Blog posts in February 2012 
-
What price success?
Monday 20 February 2012
Categories: Careers, Education, Higher Education
In a recent issue of The Times Educational Supplement, maths teacher Jonny Griffiths recounted a conversation he had had with a highly achieving but anxious A level student who had approached him (again) for advice about his studies. Seeing how anxious the student was, and knowing how counter-productive that can be, Jonny encouraged the student to try not to worry so much about his grades, finally saying, ‘what is better: to go to Cambridge with three As and hate it or to go to Bangor...
-
Get real... as if!
Friday 17 February 2012
The debate about whether a school is right to ban pupils’ use of slang (Daily Telegraph 14/2/2012 ) seems to me to be missing the point. I’ll get back to why the attempt to ban slang in school is not only futile but also misguided. Let’s start with what this school is trying to achieve.
Like all schools Sheffield Springs Academy wants to improve students’ job prospects – highly laudable, particularly in the current difficult economic situation. It believes students can improve...
-
What the Dickens?
Tuesday 7 February 2012
Categories: Education, Literacy, Media Influence
On the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens’ birth, his biographer, Claire Tomalin, claims that, “Today’s children have very short attention spans because they are being raised on dreadful TV programmes”. There ARE some dreadful television programmes today, as there were in the 1970s as I grew up, but there are some brilliant ones too. I wonder how many young people saw the excellent adaptation of ‘Great Expectations’ at Christmas, and were encouraged to try reading the novel...
-
Embracing failure
Monday 6 February 2012
Categories: Education, Growing up, Self-esteem, Teenagers
I remember once standing up to speak at an A level Awards presentation at the school where I was the head, and beginning, ‘Today I want to talk to you about failure…’ I still recall the uncomfortable ripple that went through the assembled audience of Year 13 leavers, their parents, the staff and guests. It was a word we just didn’t use in school. We talked about success all the time, and, if we ever needed to talk about its opposite, we referred to ‘areas for development’ or...
-
Maths - geekdom or artistry?
Friday 3 February 2012
Categories: Education, Media Influence, Numeracy, Role Models
I wonder if it’s time for a rethink. I’ve always believed that the reason many girls – particularly those in co-ed schools – tend to dislike maths is because anything they find difficult brings about a fear of failure. I have taught girls maths for years and experience tells me that, to succeed, girls need to feel safe – safe to make mistakes, safe to admit their misunderstandings and thus safe to fail.
I thought this meant that the main thing girls need to succeed in maths is...