An article in ‘The Times online’ talks about how ‘a whistleblower tells how her fellow inspectors fret more over pupils lunch boxes than their literacy!! ‘
Why does this not surprise me; because knowing what I know about government organisations (I used to run Sheffield school dinners for the local authority for 5 years), I ‘could’ totally believe their interest in the latest gimmicks and fads within schools. I could also believe that they lose the sense of context and the reality of what they were designed to do in the first place. This is a little harsh, but I agree with the author, it’s definitely true for me.
“School shatters your dreams before you get anywhere.” – It’ hard for me to disagree with this when I see the students body language in the workshops I run, they look disinterested and not ‘bovvered’ before we’ve even started. I know that their aspirations are determined to a large degree by their parents and their environment. The problem for me, is that many of them seem to have ‘given up’ so soon !!!
It also quotes…
“Ofsted is subject to political pressure. The emphasis is on what makes the government look good rather than what might benefit pupils”. I can easily believe that this point is true. NOT being a teacher, I don’t know, but I can believe that there are so many new initiatives to contend with. My experience of government/local authorities is that they are very risk averse and are very good at ‘covering their back-sides’, rather than necessarily benefiting the students. Show me a ‘brave’ local authority !!!
For me I feel very fortunate because I don’t have anybody to answer to, I just get to talk about stuff that benefits and changes the lives of students.
My view is that if at the same time ‘it happens’ to fit in with the curriculum (SEAL, PSHE and Every Child Matters), then great, if NOT…. I’m not bovvered !!
There is no ‘political agenda’ with what we do, all we’re interested in is harnessing the ‘dreams of young people’. Everything we do directly benefits the pupil irrespective of whether it looks good or not !!
I’m sure that Cedric (the boy featured in the article) does possess considerable talent, but the BIG question is whether or not the education system or Cedric will ever get to find out !!!
It’s a bit political and a bit Ben Elton !! and I like it…
