Learning lessons from teaching

by Mike

Do we put children under too much pressure to succeed and be better then their parents? It is just interesting that the topic has been brought up in Britain and Ireland in the past week in relation to exactly how much stress children are weighed down by with exams and other pressures of growing up.

Now maybe the simple answer is the same answer the older generation always give; “You’ve never had it so good” so it is possible that we allow our teenagers to moan too much about their lot in life and nothing will ever be good enough for them.

However maybe they have a point. Maybe the system currently used to grade students is old hat and is due for a massive overhaul. I know from my own perspective that the last thing I would even want to consider is to take on the amount of work again that I had top for the Junior and Leaving Certificates.

It just felt to me like I wasn’t actually learning anything, but that I was memorising it (two different things) and because of that I think unconsciously I never fully embraced a number of subjects as much as I should. Maybe it goes back to the line in the song, ‘Ooh La La’, “I wish that I knew what I know now,when I was younger”

So maybe there is the added pressure of having to remember so much, whether we like it or not. It is argued that those methods will help us throughout life but I wonder then why you have so many students coming out of secondary school more confused then ever as to what they want to do with their lives?

The Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin wants to restructure the Leaving Cert timetable which is a good start, and one of the few times you will see me agreeing with a decision made by this government, but how about a proper overhaul that will help students and teachers alike?

Surely there must be a way to come together and get the points of view across. It is possible, a long shot though, that it could result in more harmony in the classroom.

Sunday, October 14th, 2007 and is filed under Thoughts & Questions, Views on News.