Categories: uncategorized
Date: 25 September 2007 06:55:33
So there may be an election around the corner and we have a prime minister enjoying the party. So perhaps that is why is giving speeches like yesterday's containing delightful education policy, as reported on the BBC website .
Firstly the fact he wants to enable more students from low income families to go to uni, and not be put into debt. Well, perhaps he should have thought of the consequences when he was part of a government that bought in tutition fees and pushed the Thatcherite agenda forward. Perhaps, just perhaps they should have reintroduced full student grants instead and not thrown the baby out with the bath water when they were ditching socialism.
Secondly he wants every student to have a personal tutor and more individualised learning. On one hand this is brilliant and a move I fully support. However, on a practical level it is the sort of soundbite which should be banned.
1. What is a personal tutor? Every child has a form tutor who is a point of personal contact. So is he talking about 1:1 teaching for every pupil in specific subjects, I doubt it so what does he mean by personal tutor this is not clear.
2. Students increasingly have individual learning plans where the teacher is expected to target set and differentiate according to the needs of the individuals in their groups, and on one hand these have value. However, on a practical level if you are teaching classes (i.e. groups of pupils) you have to deliver to that whole group and so just use a mixture of methods to try and reach everybody. Also trying to individualise learning is great in theory but is very time consuming.
Therefore, my conclusions on Mr. Brown's speech are pretty much the same as what my view of the bloke was before. His heart is in the right place, but not sure that practically he is talking about stuff which can be followed through on.