I’ve long had a problem with the linear expectations imposed on pupil progress. Early in my career, I railed against the idea that students in my class were viewed as figures and that those figures should behave in a linear and predictable way, regardless of the non-linear and unpredictable nature of being human, learning and life. I couldn’t understand how our representation and approach to progress had become so limited. What about the emotional ups and downs that temporarily slow or accelerate our progress? What about the harder bits that take more time and effort to master – the tricky bits, the thresholds we all experience as learners that momentarily halt our momentum? Or what about those children for whom life events impact their progress - the child who loses a parent or suffers an out of the ordinary illness. Do we limit them by labelling them (and their teacher/ school) as underperforming?
0 Comments
|
AuthorI'm an educator driven by the desire to see people realise their potential by gaining the tools they need to be successful. I love being part of a community of learners for whom there is always more to be known and understood. For me, learning and teaching is cognitive, social and emotional and takes the whole self. Archives
July 2015
Categories
All
|