THE TEENS' SPEECH BLOG

Jan, Midlands Posted 6.11.09 at 11.05 p.m.

I absolutely agree with all said, I sat an exam today, I will pass because I can memorise stuff. However some of my colleagues will not pass because they cannot put it into words and yet they are more talented than I am in the more practical aspects of what we are training to do.................very sad

Ollie, London Posted 9.11.09 at 01.21 p.m.

Good questions and very well articulated.

I completed my degree some time ago and looking back, I now feel there is too much emphasis placed on the attainment of good grades.

Education should be about enjoying learning and, as Jan mentioned in the post above, I see little benefit in cramming facts and then regurgitating them onto an examination paper.

My message for young people would be that you can easily be successful in life without being academically gifted. In the real world, initiative and hard work counts for more than good exam grades.

Nick, Suffolk - 15, South East Posted 13.11.09 at 08.59 p.m.

Firstly, this is brilliant! I love the fact that we might actually get a chance to voice our opinions!

I am in my last year of compulsory education, and hopefully going onto 6th Form or Collage. During the last three years I have really developed my views on this topic, and honestly, I hate the current school system;
The discipline in my area, I have to say, is fine. Apart from the small minority who smoke outside, or do drugs behind the ice-cream van, I think that our school (at least) does a satisfactory job of keeping us in line as it were.
I have been bullied on occasions throughout my school life, but it was never a major factor, most of it was because I made stupid mistakes, which people used against me.

The main issue for me, is similar to what you said; "Its about getting the best out of people, and not just about keeping school's traditional methods." That has always been a huge issue for me, and it is exactly right. As it stands at the moment, the factor that will define weather or not I achieve an A* or a U is this;
Memory Skills - In the earlier comment they talk about this. To add to that, it is about how much effort you put in, and if you can be bothered to learn a subject which your forced to take. I realize this is partly the fault of the individual, as it is just laziness, but the motivation which will get rid of laziness is down to the teachers, and school. What I mean is this; We have all been told that to be successful in life, we have to get good grades, yet some students don’t care if they fail. Personally, I think this is because of the teaching methods of the schools.

They bore students. You have compulsory education up until the age of 16 (this is for the UK, and they are thinking about razing it). The problem with this is that school is being forced. It is illegal to miss school, and not be educated, and as most of our parents don’t home-school us, we are forced to enter a school and be taught subjects which we do not find interesting or helpful in our later lives. Maths is one example. I understand the importance of maths, but not the importance of the maths that I am being taught. I agree that I should be forced to go to school until I learn basic mathematical skills, and be able to finance my life and solve day-to-day maths puzzles, but they are wasting my time teaching me about solving quadratic equations using different methods!

My point to this section is this: Force children to learn what they NEED to know (and by that I really mean NEED), until they are old enough to find out what they’re interests are. 6 years in school, for me, is enough to teach this. After that, force pupils to take at least one “course” in (a) subject area(s) of their choice. This way, young teenagers will not have to deal with un-necessary pressures put on them by irrelevant subjects. Also, if the diversity in the courses available at collage are given to teenagers at an earlier age, they will develop specific, interesting skills which not only will they enjoy, but they will have spent 6 years focussed on it, plus the extra 2 years for collage! If they change they're mind half way though, then allow them to change courses. Dont give schools money for better grades, give staff only money for better grades. Give the schools with the lowest results money, not the best ones. Socialism, help the weak.

Going back to my original point, I have to spend not only valuable lesson time studying a subject that I have no interest in (and which will not be helpful to me), I also have to do the large amounts of homework from that subject, which otherwise would be used to get a better mark on the subjects I do want and need!

A sub-point to that is personal to my school; It is the mandatory teaching of R.E. I know that my school is a Catholic school, and that some of the people that go there are Catholic, but realistically, the majority of people who attend that school are there because it’s the best school in Suffolk! For me to have the best possible chance to succeed in my education, I HAVE to spend 2 AND A HALF HOURS of my school life studying about Catholic Mass, or Catholics view on abortion (the coursework that given to us), where they do not even consider the different religions that we have. For example, atheism! I expressed my anger at this point in a mock R.E. exam, and if I didn’t break up for the end of term a week later, I would have been forced to re-take that exam! I was told that to stay in that school, and get the best possible education, I would have to continue R.E. Is that giving us equal opportunities? My parent had to try desperately hard to get me and my two brothers in that school because we do not believe there is a God, and I had to pay for my bus pass, while Catholics got them for free. That’s about £130 per term!

My next point is that of lesson times: Firstly, lessons are too long. I was told that when revising, to spend half an hour on hard revision, and then 15 minutes break, giving me an “optimum” chance at learning. In my school, here is the times:
100 minutes (two lessons) à 15 minutes break (+5 to get to class) à 100 minutes (two lessons) à 55 minutes break (+5 minutes to get to class) à 100 minutes (two lessons).
That is far too long, according to the teachers themselves! Surely revision is the same as work, except that in work your learning it for the first time. In some subjects we spend far to long demonstrating skills, and not enough time learning them. (Maths again is a prime example. We learn something in 10 minutes, then spend 40 minutes showing that we can do it.

However, this differs if your doing practical work, and I fully understand the importance of time to do coursework (for example Design Technology, where you need 8 weeks of 150 minute lessons [actually 130 because some lessons are shortened for mass/assembly, another injustice] to do practical work).

That is the key issues that I think need to be changed in schools. Pupils do not want to learn, because they are being forced to do so. I would go to school if I wasn’t forced to, if I knew that I was learning valuable skills which would help me in later life, and not just spending time memorising things that I can write in a test for a single mark (A*-U) which determines the opportunities I get in future, and weather or not I earn £10K a year, or £100K!

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and with enough support, I do not see a valid reason why the school system should not be changed. Reduce the amount of money we spend on the Police, Prisons and the Army, and spend it on changing education until its perfect. When we succeed in teaching our youth, then we will have no need for crime. Crime, for the most part, is a necessity for some people. They have been forced into that situation by corruption, ignorance and a lack of proper teaching.

A quick example: How can you blame a child for doing drugs? That child has become addicted by exposure, peer pressure, and curiosity in the drug. Since you cannot stop curiosity, stop the exposure and peer pressure. A way to do that is by properly educating everyone, not just the young.
The people who make, sell, deliver those drugs do so for a profit, a profit which they can get by working to benefit the country. It is the same principle for Alcohol, and most crime.
Exposure, Attitude, Education, Necessity, Curiosity. How can you become curios in a drug you have never heard of? You cant.