Have Handwriting Skills Been Superseded By Technology?

Teaching four-year-old children to write is nonsense says literacy consultant Sue Palmer. “As useful as teaching a dog to walk on its hind legs.” So why has the National Curriculum in the UK adopted new assessments to measure handwriting skills in the first year at school?

Concerned opinion asks why the government introduced a scheme which is immediately openly criticised by a leading expert. How does this happen?  Surely Palmer is the one of the key people to assist or review the development of a new school policy in literacy before it is launched.

Setting targets that are too easy seems pointless; too hard and those not in contention become demoralised. Sue Palmer believes the long-term effect of the new policy would do more harm than good. The scheme, part of a four billion pound investment into early learning scheduled over the next two years, is therefore questionable.

It is an unfortunate start. The scheme has the right motivation but perhaps lacks the accountability which may have ensured it was thoroughly tested before launch. If government departments could be measured on results the efficacy of many schemes would be more closely reviewed.  The problem starts at the top. Ministerial appointments are inevitably transitory. The tenure of the secretary for education historically has lasted around 18 months. But the measure of the effectiveness of educational policy takes a generation of children to measure its impact. Historically it was always a predecessors’ idea – unless it worked.  But is Sue Palmer right this time?

In an age of computerised communication; e-mails, texts, technology with built in spell check and predictive text, the need to write anything may seem to be superfluous. Cheques are virtually obsolete, even the signature on credit card slips has been replaced by a pin number. Mind you we do get to sign the back of the credit card every two years, and a passport application every ten years. But do you find you have to practice your signature before signing the secure strip that makes it unreadable anyway. Hardly a burdensome task, so do we need to write anything?

Shopping lists could shortly be replaced with bar code scans, or even the fridge could order online for you. Purchases are made more and more on line requiring typing skills and the deft control of the mouse. Even the mouse could be replaced by a touch screen.

Obviously handwriting skills intermesh with spelling. This leads us to another quandary. Teaching children to spell and write words as they sound involves the definition of “phonic.” Where the P and H of phonic of course being pronounced as an  “f.”  But no worry, as the device the kids will ultimately use to communicate will be a cell phone, with camera, spell check and predictive text – assuming that text abbreviations don’t completely take over.

If a more complex message is required then one of the new mini laptops, or knee tops is ideal. These incredible devices incorporate all the functions of the PC in a case weighing 1kg and a screen of 7inches. Highly portable they could tuck into a small backpack – or even a hood. Not as daft as it sounds. I once met a Berber in Morocco who wore the long traditional cloak and used the hood as a vast pocket.

If handwriting and spelling skills are an essential form of communication they are under attack, but they have one great defence. They work when the powers gone, the battery’s flat, the pc has crashed and credit is exhausted. Yes, in this rapidly developing technical world we still need to learn how to read, write and spell!

Alistair Owens http://www.keen2learn.co.uk

Today I Feel Great; The Essential Role Of Positive Self Esteem In Children.

Our modern lifestyle can sometimes mean that children at school lack the self confidence which comes from positive self esteem. Now there are educational games  and a government initiative that can turn building self esteem into a fun exercise that parents can join in. But how do children lack this self confidence in the first place?

The educational journey can be fraught for children who feel isolated amongst their peers.  There is much to support a proposal to introduce lessons into the school syllabus on how to be happy.

Dramatic changes in society have created knock on problems in our children.  Their assiduous onset often remains unnoticed until a crisis point is reached. The unhappy child withdraws, fails to thrive in the busy classroom and is a potential target for the bully.

Two generations ago the average family life was remarkably different. The majority of mothers were based at home, generally referred to by the most inappropriate title of housewife. They performed a more hands-on role in the development of their children.  Mothers were more readily there to collect children at the school gate, and probably walk them home, or to greet them as they came home through the front door. The mothers that asked how their day went, answered questions raised, enthused, pacified, cajoled.  The child re-entered the bosom of the family able to offload and gain immediate support from the family.

But the world changes. Today the majority of mothers need to return to work to provide financial support for the family or continue a career. Children, reluctant to use public transport or walk, need a lift to school where the advent of the iPod, mobile phone and games gizmos provide a constant distraction during the journey. And the pressure mounts. Concerns remain unaired, problems unresolved, opportunities missed. A by-product of our modern lifestyle, it looks unlikely to change. The current economic situation has possibly extended the influence.  Mortgages, fuel bills, transport and food costs mount preoccupying parents and aggravating the isolation effect.

The day at school begins.  The teaching resource honed to meet the exacting standards of the national curriculum, the inquisitive eyes of Ofsted; the need to hit targets, has little time to deal with the social needs of a child in a class of 30. Teachers are not uncaring. The job content has changed, and the opportunity to act as a proxy parent diminished. Children inadvertently find themselves in between the rock and a hard place.  The tendency for some parents to offload some of their historic duties creates a backlog. A vicious circle begins. Children suffer in silence or rebel.

Children who feel good about themselves with positive self esteem view the world differently. An open receptive mind can boost the learning curve dramatically. Something or somebody has to break the cycle and the proposal to teach children personal wellbeeing as part of the Social and emotional aspects of learning (SEAL) in the national curriculum a substantial breakthrough.  Psychologists have prepared the way. There are number of educational games to help the teacher and parents – as this should not be a loan crusade at school. Presented in a fun game entices children to join in, breaking hidden barriers and exposing fears that many children feel are unique to them.

If you can get children to open up, reveal their concerns about themselves, or how they relate to others, they will learn how to deal with the negatives by seeing the many positives they had previously masked. A positive frame of mind is receptive, seeks development and is willing to absorb. Moreover the happy child is infectious; a joy to be around developing a personality and resolve that will set them up to deal with the odd knock that life will throw at them. They can also learn to repel the effect of the bullies that lurk well beyond the school days.

Alistair Owens Keen2learn

The Exams That Need To Be Examined

The last thing any child wants, after the trauma of completing an exam, is to find out that the SAT assessment against the UK Key Stage 3 in the National Curriculum itself has failed.

New Unit Of Force In Physics

To broaden our education we have a new unit measure of force. The Times UK 3rd Sept 08 announced that the protons due to collide in the new CERN facility will do so with the force of two aircraft carriers colliding head on at 11 knots. This possibly explains  the MOD’s recent announcement why they are to buy two new carriers. Physics teaching resources  will be updated with the details of the new unit once the name has been decided.

Out Of The Mouths – Of Presidents !

Wise words from President Bush;
” One reason I like to highlight reading is, reading is the beginnings of the ability to be a good student. And if you can’t read, it’s going to be hard to realise dreams; it’s going to be hard to go to college. So when your teachers say, read- you ought to listen to her”

Nalle Elementary School; Washington DC ; Feb 9 2001

Balls To Lift School Performance ?

They say change is here to stay. Therefore the announcement by Ed Balls that the Department of Children, Schools and Families are to change the assessment of children by replacing the current form of SAT’s should not come as a surprise. Operationally is a huge change and not without some peril.

Teaching resources in the UK are already stretched as tight as a drum.  Many teachers claim to be stressed by an educational system introduced 11 years ago that has failed to achieve its intended objectives. Teachers, understandably, are reluctant to take on more work, revealed by a staggering number who opt out from seeking promotion to head teacher. The pinnacle of their career is in a job that nobody wants. The classroom is a combination of frustration, emergent social trends, sound pedagogy and a range of ability spread across an average class of 30.  Targets hover over the process as a sword of Damocles inducing a resultant “teach to test” phenomena. This horrifies the purists who believe education should be an enjoyable all round experience.  Lessons should be fun and supported by educational games  to stimulate the learning process to last a lifetime that now appear to has become battle scarred.

The future of a teachers’ career and indeed an entire school lies  squarely in the sights of Ofsted. Maintain performance against the target and you survive to fight another day. This quantitative approach does not always include quality. Self preservation rallies the defences and diminishes the adventurous who could challenge the system. Despite an abundance of educational games developed to bring fun into the classroom, the resources for teaching are limited, relying on the residue of an operating budget focussed on the prime objective to pass exams or tests.

We have streamlined a child’s education such that it is now a veneer; a glossy covering with no depth over a rough substrate of indifferent quality. A child’s learning journey is manipulated to hit a target.  Just as pate de-fois-gras excels as a foodstuff, the maltreated geese have little additional scope, reared as a freak of nature their destiny is a travesty.

The news that the DCSF is to scrap best SAT’s is welcome providing that they think it through.  Curtailing the teach to test syndrome is  positive, although the staggered assessment timed when a child is ready, is a potential logistical nightmare.

Compare 30 children wishing to pass their driving test. Each student will be at a different point in their progress, and only take the test when their instructor deems them to be ready. This staggered approach requires the test to be taken with an individual examiner. Moreover those that have passed need further stimulation to maintain momentum whilst waiting for the balance of the class to catch up.

Potentially the spread of ability will increase. Although this must be seen as a positive, with brighter children gaining further stimulus based on their learning ability, we run the risk of demoralising such children if they have to wait for others to catch up. The demands on a teacher from this emphasised spread of ability will be a nightmare.

Alarmed by the chaos caused by the marking fiasco earlier this year, Mr. Balls, the Schools Secretary, has announced he is considering abandoning SAT’s as part of an overhaul of the education system. The jury is still out and the exact nature of the implementation of the replacement scheme has yet to be revealed.  We can only hope it will be thought through and developed jointly with head teachers.  The worst outcome is another 10p tax or Home Information Packs debacle; reviled by the professionals in the market yet introduced to cause confusion derision and ridicule. But this time it could thwart the learning journey of children who now awake to find themselves competing in a global market.

What We Should Teach Our Kids To Be.

In the space of 10 years the world as we know it can change dramatically. The schooling content seen as essential at the start of a decade can be almost irrelevant at the end. So are we programming the right curriculum for our children as they start their 10 year schooling journey and making the best use of modern educational games in our teaching resources?

Remember Y2K ? The 1st of January 2000.  The world was scheduled to stop revolving, lifts jam mid floor, bank accounts freeze and computers implode.  The computer gurus had overlooked the implications of the date code of the new millennium. Suddenly we were desperately short of ICT personnel to rewrite operating programs and manufacturers to build new computers, servers and networks. The world at large joined in the furore, angst and paranoia.

The hot ticket career in ICT reacted to a demand that nobody foresaw. Inflated salaries, bonuses and a massive workload reflected what turned out to be misjudged panic. Thankfully Y2K passed like a damp squib. The world managed to continue to spin controlled by clocks and computers that continued to work.  But there were huge economic consequences.  Operating budgets were raided, projects cancelled as funds for replacement computers and services were rushed into place.  And then….nothing.

Hardware manufacturers had a ball. Everyone had the latest specification computer, ICT guys had earned a fortune.  But the bubble burst. The demand evaporated and the market flooded with skilled ICT professionals looking for a job.

Doubtless we have learned something from this maelstrom. Since Y2Y we have seen the centre of gravity in ICT support moving to Bangalore, manufacturing to China and possibly the Financial Services market to Frankfurt?  We need to reprogramme our teaching resources so children can meet the changing demands of a global market. Matching the future needs in the curriculum is complex, and critically, would require decisions a decade in advance.

In the meantime we see continuing conflict in the performance in the key stages of the National Curriculum. A huge number of children in primary school fall short of reaching an acceptable level in maths, English and ICT. The problem is passed to secondary school where teachers, already stressed, attempt to correct shortcomings as well as meet their own standards and targets. Perversely, success in exams is tempered with concern they have become too easy.  GCSE’s are criticised by the Confederation of British Industry that their content fails to meet the demands of the modern commercial world. The DCSF and OFSTED wail, gnash their teeth, change policy and muddy the water.

The government have announced changes to the GCSE.  Designed to encourage children and provide a better chance of success, on the surface the syllabus is to be brought up to date and coursework will become modular. But this laudable intention has met with an immediate backlash; schools claim their workload will become intolerable as they try to meet the demands of children at varying stages of progress and attainment. Critics claim it would be impossible for the children not to gain good grades. But is the final outcome for the children ideally matched to the career market they are to enter?

Change will always induce reluctance, yet if we do nothing then nothing will change. Forty years ago the pace of change was more regulated. Children had some idea of a career in mind when selecting GCSE and “A” levels. Engineers went for physics, accountants for maths, doctors for the sciences. Today the changing employment options have left children with less focus. Historic careers have vaporised or can radically change within the schooling journey – e.g. the Y2K syndrome and global market forces in manufacturing. Without specific career objectives children are bound to select subjects on their exam success potential. Maybe we should assess children for their likely career potential at an earlier stage to help programme their educational journey more efficiently.  Pundits from the respective industry should be involved in the curriculum planning such that the syllabus incorporates developing techniques.

The World Wide Web, email and computers revolutionised communications in the space of 10 years. We are intimately aware of environment issues; global warming, animal migration and climatic changes that are all in state of flux. We need to consider what teaching resources are best suited to the educational objectives that best suit this fast evolving world.