Article in the Sund Express from the Head of a Schl in Brum

Discussion of all things non-11 Plus related

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

Post Reply
Daogroupie
Posts: 11099
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Article in the Sund Express from the Head of a Schl in Brum

Post by Daogroupie »

Did anyone else read this extraordinary article about life in a secondary school in Birmingham where they have to go and get some of the children out of bed to come and sit their GCSE's because their parents don't place any value on education. And how many of the children have to run their own lives because their parents are no longer bothered with them?
mv45
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2010 8:14 am

Re: Article in the Sund Express from the Head of a Schl in B

Post by mv45 »

Do you have a link to this article??
Amber
Posts: 8058
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: Article in the Sund Express from the Head of a Schl in B

Post by Amber »

One must remember that the Sunday Express is not exactly the last word in impartial, high quality journalism. It could just be that there is a little bit of sensationalist exaggeration here?
magwich2
Posts: 866
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2008 5:33 pm

Re: Article in the Sund Express from the Head of a Schl in B

Post by magwich2 »

I am afraid I do not think it is exagerrated from what DH says about his school in a rather leafier part of the west midlands.
Snowdrops
Posts: 4667
Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:20 pm

Re: Article in the Sund Express from the Head of a Schl in B

Post by Snowdrops »

.... and I also suspect it doesn't happen in just Birmingham either. Many cities, towns and villages will see this sort of behaviour many times over. Let's face it, it's not new behaviour. Fathers and mothers have always come with many different attitudes and ideas, and they always will. I'm not condoning their behaviour, I'm just saying t'was ever thus!
Image
ews147
Posts: 152
Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2008 10:47 pm

Re: Article in the Sund Express from the Head of a Schl in B

Post by ews147 »

Well, if nothing else, the article serves to illustrate why teaching cannot be compared to working in the hospitality sector,as one parent, recently, tried to do on another thread. These pupils will cleary not like the starter(no matter how 'exciting' teacher tries to serve it up), be mortified by the main course, and will have walked out by the desert, without paying the bill.They will then have the audicity to show up the following week, without fear of being 'barred for life'. Enough to drive any teacher to the annoymous TES teaching forum to let off a bit of steam :wink:

I agree though,that this 'cultural' problem has always existed in schools to a greater or lesser degree.Old colleagues of mine will verify it, but say teaching was actually easier because there was far less pressure on the teacher to create and prepare all 'singing and dancing' lessons in a desperate bid to engage some of the worst kids.Teachers dished out often dreary tasks with minimal preparation.If the child failed his Olevel/CSE, then that was that-it was deemed the child's fault for not applying himself, and there was no comeback on the teacher. This was clearly not good practice, however, despite the emphasis being shifted from pupil to teacher, and far more engaging teaching methods being deployed,standards are not really any better. What we can conclude from this, is that to radically improve education, we would need to look outside the classroom and fundamentally change the core values which underpin our capitalist liberal democracy, namely our obsession with currency. It is no coincidence that those who value education the highest are from very different philosophical and political structures to our own - often communism . Anyone up for it?
Amber
Posts: 8058
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: Article in the Sund Express from the Head of a Schl in B

Post by Amber »

What we can conclude from this, is that to radically improve education, we would need to look outside the classroom and fundamentally change the core values which underpin our capitalist liberal democracy, namely our obsession with currency.
I do agree and think this touches on an unpalatable truth, namely that most people are just not very nice now, and are keen primarily on self-advancement and material gratification. In the olden days of which you speak, a parent would generally support a school in a disciplinary matter involving their child. Now, the parents will go to the ends of the earth to avoid a child having to take the rap for something they have done wrong, and the power lies with the child, who generally knows it. There are no such thing as 'average' children any more - only bright ones who either have a specific learning difficulty or are being let down by the school. Teachers and schools are blamed for failure - because it is easier to blame someone else than to look at our own children, our own parenting, our own aspirations and our own society and its values to see what is going wrong.

I remember being given lines in my first month at secondary school for something I did not do. My father shrugged and said 'bad luck'. I did the lines and made sure I wasn't anywhere near bother the next time. Now, that father would be straight up to the school complaining about the injustice (and yes, I probably would be too, though have been caught out a couple of times defending my precious offspring while in possession of just 50% of the facts. I did send notes of apology to the teachers though, and give the child concerned a dressing down!).

It is a cliche to say that we are now too concerned with rights and not concerned enough with responsibilities; but I believe it to be true nevertheless.
Muggle
Posts: 441
Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2009 10:24 pm

Re: Article in the Sund Express from the Head of a Schl in B

Post by Muggle »

Amber wrote:One must remember that the Sunday Express is not exactly the last word in impartial, high quality journalism. It could just be that there is a little bit of sensationalist exaggeration here?
I work in a school in a deprived area of London and on a daily basis come across situations that would make the most sensational tabloid story seem very tame. I'd say the report underplays the situation in many schools.
mad?
Posts: 5621
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 6:27 pm
Location: london

Re: Article in the Sund Express from the Head of a Schl in B

Post by mad? »

Amber wrote:
What we can conclude from this, is that to radically improve education, we would need to look outside the classroom and fundamentally change the core values which underpin our capitalist liberal democracy, namely our obsession with currency.
It is a cliche to say that we are now too concerned with rights and not concerned enough with responsibilities; but I believe it to be true nevertheless.
SO TRUE
mad?
Post Reply