BBC1: Classroom Secrets

[Devexity]

Anyone watch this last night? iPlayer it if you didn't: they filmed a week in a Y4 classroom, and had the parents of particularly challenging pupils watch the footage with the class teacher & head. Revelatory for everyone.

Thoughts? Was the classroom typical?

I'm a cover supervisor at a secondary. Half way through the programme I realised that I was grinning maniacally and said to my partner, "Welcome to my world." Gloriously validating to see that, lo, even members of senior management teams cannot police low level disruption effectively.

As a parent, however, it made me dread DS's 34 pupil Y3 classroom next year. Especially since he's one of the kids who has to sit next to disruptive children in order to model good learning behaviour. And some of it was more than a little heartbreaking.

[erebus]

You reminded me to watch it! So I just have- thanks.

It was both disturbing and enlightening. I had a pretty good idea what it would be like, tbh- it amazes me that any DC learns anything at all when you a) know how dozy and easily led one's own DSs can be and b) how easy it would be to be distracted by endless low level messing around. DS2, who is an average student, not infrequently complains to me how fed up he can get with other DCs mucking about on his table all the time.

Highly controversially, I do wonder whether there'd be some merit in placing school desks in rows facing the teacher, like we used to (showing my age?).

I have always been a tiny bit suspicious of the '6 kids around an oblong table with no teacher or TA' scenario which seems to be the norm. I'm sure it works a treat with the conscientious, clever DCs who don't need constant supervision but it evidently doesn't work with the less able, easily bored!

One thing struck me, hoiking up my judgey pants- the croissants for breakfast, served to the DD whilst she watched morning TV- without even the demand for manners! And what sort of time was she up the back alley with the neighbouring DCs learning the language she was writing on the whiteboard?!

I am really worried for the little boy James. He was evidently so hopelessly out of his depth academically (and socially). Surely he'd be the poster child for the need to go in, guns blazing, ££ trailing to 'recover' his education before it was totally lost! I note in the final voice over the wheeling in of a specialist teacher to help him- why did it take a TV crew to bring that evident truth to the fore? Note I'm not really bagging the teacher- what a job!- but I've always thought that.

Finally, also controversially, if it were possible to compare apples with apples what I'd like to see would be a similar program on a non selective, 'cheap' private prep class. Though of course, there'd be 15 DCs in the class for a start!

I wonder what a similar school demographically filmed in say France and the USA would be like? I think we can guess what a Chinese school would look like, esp as there was an interesting SBS (Australian) program on just that recently.

[erebus]

Have pasted my post onto the other link ta!