i always read this guys articles in the mirror he usually talks a lot of sense,i think this for example is an excellent idea. :thumbsup:
Fear is the key in school yob crisis
Paul Routledge 02/11/2007
Sometimes, Gordon Brown talks a lot of sense. And sometimes he talks fashionable drivel. His sweeping condemnation of a "culture of failing schools" is precisely that.
There is no such thing, in the sense of an organised, deliberate campaign to educate children badly.
Of course, there are good schools and bad schools. Nobody denies that. And the bad schools are mainly found where everything else is bad - housing, employment, wages, social attitudes and, above all, parenting.
Schools are damaged by bad behaviour because discipline has gone out of the classroom window.
Learning suffers hugely. Corporal punishment is not the answer, not just because it's illegal under European law but because it merely feeds violence among the young.
The thing that's missing in the classroom is fear. Unruly kids are not scared of anything that teachers can do to them. They should be.
Fear is not entirely a negative quality. It is a natural response to threatening circumstances and usually a very healthy feeling.
Children and young people must be taught to fear the consequences of their actions. That way, they will be more likely to think before they act. If I disrupt the class, will I be excluded? If I assault the teacher, will I end up in court? The answer to both these questions must be "Yes" and it has to be well understood at all levels in all schools.
Assaults on teachers must always be referred to the police and disruptive children should be excluded.
I would go further (well, I would, wouldn't I?). GCSEs tell only half the story. I would introduce a compulsory behaviour report for every pupil, kept up to date as they progress through school and written up in final form when they leave.
That report should be available to any prospective employer to whom a school leaver has applied for a job and any institute of further education to which they apply for a place.
I can think of no better incentive to decent behaviour, which is vital to improving education. It would harness fear to a constructive purpose.
If growing children are aware that their conduct is continuously being assessed, then they will think twice before throwing a book at teacher or ruining the education of their classmates.
My scheme would add to the burden of paperwork on schools but it would surely be worth it in the long run. More than anything, teachers need relative calm in the classroom, not the chaos all too prevalent today.
I offer this solution free, gratis and for nothing to my friend Ed Balls, the schools secretary. Will he have the balls to take me up on it?
Fear is the key in school yob crisis
Paul Routledge 02/11/2007
Sometimes, Gordon Brown talks a lot of sense. And sometimes he talks fashionable drivel. His sweeping condemnation of a "culture of failing schools" is precisely that.
There is no such thing, in the sense of an organised, deliberate campaign to educate children badly.
Of course, there are good schools and bad schools. Nobody denies that. And the bad schools are mainly found where everything else is bad - housing, employment, wages, social attitudes and, above all, parenting.
Schools are damaged by bad behaviour because discipline has gone out of the classroom window.
Learning suffers hugely. Corporal punishment is not the answer, not just because it's illegal under European law but because it merely feeds violence among the young.
The thing that's missing in the classroom is fear. Unruly kids are not scared of anything that teachers can do to them. They should be.
Fear is not entirely a negative quality. It is a natural response to threatening circumstances and usually a very healthy feeling.
Children and young people must be taught to fear the consequences of their actions. That way, they will be more likely to think before they act. If I disrupt the class, will I be excluded? If I assault the teacher, will I end up in court? The answer to both these questions must be "Yes" and it has to be well understood at all levels in all schools.
Assaults on teachers must always be referred to the police and disruptive children should be excluded.
I would go further (well, I would, wouldn't I?). GCSEs tell only half the story. I would introduce a compulsory behaviour report for every pupil, kept up to date as they progress through school and written up in final form when they leave.
That report should be available to any prospective employer to whom a school leaver has applied for a job and any institute of further education to which they apply for a place.
I can think of no better incentive to decent behaviour, which is vital to improving education. It would harness fear to a constructive purpose.
If growing children are aware that their conduct is continuously being assessed, then they will think twice before throwing a book at teacher or ruining the education of their classmates.
My scheme would add to the burden of paperwork on schools but it would surely be worth it in the long run. More than anything, teachers need relative calm in the classroom, not the chaos all too prevalent today.
I offer this solution free, gratis and for nothing to my friend Ed Balls, the schools secretary. Will he have the balls to take me up on it?
