to expect a good school to challenge pupils (academically)?

[leroymerlin]

The school I will be teaching in has almost the highest achievement in the county. I realised though, that all students are taught 'Of Mice and Men' as the novel at GCSE (for reasons of time, the syllabus is crammed). This isn't nearly as challenging as the other texts such as 'To Kill a Mockingbird', 'Purple Hibiscus' or 'Mr Pip'.

My point is not that it is harder to get an A* on the others, it isn't, just that more able students can be taken way beyond GCSE with a solid foundation for A-Level.

AIBU to expect the school to teach more challenging texts simply for enrichment? Do other parents care more about the A* or breadth of learning?

[lovebunny]

offer it as an extra, after school.

the truth about schools is that we have to maximise exam grades - plenty of them, as high as we can get.

education is not the same as schooling. offer education as extra. from september, i lose my ks4 A level group due to everyone having to do history/geography gcse for the ebacc - but my brightest pupils have asked for A level as a lunchtime club...

[Pickgo]

He he he.... that IS funny lovebunny - a teacher advocating education as an 'extra', A level as a lunchtime club... NOT.

[noblegiraffe]

If they teach purely to the GCSE then their A-level results won't be as good as they could be. However, GCSE results are the headline results for the school.

Blame the league tables.

[lovebunny]

education is something that has always been extra. you can't get it in schools.

and my extra A levels ( i run three -well, two As and an AS - but only if pestered by the very determined) are for the pleasure of thinking and working at a higher level ...

[lovebunny]

enrichment. that would be the technical term. enrich gcse provision by studying extra texts, and enrich your lunchtimes by discussing philosophy or religion with lovebunny...

[leroymerlin]

After school clubs are great and pre-children I have run them, however with two under four I am afraid I am going to be going home to them.... with all the other work being done after bedtime.

I am interested to know what non-teachers think. There is a lot on the G&T board about able students not being adequately pushed, though it seems often to be when children are young. Does anyone care by GCSE?

[blueemerald]

I did of mice and men (then English a level and a degree and am now about to start training as an English teacher). I think that a) of mice and men is a great text that can go A*-G in a way other texts can't b) if a student is hoping to do well at A Level (let alone beyond!) then they better be reading more than the syllabus book!!

[FartyMcTarty]

YANBU at all. It's an all too common approach to teaching by numbers. In my dept, teaching of extracts is advocated (I refuse to do it - less able children can cope well with whole Shakespeare texts, for example, if the teacher knows and loves the play).

I find it depressing. I generally just ignore the trend and teach my own way. FWIW, when I was in school we read both OMAM and TKAM; Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's dream.

[mummymeister]

i did english a level and found i had to read lots of different books by the author and others published either at the same time/same genre etc to get a good mark. at gcse it seems to be about getting the mark where as a level is more about understanding the subject. i wish my DC's school would give us a list of books that it would be useful for them to read over the coming years so that i can wean them off vampire novels and adventure stories.

[numbum]

I did Of Mice and Men too. It is one of two books I can remember actually reading at secondary school (along with The Midwich Cuckoos)

As a teacher, are you not allowed to choose the books for your own class?

[GetDownNesbitt]

I have been teaching Of Mice and Men for over 15 years. I have taught it to A* kids, G kids and every kind of kid inbetween. It works. There is enough in the novel to stretch the most able - the light and dark motifs, the 'moment that settles for more than a moment' when Curley's wife dies, the constant use of understatement....

[leroymerlin]

blueemerald You're right 'Of Mice and Men' is a great book, Steinbeck is one of my favourite writers. When teaching a class full of A* students I just wonder if they could benefit from something more challenging. I suppose I am not really thinking about students who love English and naturally read more than the course book (which of course is the type of person who goes on to become an English teacher )

numbum On the GCSE syllabus there is a choice of four in this part of the exam, I will be a new teacher (to this school) this year so will teach as advised this year...

[leroymerlin]

FartyMcTarty The teaching of extracts seems to have been introduced while I've been out of the classroom - a student can conceivably achieve an A* on very little reading, though I'm not sure what they'll have learnt.

GetDownNesbitt It definitely does work, that is indisputable...

[blueemerald]

I find the teaching of extracts very depressing as I work in a special secondary school for student with autism and severe learning difficulties or complex needs and severe learning difficulties and we put on a shakespeare play every year (hamlet last year Romeo and Juliet this year).