The Value of Religion- a brief response to Richard Dawkins

"Much of what people do is done in the name of God. Irishmen blow each other up in his name. Arabs blow themselves up in his name. Imams and ayatollahs oppress women in his name. Celibate popes and priests mess up people's sex lives in his name. Jewish shohets cut live animals' throats in his name. The achievements of religion in past history - bloody crusades, torturing inquisitions, mass-murdering conquistadors, culture-destroying missionaries, legally enforced resistance to each new piece of scientific truth until the last possible moment - are even more impressive. And what has it all been in aid of? I believe it is becoming increasingly clear that the answer is absolutely nothing at all. There is no reason for believing that any sort of gods exist and quite good reason for believing that they do not exist and never have. It has all been a gigantic waste of time and a waste of life. It would be a joke of cosmic proportions if it weren't so tragic."

Dr Richard Dawkins who held the Charles Simonyi Professorship in the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University

write a short piece of text outlining your views on religion as a worthwhile human activity. Do you agree with Dawkins? If so, why? Or is religion worthwhile? If it is worthwhile in what ways does it benefit individuals and/or the world and/or you?

The majority of contemporary war and unrest stems from the extremist religious views of some, as it has done in the past. However, I agree with Emily Allen and Morag Cooper; to quote Morag ‘it really annoys me when people say religion causes war. War is caused by human greed, demands for power and land, calling it a holy war will recruit much needed volunteers but if this excuse was not used, another would be found.’

To overlook religion would be to overlook a quintessential part of our history and identity. Modern society originates from the principles of some form of religion or faith. Coming from a Christian education, our school days were deeply embedded in the Christian faith. I attended school in Brunei for a short time during primary school and was lucky to be surrounded by a different religion and culture to my own. As small children we are very accepting of our surroundings; this acceptance, respect and interest in other faiths and religions has followed me into adulthood.

As we move into the 21^st century it may be that we in Scotland move towards a secular society. (As shown in the stats from the Scottish 2001 and 2011 census from Graeme Nixon’s lecture today- Will Scotland continue to move down this route? Will the Jedi Knights increase??). As we travel further into this age of technological advancement etc., we may find ourselves either affirming and strengthening our religious beliefs, or disregarding them entirely. Either way there is everything to gain from understanding, respecting and experiencing other religions, faiths and philosophies.

Week Two Placement Observation

What an eye opener the last week has been.

I am not going to go into any detail of the school or what has been happening. It's all in my school experience file if any of my assessors read it. I had a moment last week where I was looking at a teacher's planning notes (not a teacher from my placement school). I found the following question which lifted my spirits and cheered me up. It is now on the front of my school experience file, to remind me that children are curious, natural learners and see the world very differently to the adult eye; and also that I have to remember this, challenge myself and provoke learning in others.

So in times of dire need, fellow student teachers, I ask you this question-

"What are the advantages of turning into a duck?"

Quack

Teaching My First Lesson

Still awaiting to hear where my placement for P4-7 will be! Not the only one either. This morning I went into the P2/3 class and without any preparation led a lesson(!) The teacher briefed me on leading a class discussion around the reflective learning log and the topic of manners. One of the children had asked earlier that week if it was ever too late to say sorry. The classed watched the video:

I asked the children to talk in pairs initially, then as a group regarding

1. When would we say sorry
2. Why is it sometimes difficult to say sorry
3. Is it ever too late to say sorry?

Feedback received

• Greater assertion required to get attention
• the discussion was not directed in the way I wanted it to go - I needed to adapt to what the children were saying and lead on from there.
• Need to affirm what children said - acknowledge their individual contribution which on two occasions I did not.
• Have a better plan of what the lesson will be - this was a spontaneous lesson, which I can see how an experienced teacher can easily do.
• Refer back to the video as an example of saying sorry.
• Use the interactive board to write down the children's thoughts. (Multi-task)

I was quite overwhelmed by this baptism of fire, with no planning at all it was difficult to gather my thoughts and help the children develop their ideas. These are all things to think about. Some higher learning was achieved - two children said that it was never too late to say sorry unless you kill someone. Other children also talked about how it is sometimes difficult to say sorry, the word 'shame' was mentioned and sometimes we don't always want to hear an apology, sometimes we are too upset to accept an apology.

Adapting myself to each child's level of ability and encouraging them to think further is challenging. I observed a spelling test which the teacher made fun by making up sentences with the words that needed to be spelt. Child B hit a child, ran out of the classroom several times.

An invaluable first experience.

The Culture of 'Rubbing Out' - Why erasers should be banned from the classroom

                                     

A six year old child, lets call her Millie, has been learning to write only one year. In class she is writing the sentence- 'I am really good at handstands'. At least, that is what she is trying to write. Instead she writes 'I am relly gud at handsad'. The teacher comes over to check her work, asks her what she has written, Millie tells the teacher 'it says I am really good at handstands'. The teacher spots the spelling mistakes, and goes through each word that has been incorrectly spelt, explaining the changes that need to be made. Millie immediately reaches for the eraser to quickly scrub out the errors. Nooooo! I hear my conscience cry out. Don't rub it out, cross it out and write it again, you can fit in the letters that you've missed out.

Instilled in our culture is that terrible emotion we feel when we make mistakes. Shame.

Why? WHY? Why should we be ashamed of our mistakes? Mistakes are the very essence of being human! One of the fundamental glories of our human nature is to make mistakes and learn from them! What benefit is there is erasing errors and pretending they never happened? Yes, mistakes can make us feel uncomfortable and even upset us, but how can we strive to be better and understand ourselves if we do not identify our errors and see them for what they are- opportunities to learn. For Millie to rub out her writing and write the word again, she may as well be using one of these- 

MIB neuralyzer.

Cognitive scientist Guy Claxton agrees following research that has suggested that "resilience and curiosity are two essential ingredients for pupils' success." - 'Ban erasers from the classroom', Daily Telegraph 26th May 2015. Claxton says that erasers are an 'instrument of the devil' because it 'perpetuates a culture of shame about error.' Children 'need to be interested the process of getting the right answer because that's what it's like in the big wide world.' No one gets the answer right the first time. Errors are how we learn and how we are shaped as individuals.

When I am a teacher, I will not be able to encourage the use of an eraser. There is no shame in Millie writing this:

'I am reAlly guood at handsadstands.'

'I am really good at handstands.'

Millie has corrected her errors, she has written the sentence again. There is no better way to learn than acknowledging an error. There is no negative connotations with 'mistakes'. We are simply understanding and learning.

EDIT 4/9/15 After relaying my thoughts to a class teacher, they said that if a six year old had made many spelling mistakes in their sentences, they would generally not correct all errors. It would discourage the child. It's more important that a six year old is collecting their thoughts and writing them down, rather than spelling every word correctly. Classes have spelling tests to identify words that need to be learnt, getting into the habit of writing is of importance before words are spelt correctly.

Back to school

So lucky to have the opportunity to get into a primary classroom at short notice! It's so good to get out of the books and into an actual classroom again. I spent the morning before break in a P1/2 class, and post-break in a P2/3.

The P1/2 class has eight 1s and ten 2s. I had a quick flick through the Staff Handbook which included policies on homework, behaviour, fire alarms etc. (Have seen that at my placement school I will have to photocopy all of these things...) After a group discussion the children filled in a learning log with 'What I am good at', then did some maths from workbooks. After break I joined the P2/3 class. In this class there are four P2s and fourteen P1s, one child with substantial behavioural difficulties (Child B) and one gifted child (Child G). The class were discussing 'Responsible Citizens' as a group. The teacher told me that each term the class would be focusing on one of the four capacities.

"The purpose of the curriculum is encapsulated in the four capacities - to enable each child or young person to be a successful learner, a confident individual, a responsible citizen and an effective contributor" - Education Scotland.

Responsible citizens links to Health and Well Being. The topic this term is Manners. The teacher has mostly created their own resources for this topic. The children then went into pairs to discuss what they thought it means to be a responsible citizen. Then they came back together as a group and discussed, this time the teacher wrote down their points on the interactive whiteboard. The connection between the verbal communication and visual aid helped the children in the writing task. They were given speech bubbles and had to write the sentence 'I am going to...' followed by writing how they are going to be a responsible citizen in school.

All the children engaged in the activity, I assisted by spell checking. Child B cause some disruption by slapping another child. Child B managed to complete the task, as did the majority of the class. These speech bubbles will be displayed at the front of the class. This was a really valuable lesson. The discussion as a group and in pairs, coupled with the text displayed on the interactive whiteboard further consolidated the class' ideas. The class worked together as a group, in pairs and individually to complete this task.

The next lesson was Maths and telling the time. (I had no idea that telling the time was classed as maths). The teacher told me that in Heineman Active maths it's called 'beyond number' - e.g. measure, shape, money, time. I was really impressed with the way this subject was presented to the class. Each child had their own laminated clock with moveable hands which they had coloured in and constructed themselves. The teacher had a large clock to show to the class, and displayed on the board was an interactive analogue and digital clock. The teacher showed the time on their own clock, asked the children to set the time on their clocks. The teacher also showed the time on the interactive board which displayed the digital time. The learning was active, interactive and interesting. All the children took part. The children then went into pairs and tested each other on telling the time. The teacher had given extension questions for Child G. Child G had no benefit in participating in the group activity, as they have fully understood the basic concepts of time. Child G was given questions on time for P7s. Child G completed this with full marks in an impressive time. (Child G is seven years old! P7s are twelve years old) I asked him if I could have a peek at the next set of questions - 'How many minutes in an hour? How many minutes in 1 1/4 hours?' I said, ooh, that seems quite difficult. Child G laughed and said that it isn't hard. There are two extremes in this P2/3 class. Child B with significant behavioural difficulties and Child G. Although Child B was behaving well today, they often refuse to do tasks and leave the class. Child B's academic learning targets are to stay in the classroom and not be aggressive to other people. Two polar opposites in this class, it's highly commendable that the teacher not only manages this class but has created a strong sense of class community, engaged learners and catering for individuals.

Two children who found it difficult to concentrate (including Child B) I found to be seeking reassurance and attention from me and the teacher. The teacher affirmed good behaviour with positive feedback. This morning in the classroom has given me so much to think about.

I just love being in the classroom. It's challenging, nerve-racking and exciting. I don't know how I will manage leading a class - that's the next challenge. I've had an invitation to lead a task the next time I go in - next Friday I think! Ahh! :) And my first placement? Yet to be confirmed!!! All I know that the only thing that encapsulates my feelings right now is this picture of a dog.

Again, you're most welcome.

Getting into the classroom

All this reflection and reading has been enjoyable and certainly given me food for thought. Spending the last three days working in solitary at home is so separate from the classroom - tomorrow I'm going into a local primary school in the morning for some observation, to reground myself and get my head out of the books, off the computer and into a bit of real life.

Here's a picture of a kitten in a hat and glasses.

You're welcome.

Perspectives on Education

Two brilliant TED talks that have changed my view on education in this age of technology and globalisation. If you're interested in teaching or the human capacity for learning, I recommend you watch these talks!

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.