ARmy Rumour SErvice

Originally Posted by Xplosiverab

I think the problem is learning to pass the exams, rather than learning whats really important. As in, teachers teach from past papers and try to predict what will come up in the next year. Ive seen it happen so many times.

Yes, very true - league table mania means we're judged on GCSE results, so - inevitably - there's a tendency to "teach to the test".

When doing A level English back in the '70s, we spent the lower sixth year reading texts other than those on which we'd be examined. This gave us broader perspectives and allowed our thinking to mature before getting on to the "real meat" of the A level syllabus. So, when I came to study "Hamlet" for the exam I'd already read 3 or 4 other Shakespeare plays, plus loads of sonnets etc, before getting to grips with the "big one". Same applied to Chaucer - studied General Prologue and a number of other "Canterbury Tales" before moving on to the Miller's & Pardoner's Tales for the exam. And so it went on - loads of C20th poetry prior to approaching Auden and Eliot; read "Oliver Twist" & "Hard Times" in preparation for "Bleak House" etc etc.

Whan I started teaching in the early '80s we still worked like this, but it simply is not possible today. 3 reasons why not:

1. AS/ A2 modular structure means that you have to focus on the next little exam - no time to indulge in broader intellectual development.

2. The system wouldn't allow it - you have to be "focused", "relevant", and everything has to be "fit for purpose", although, public exams aside, no one ever manages to define what the broader purpose is!

3. Pupils are pragmatic ("Will this be in the exam?") - and who can blame them? - but also, generally, pretty lazy; don't expect to do any wider reading for themselves - or, in many cases, any reading at all! - and have to be spoon-fed what we know they'll need for the exam. Many of them have the attitude (reinforced constantly by govt policy; "inclusion" agendas etc) that they're "entitled" to be guided step by step by the teacher, and if they don't do as well as expected then it must be the fault of everyone but themselves. Many take the view that if they turn up most of the time (and many only do so to qualify for their "Education Maintenance Allowances"), submit about half the work required (often completed to a pathetic standard), then they really ought to receive at least a B grade. We can't kick the slackers out - too "elitist", and anyway funding is determined by number of bums on seats in 6th form. To be honest, the mismatch between the rhetoric ("developing self-directed, independent learners" - DFE&S) and the reality is remarkable. And if it's like this in my school, then God only knows what it's like in less academic places.

Standards have been hugely diluted and grades massively inflated. For example, 15 years ago the standard A level offer to study history at a decent provincial uni (say Exeter or Liverpool) was B in history plus 2 Cs; nowadays you'd be very lucky to be offered less than AAB, but I KNOW that my students who now achieve such grades are no better than (and often inferior to) those who got BCC back in '89/'90. The engineering dept at York Uni has run standardised maths tests for all new undergrads throughout the last 25 years; to read engineering at York you have to have at least a B in A level maths; until ten years ago the average new student scored over 70%; now most struggle to achieve 50%, and they've had to start remedial maths courses to enable their students to cope with the basic demands of the first year.

GCSE is a joke - 20-30% of our pupils pass 10 at A* in one sitting; not even the 3 brightest pupils in my year (all of whom got Oxbridge scholarships having taken 5 A levels) got "clean sweeps" back in '77. Last year, I sat the GCSE Maths (Higher level) exam and got an A. Now, I'm crap at sums - took me 3 attempts to pass O level FFS - and, apart from basic undergrad courses in stats and political economy, have avoided all things numerate like the plague ever since leaving school. Yes, of course, I'm older and wiser; have no doubt - despite aversion to sums - picked up a few tricks along the way, but even so...!? Took the exam informally - for a laugh and a bet, as well as for "research" purposes! - and fully expected to fail, but the young maths teacher who marked the paper was heartily hacked-off because she'd taken great exception to my comments about grade inflation and had challenged me to take/ pass GCSE maths "if you think it's so simple!".

Similarly, it's now regarded as totally unreasonable to expect A level historians to read any documents in languages other than English, and even though most of my lot have A* in French, most can't cope with even the simplest translations. It's risible, really it is.

Now, I'm not blaming the youngsters for this - they can only play the hand dealt to them, and the better ones are as good as ever they were. However, the culture of "excellence for all" (!!??) has destroyed the credibility of our public exam system by allowing loads of people who simply are not up to it to take and pass A levels and proceed to university, where the same corrupting effect is all too evident. A friend of mine (academic in a top ranked uni) was told that 5-10% of degrees awarded must be firsts; prior to the early '90s in some years it was not uncommon for no firsts to be awarded in his subject. Now, however, a 2.1 is regarded as the standard "respectable degree"; not long ago most got 2.2s, and typically only the best 15-20% got higher. When he objected to this, he was told ("off the record", of course!) that failure to "play the game" could have "unfortunate consequences" for his career progression, tenure etc..

If we're not careful we'll end up like the Yanks - everything is "outstanding!" and looks & sounds great...until reality kicks in. They usually get away with it because huge resources/ access to excellent facilities enable them to overcome most glitches in the end, but can we afford to match them in this?

Institutional spoon-feeding is ruining education. However this is ARrse, not EDrse, so can we go back to discussing proper action man and 'the wooden horse' as educational aids?

Originally Posted by barbarasson

Institutional spoon-feeding is ruining education. However this is ARrse, not EDrse, so can we go back to discussing proper action man and 'the wooden horse' as educational aids?

Fair enough, but many of today's "educational issues" do seem to be of some relevance to HM Forces - if what I hear is half true!

Wooden horse? NO CHANCE - Health & Safety!

Action Man? Bloody hell, mate, do you want to face charges of "promoting a phallocentric, militaristic world view" ?!

Soooooooo in an effort to combat the previously discussed gap in matters military history we conduct a little classroom lecture\discussion. On the board we have the title Military Knowledge and a few choice key points to form the basis of our discussions.

As I walk up and down the class I glance at the notebook of one of our Cadet NCO's. He is a splendid chap, keen and all that. I note that he has entitled his notes for the evening "Miletury Nollage" Concerned, I ask is he perhaps dyslexic? No, it transpires that he is not a member of the ADB (British Dyslexia Association) he is just THICK.

Look you complete and utter F@ckwit it is written on the board, just Feckin well copy it...."

Originally Posted by Ranger_Danger

Soooooooo in an effort to combat the previously discussed gap in matters military history we conduct a little classroom lecture\discussion. On the board we have the title Military Knowledge and a few choice key points to form the basis of our discussions.

As I walk up and down the class I glance at the notebook of one of our Cadet NCO's. He is a splendid chap, keen and all that. I note that he has entitled his notes for the evening "Miletury Nollage" Concerned, I ask is he perhaps dyslexic? No, it transpires that he is not a member of the ADB (British Dyslexia Association) he is just THICK.

Look you complete and utter F@ckwit it is written on the board, just Feckin well copy it...."

They couldn't copy from a board if it fell on them!
What did I get today, in spite of writing the word "symptoms" on the board- 'Most people died from the Black Death after showing the simpsons'.

This has been added to the hall of fame along with "Hitler was the leader of the Nancy Party' ;'British troops used the vicar's machine gun in the trenches.' and 'The two sides in the Civil War were the Boneheads and Cavaliers.'

dundrillin:

They couldn't copy from a board if it fell on them!
What did I get today, in spite of writing the word "symptoms" on the board- 'Most people died from the Black Death after showing the simpsons'.

This has been added to the hall of fame along with "Hitler was the leader of the Nancy Party' ;'British troops used the vicar's machine gun in the trenches.' and 'The two sides in the Civil War were the Boneheads and Cavaliers."

OMG! were it not so wrong it would be funny! I now clearly understand why the extraction of orders process from Platoon down to Section level continually fails to operate. Or should that perhaps be something like:

"I know understund why the ectrakshun of ordurs possess falls to opurate."

What on earth is going on? This is even worse than the "Day they put the D in the Alphabet Miss" crisis.

I may have mentioned this before. I have a Cadet who is not at all bad. I cannot keep a straight face when I look at him. He suffers from a condition known as Cranial Sensititis. His Mother (perhaps in some kind of Freudian slip) had written on his joining form "my Son has carnal sensuosis"

On a recent Recruit Test:

Q. What is the purpose of Drill?

A. To move around in a smart and trendy way.

Originally Posted by dundrillin

'The two sides in the Civil War were the Boneheads and Cavaliers.'

Not a bad description when you think about it, mind!

Sooooo getting off topic just a little I am glad to find it is not just me who feels frustration at times. My 2IC related that last weekend he was away with the Coy. One of our Cadets aged just 13 and who is a good tryer, puts the effort in etc came up to him and said "I am homesick, I need to speak to my Mum" The rest of the conversation went like this:

OK, Whats her number?

Don't know

OK where do you live?

He JUST manages to get the address dredged up from within his little bonce.

Instructor rings Directory Enquiries and finds no number listed for Mrs X

Cadet says oh no I normally ring my dad.

Erm so does he live with your Mum?

No.

OK what's his address then?

Directory Enquiries are tried - no number listed for Mr X

Cadet says well when I say me Dad I mean me new Dad and he is called Y but me real Dad is called Z

OK then I will try your Step Dad....

Nothing listed.

Cadet says yeah well he don't live with us.....

So where does he actually live then?

Dunno

OH FFS @*!* etc etc.

OK then which one of them definately has a phone?

All of them.

OK then let me ask this, does your mum have a phone which plugs in the wall?

Yeah

OK well is the number Ex Directory?

NO its just a Virgin one.

So its not a house phone its a mobile?

Yes.

OH FFS @*!* etc etc. I asked if it was one which PLUGS IN THE FECKIN WALL.

Yeah well it does.

NO YOU FOOKWIT that would be a charger would it not?

Yeah.

SO do you actually know any numbers for your Mum, Dad or Step Dad?

No.

Said Cadet now has a new nickname "118 118"