Sugata Mitra 'Child Driven Education'. Children in the slums of Delhi were given The Hole in the Wall - a computer with access to the internet. Through this and further experiments Mitra has proven that groups of children learn on their own. Their natural curiosity, the control over their learning and collaboration using a computer have proven that this method of learning really works. In The Kalikuppam Experiment 2007. (Published in the British Journal of Education and Technology, 2010) He showed that, left to a computer and their own devices, in two months Indian children grasped some knowledge biotechnology in English. (Oh and, by the way, they don't speak English). "If you have interest, then you have education." I then ask myself, what is the point of having teachers?
Sir Ken Robertson's TED talk 'Changing Education Paradigms' attacks the fundamentals of our education system, a system based on the Age of Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, where we are told if we do well in schools we will go to university to get a degree so we can get a good job. Why is the educational system based on out-dated models?
Both Mitra and Robinson appear to have revolutionary ideas, but they actually make a lot of sense. We are living in an incredible age where access to information is at our fingertips, we can share our creative thoughts and collaborate across the globe. We are bombarded with video and images in our daily lives. How are children supposed to find education interesting if it does not catch up with the pace of our Internet age? And further to that, why do we divide children up into year groups according to age? Do we do that in the workplace? Why do we assume that our potential for learning is dependant upon of social class? Why is there a view that people are divided into 'academic' and 'non academic'? We have to think differently about human capacity. And what about testing? Why must we test, test and test children - at GCSE's, Standard Grades etc.
Robinson's visual description of the Longitudinal test - a test that tells you if you are a 'genius' in divergent thinking. Have a look at the image starting at the Cod asking the question. Kindergarten children came back with 98% as geniuses in divergent thinking. That percentage reduced as children got older and went to school. Food for thought there. Have I really been part of an education system that stamps out my divergent thinking? At school was I really considered a 'non academic' because I was in the bottom divisions of Maths, Science and English? We are all born as divergent thinkers. Why must we be put through an ancient educational system, where social class determines your abilities and tests are compulsory hoops to jump. We have got to have basic literacy and numeracy skills. I certainly wouldn't be able to sit here writing this without them. Mitra's method allows children to explore their own line of questioning- this makes me think- surely this will cause chaos. Allow children to lead their learning? What a stupid idea, they will never learn anything! What Mitra has proven to me is that children want to learn. Humans by our very nature are curious, and creative. The teacher is there as a guide. We cannot learn by sitting still and not talking. Learning is messy.
There's a challenge as a teacher. The government wants results, parents want their children to succeed. How do I include these revolutionary ideas of Mitra and Robinson when I am teaching, and receiving pressure from parents, management and educational bodies? I don't know. I've not taught one lesson yet, and these are certainly not the only challenges I will face.
In addition, a recent interview with our First Minister 'Our job is to maintain our educational standards for all children'. "My absolute priority... is to make sure that we give every young person, regardless fo their background or family circumstances, the same chances to succeed at school...That's why we have established a £100m Scottish Attainment Challenge, directing extra resources to more than 300 primary schools in our most deprived areas." Nice one, Nic.
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