Monday 30 November 2009

I picked up a copy of 'We Are The People We've Been Waiting For' in the Guardian on Saturday. I managed to watch it this evening...

"The world is changing rapidly but our education system is not keeping pace."

The film is an independent documentary, inspired and guided by Lord Puttnam and Sir Michael Barber, which explores the education system in the UK. The film follows five young people and asks whether our current system provides young people with the opportunity to develop their talents and abilities. Sir Richard Branson, Professor Germaine Greer, Henry Winkler, Bill Bryson and Sir Ken Robinson share their personal experiences in this thought-provoking film which offers us all a unique insight and reveals a very inconvenient truth about education. Everyone who cares about education and learning should watch this film which you can find at http://www.wearethepeoplemovie.com/.

The film argues for a strong investment in teaching and learning where we respect and trust colleagues to inspire young people but also argues for a new pedagogy of learning that values flexibility, creativity and alternative ways of doing things. It argues that we need to re-imagine teaching and learning and to re-invent the curriculum to unlock the potential and magic in each and every learner. We need to consider what is possible and how we reach all our young people through more experimental approaches. We need a new generation of teachers to coach, guide and support our young learners and to make better use of technology to stretch and challenge and connect with young peoples interests.

This is the basis of the Dalton method and the Kunskapsskolan approach where we personalise and customise learning to meet the needs of each and everyone of our unique learners. We will always need great teachers to teach great lessons but these must be surrounded by a sea of opportunities which individual learners can access, adapt and use to reach their personal goals.
Happy to discuss.
Chris

2 comments:

helen gibson davies said...

Hello again Chris. We at Calverley Parkside are still singing and having fun with our music! We joined thousands of other children at Sheffield Arena on the 24th Nov to take part in the Young Voices concert. I took 38, Y5 and 6 children and four staff and we had a fantastic experience. Lots of parents made the journey and enjoyed every moment with us. This was a once in a lifetime experience for the c hildren and one that will linger in their memories long after SATS results have faded!
I love my job, I love being with the children, I love singing and making music with them and I sometimes despair of the political football that education is! But we all battle on trying our best and really caring about the children in our care. That is why we have so many children who return to visit us when they have moved on; they miss us they say!
All I need is happy children who love to come to school and parents who think our school is great!

Chris Edwards said...

Dear Helen, You're right... all our primary schools should be magical places full of the WOW factor; places where every child should sing, dance, read, count, play and create. OFSTED, DCSF, political fads and fancies... they all come and hopefully they will all go; great schools will always make the real difference to children, families and communities.
Keep up the great work.
Chris