As teachers become ever more targeted on performance, the tendency towards “teaching to test" is growing. Specifically, grooming children to pass exams is resulting in a narrowed education and the fun of learning exploration is in decline. We need more educational games to induce interest, enjoyment and increase the band width in learning; after all, that’s what it is all about.
School days are becoming a daily grind. The curriculum and performance targets conspire to narrow the scope of our children’s learning in preference of techniques that lead to better results. Whilst the measure of success is all that is subsequently recognised there is a downside. Bernice McCabe, head of North London collegiate school, said recently “Teachers were struggling to enhance the richness of their subjects and the sheer enjoyment of studying them. Lessons merely provided cultural and intellectual impoverishment for pupils."
The possibility of a sea of change in our educational system is distant. Requiring government intervention that is both ponderous and frequently transitory, it will take a generation of children to prove or disprove any change in policy. In the meantime can parents and employers continue to watch from the sidelines? Potentially their active involvement in the schooling process can reap dividends in the breadth of learning given to children. As parents, we want the best for our children, and as employers, we want an all round education that allows employees to think outside the box. This can only emerge if the span of education is a precursor in any examination. Teachers, in the meantime, are frustrated by the limitations in the scope of the curriculum. Urging expansion in their role, they welcome the support from greater active parental involvement in the schooling process.
Ironically modern teaching resources have come to the aid of teachers, parents and children. Classroom lessons can now be emulated back at home, using the same facilities. Developed by educationalists they comprise of DVD’s, educational games, toys and puzzles to enrich the teaching process. Use of these games in the classroom is often restricted due to time constraints. This is ideally where parents can supplement the process at home.
Turning maths into a game; English into a quiz and science into an investigation in school and at home can be great fun. The interactive involvement of parents can be a supportive and highly productive way to maintain a dynamic view of a child’s progress. The child sees the parent as a proactive ally rather than a distant “do your homework" authority; and teachers welcome the move.
Pressure on teachers to hit targets to appease the inspectorate will inevitably continue to impact on the classroom. A change would involve children again being guinea pigs in the process. Yet teachers are surely the best people to suggest the ideal approach. Their skill, judgement and experience should play a greater role in enriching the learning journey. Reinforcing the curriculum through the greater involvement of educational games helps understanding, improves attention, experimentation and the overall holistic understanding.
The child improves their understanding of the subject matter, with the support of their parents, by revising or revisiting the activity undertaken in the classroom at their own pace, not that of a crowded classroom. Parents become empowered to help their child’s development at home by working in conjunction with the teacher at the right time, rather than waiting historically for the end of term report.
This hands-on approach by parents would continue the active educational bond with their children nurtured during infancy and all too often abandoned when they go to school.
Alistair Owens keen2learn
Alistair Owens struggled at school. He is passionate about the role parents can play to support their child’s progress at school. Modern technologies incorporated into an extensive range of educational games allow parents to rekindle the level of one to one support given when their child was an infant. The dynamic involvement of a parent helps the teacher and provides the child with a learning mentor for the duration of their schooling journey.
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