids how to tell the difference between truth and lies? Seems to me that telling lies on the web should be a capital offense.

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  15. Our school systems are not training kids to be critical thinkers, that’s for sure. And learning is so much more fun when students can follow their own paths and investigate things that excite them. Yes, basics such as Math and languages are necessary evils (most kids dislike one or the other and sometimes both) but there really should be some leeway in other areas.

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  17. I agree totally. The main issue, I believe, is that the governments are setting us up to be robots, to do exactly what they tell us to do, and to refrain from doing what they decide we shouldn’t do. But we need to rise up and protest the whole thing, which many are now doing. It’s hard for the individual to to that, but where there are groups that are actually doing this, I pray that they will do it in an effective way that will get the desired results. It’s time government officials recognize the fact that it’s the people who voted them in and it’s the people who can vote them out next time. They need to realize that they have been elected to work for the people, not towards destroying them. Well, there’s my rant for the day.:-) Hope things will open up some for your son to be able to learn in a more positive and productive way to prepare him for adulthood.

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  19. Well you sir have hit the nail on the head…

    Yes they are force fed education and are missing a great amount

    School here is meant to be basis for learning but it neglects many areas

    Our schools probably have more freedom than yours… but ours still have issues and needs total revamp for time period

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