Ascension : Wot? More School? Nah!
Submitted by The Islander (Gavin Yon) 28.07.2005 (Article Archived on 11.08.2005)
This year I decided to take advantage of the GCSE evening courses delivered by the staff of Two Boats School.
This year I decided to take advantage of the GCSE evening courses delivered by the staff of Two Boats School. I chose Mathematics (intermediate) with Sarah Emson and Child Development with Isabel Andrews. I knew I had to take these courses as I needed to know exactly what my daughter would be facing in the next few years. I left school many years ago and the style of education delivery has changed radically since I sat my O levels.
What an eye opener! I couldn’t believe it. We were given books with a style that displayed clear, simple writing, in PLAIN English. There were even some child friendly of comedic drawings. I spent a lot of time confident that there must be a mistake and that the teacher would bring out the book with the really long winded wordy explanations that I had been exposed to in my past. Those books did not materialise.
Parents, we are so out of touch. I was taught to listen and repeat. Asking questions was a form of interrupting the teacher and would often earn you a place in detention. No one cared if I could use the information had been taught; I just needed to be able to regurgitate it on exam day. NOT ANYMORE. We were expected to participate by questioning, answering and showing our learning by sharing our knowledge with others. We were given course work with potential real problems and were expected to use our knowledge to explain a theory using examples from our daily lives. This is not easy; ask anyone who sat their exams this year. The achievement goals were also very clear though you didn’t have to take the exams.
It was fun to meet with different people every Tuesday and Thursday. We were challenged on many levels. This confirmed that we really do know more than we think. I spent a lot of time laughing at myself and the silly things I thought I’d remembered from school. A lot of these things were recalled similar to a Chinese whisper…rubbish!
I would like to thank Isabel and Sarah for all their hard work, time and perseverance. It was hard going occasionally but I really enjoyed it. Adults with preconceived ideas can be hard headed and slow to change. Imagine what your kids are like…
For all of you women that have had a baby and would like a challenge, can you name the CORRECT stages for bathing a baby? Not what you did, but what the experts say you’re supposed to have done. Yeah, we laughed as well, until we got it wrong.
Bernadette Kettlewell
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