Throughout the year there are ten major Christian celebrations, six Islamic, four Hindi, seven Jewish and five Sikh. They each have a name and many are linked to the sighting of a new moon and some move around, such as Easter , but as far as I can establish in 2008 , only March 21^st did any celebrations coincide. ( Good Friday, Holi, Purim, on the 21^st and Milad al-Nabi on the 20^th Mach )

So why do we avoid the use of the name of the holiday. Christmas has become “Happy Holiday” so as not to offend. As a holiday, or holy day to use the original meaning of the word, we imply it has some significance but then seem to avoid the actual name of the holiday. Yet all others falling earlier in the year are recognised be they Eid, Easter, Diwali or Shavout.

On December 22^nd it is Hanukkah, I am certain the Jewish faith will not have confused this with Christmas on the 25^th December, nor the Islamic New year 1430 on the 29^th December. So are we guilty of diluting the specific greeting so as not to inadvertently offend, rolling the celebrations in a global greeting that dilutes the significance entirely. A card with “please delete where appropriate” might be more appropriate! But the educational significance of recognising other religions would be lost.

Whilst educating our children to understand important facts we play some incredible games with the concept of Christmas to avoid offence. Should we just tell the truth.

In the dark ages information on a child’s school learning progress  comprised of end of term or year reports. This historic document has several drawbacks. It was out of date by the time it was published; revealing that “John and Jane” could have done with some extra help a year ago; relied on parents understanding the content and the teacher being specific in the actions suggested – all in the one paragraph summary.

Any dynamics to enlist parental  support in the schooling process were inevitably lost. At best the report was signed but the fantastic opportunity for parents to help child, teacher and school are largely untapped. But the advent of technology has introduced a new dimension, and if used effectively could boost academic achievement significantly.

Research in the UK and USA shows that 80 per cent of a child’s achievement in school relies on the support given at home. Yet this fundamental issue is the hardest to manage. Reports that are inevitably out of date; parents  often unaware they can effectively help and teachers  who despair at the low number of parents who currently get actively involved. Open nights attract the faithful, whilst pressure at work and home impact on parents free time.

Perceptions over changes in teaching techniques, often cited as the central reason parents avoid a hands on approach leave parents reluctant to interfere. Whilst government initiatives and surveys among teachers show unanimous support of parental involvement we still fail to grasp the opportunity. But the schooling process has embraced technology that can be used to change all this, for the better.

Modern teaching methods have certainly changed. Replacing  the blackboard, chalk and text books  are a raft of educational games that have equal if not greater relevance in the home. Turning learning into fun through educational games involving  the family induces practice in the  lesson content – and the concept of learning in disguise. Conventional homework is principally a means of getting a child to practice the lesson. The busy classroom environment with the 30:1 pupil  teacher ratio leaves precious time to put the lesson theory into practice. Thirty minutes of fun at home provides enjoyment, practice, and dynamic involvement. If a child is struggling it becomes immediately apparent to a parent who can seek advise from the teacher.

The next generation of computer video games have high potential for educational content. Microsoft and the big boys are investing heavily in this activity. Moreover such games can be linked on-line back to the school. Progress can be monitored by the teacher; lost homework possibly a thing of the past, although the ingenuity of children will quickly  invent new reasons for forgetting the task.  Crucial to to gain support of this activity ; it has to be kept simple. There is little benefit of the IT function demonstrating its prowess through complicated comprehensive and elaborate reports that scare the bejabers of the users.

Work started in class as educational games which can be continued at home holds huge opportunity. Board games, bingo, dice and computer games  can now be played in a fun and relaxed environment at home. Parental  angst over conventional homework turned into a positive hands -on role and support which can make the world of difference.

Alistair Owens keen2learn =>

http://www.keen2learn.co.uk/news

Children in English schools have been shown to the best in Europe at science and maths. But the research has shown that they don’t enjoy lessons. The content and learning format has left a lot to be desired.

Although schools in England have moved up the league they are still well behind those in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan and the Russian Federation. Critically, however,  the investigation revealed  children’s enjoyment of maths and science had deteriorated. The drilling process  that helped achieve these results also had a negative effect and destroyed the fun and desire to learn beyond the curriculum.

Children naturally tend to excel at things they enjoy. Turning learning into a series of connecting educational games encourages the fun element. This can act as the catalyst which can accelerate the learning process far beyond the harsh reality of hot housing. We need to learn from the achievement of the pacific rim countries to develop a model that incorporates enjoyment and inspire learning in place of the cramming approach that forces data in and enjoyment out.

Technology and modern educational games development can come to the fore in the equation. The availability of a vast array of new media and the developing skills in games design has sparked the realisation this could positively encourage the involvement of parents. This has been a key objective in the UK government’s educational plans. Welcomed by teachers. determined to find an effective way to enlist parental to give greater support to their children, getting parents to play educational games at home would send the learning achievement rate souring for their children.

The  13m children in the 33,000 primary and secondary schools in the UK are supported by 435,000 teachers. This produces a nominal teacher pupil ratio of 1:30. A solution to boost the ratio  would need  extra teachers and school facilities at phenomenal cost. The current financial situation requiring governments  to invest in reinforcing ailing industries is bound to have an effect on the funding available to schools. Yet there are 7.3m parents of school aged children. The 1:1 ratio achievable in just 30 minutes at home would significantly boost the learning retention and potentially achieve the cramming objective. This may be the solution to improve  a child’s performance and enjoyment  without additional cost. If we do nothing we could start to go backwards and watch the educational centre of gravity move East.

The debacle with the SAT’s results last summer has come to a head. The head of the QCA has resigned leaving a mess worthy of a distinction for teachers and pupils to resolve.

The big question is why, knowing the full circumstances, Ken Boston the head of QCA has taken so long to reach his decision. Certainly the publication of the report investigating the circumstances has precipitated his final move but the mess was obvious in the summer.

The Times commented today that Ken Boston, an Australian was paid a salary of £328,000, received 6 business class air tickets to Australia a year presumably to visit his yacht moored in Sydney harbour.

So was the delay a shock? Receiving an additional £82,000 in salary since the balloon went up and presumably two trips to Australia whilst the examination was in progress may have influenced the decision. But perhaps another unanswered question is why Mr Boston was appointed on this basis. Was there nobody in the UK worthy of the post? And why, when the error was revealed, were there no immediate adjustment in the management? Let us hope the children affected recover quickly, and we as tax payers don’t discover yet another hole in the UK’s financial “ozone layer” as we paid £156m for the failed service in the first place.

Alistair Owens Keen2learn

The biggest shake-up for 20 years in primary education? A reaction to the growing concerns over falling standards in maths and literacy, the proposals in the report from Sir Jim Rose has certainly taken the education sector by storm.

The staggering developments in technology over the past decade are to be harnessed as a central theme to the curriculum format. This follows the thinking of Professor Don Tapscott who has shown that children are becoming extremely technology savvy and learning faster than their teachers. The schooling process is a combination of teaching children how to learn as well as providing them with the basic learning blocks. But if we are failing to achieve these objectives, and clearly we are, it seems a travesty to pass learning onto Google. By- passing the pillars of wisdom contained in History and Geography seems a retrograde step.

The growth in educational games matched to Nintendo, Wii etc are encouraging examples of the scope and opportunity technology has to extend the learning process. This productive and enjoyable way for children to enjoy “learning in disguise” outside the school day is something that never existed in text and exercise books. Many good educational software titles already exist. Developed to support the National Curriculum they encourage the fun element of learning. The scope offered to children and parents to supplement the classroom activity is far higher using technology than conventional exercises that are school based. But children also need a wide and open platform of knowledge.

Reacting to the controversial emphasis on “teaching to test” the new curriculum is to change the prominence on certain subjects.  A casualty of the focus on ICT is geography and history. These subjects are to be sidelined; incorporated into human, social and environmental understanding. Evidence shows a need to review the structure of the curriculum but are we throwing the baby out the bathwater? The reduced value placed on geography and history could affect the awareness of the cause and effect of environmental issues. Lessons learned from history reveal pitfalls in certain policies; the past effect of culture, creed, economies and conflict may be lost in the equation. The opportunity to nurture an interest in the subject that could affect the selection of GCSE’s and degree may be lost. Yet this key attribute could become of greater significance as the worlds boundaries and economies rapidly change.

The changes have merit in the removal of the “teach to test” syndrome, and the resultant increase in the breath of learning. Teachers will have improved scope to the teaching format and subject depth- along increased workload as teaching content and schedules need an overhaul. Lessons stand to become more interesting, fun based and could enlist proactive parents support. Yet this all invokes change and change is abhorrent. Whilst the hierarchy debates the implications and plans for the integration, considerable time and energy will be redirected from the teaching capacity. Children will inevitably see the system wobble for a while.

The greatest concern is the effectiveness of the changes. Past performance is not encouraging. The gestation period for any measurement is one generation. Let us hope the group of children that act as the guinea pigs relish the outcome.

Alistair Owens keen2learn

Why is it that when a major change in education policy is about to occur I always have a feeling of dread. Could the latest review in primary education become something of an educational game? Modifying the start ages and curriculum content could be the ideal outcome we want, or the disaster we don’t. Trouble is that in the education cycle it takes 10 years to prove the success or failure of a scheme. Lets hope the review by Sir Jim Rose provides a long overdue success.

Jules Holland, musician, church restorer and all round good egg – especially according to me – came up with a brilliant quote in a recent Times article. “They (children) ought to be given lessons in how to enjoy music at school”. Music games can extend awareness if taught in a fun way. Apart from recognising the interesting maths games buried in music it is also about widening the range and appeal. Holland’s enthusiasm for a diverse range of music extends way beyond the jazz he is primarily tagged with. He believes that kids prefer contemporary music because their exposure to other forms is lacking. Only music high on the favourites list and less than six months old  gets on the iPod.

When I was at school we had a very talented music teacher who composed several symphonies. He was an eccentric and would search the audience before any performance to check for recording equipment. He had a thing about pop musicians sampling his music way before the technology existed to achieve this. Unfortunately Mr Wain also believed only in classical music. All other forms were abhorrent.

At home like all kids we had a Dad who was way out of touch with music. He liked the “Hot Club of France” and a guy called Stefan Grapelli – Jazz violinist in case you wondered. After years of gathering dust Stefan’s unique style suddenly gained a resurgence and his skill recognised with performances well into his 80’s. My father suddenly became trendy. If education is to widen perception and provide children with the greatest opportunity we need to set the scene early on. Educational games demonstrating  the various forms and styles of music can be the catalyst to a greater appreciation of all music later in life.
Alistair Owens =>

educational games

In the dark ages information on a child’s school learning progress comprised of end of term or year reports. This historic document has several drawbacks. It was out of date by the time it was published; revealing that “John and Jane” could have done with some extra help a year ago; relied on parents understanding the content and the teacher being specific in the actions suggested – all in the one paragraph summary.

Any dynamics to enlist parental support in the schooling process were inevitably lost. At best the report was signed but the fantastic opportunity for parents to help the child, teacher and school are largely untapped. But the advent of technology has introduced a new dimension and, if used effectively, could boost academic achievement significantly.

Research in the UK and USA shows that 80 per cent of a child’s achievement in school relies on the support given at home. Yet this fundamental issue is the hardest to manage. Reports that are inevitably out of date; parents who are often unaware they can effectively help and teachers that despair at the low number of parents who currently get actively involved.

Perceptions over changes in teaching techniques, often cited as the central reason parents avoid a hands-on approach, leave parents reluctant to interfere. Whilst government initiatives and surveys among teachers show unanimous support of parental involvement we still fail to grasp the opportunity. But the schooling process has embraced technology that can be used to change all this, for the better.

Modern teaching methods have certainly changed. Replacing the blackboard, chalk and text books are a raft of educational games that have equal if not greater relevance in the home. Turning learning into fun through educational games such as maths games involving the family induces practice in the lesson content – and the concept of learning in disguise. Conventional homework is principally a means of getting a child to practice the lesson. The busy classroom environment with the 30:1 pupil teacher ratio leaves precious time to put the lesson theory into practice. Thirty minutes of fun at home provides enjoyment, practice, and dynamic involvement. If a child is struggling it becomes immediately apparent to a parent who can seek advice from the teacher.

The next generation of computer video games have high potential for educational content. Microsoft and the big boys are investing heavily in this activity. Moreover such games can be linked on-line back to the school. Progress can be monitored by the teacher; lost homework possibly a thing of the past, although the ingenuity of children will quickly invent new reasons for forgetting the task.  Crucial to gain support of this activity – it has to be kept simple. There is little benefit of the IT function demonstrating its prowess through complicated overly comprehensive and elaborate reports that scare the bejabers in the users.

Work started in class as educational games which can be continued at home holds huge opportunity. Board games, bingo, dice and computer games can now be played in a fun and relaxed environment at home. Parental angst over conventional homework turned into a positive hands-on role and support which can make the world of difference.

Alistair Owens keen2learn

Education took on a frosty reality in the New Forest. Children were suddenly faced with the fact that all that is promised can fall short in reality. A visit to the New Forest Lapland and the promise of Reindeer, Dog sleighs, and Christmas shops turned out to be a marquee in a muddy field and some Husky dogs in kennels.

About as far from reality you can get this expensive venture for visiting families, charged around £30 a head to see the most disappointing display imaginable. The only sound advice came for a security guard; desperately seeking something positive to say he suggested that the place looks a whole lot better at night -presumably when the mud takes on an enchanted look.

Disappointed, out of pocket and frustrated a group of children have learnt a valuable practical lesson. There are some shysters around in this big wide world and best to always be on our guard. It’s a pity the lesson cost £30 but it could save a fortune with decisions made later in life.

Alistair Owens keen2learn