Educational fads of the moment

[FuckYouDailyMail]

Ex-teacher here and the changes to assessment and streaming at DD's school 'to ensure the school is following the latest research' have brought back memories of the numerous new initiatives I had to adapt to using over the years.

AIBU to ask you to tell me about your favourite and least favourite teaching fads? Which ones were a waste of time and which have proved their worth.

Bloom's Taxonomy too! After 30+ years of qualified teaching, I was asked if I had heard of it by a whippersnapper of an Assistant Head!
Assemblies telling the students "if you can dream it, you can do it"...actually no, you probably can't all play for ManU.
Annotating schemes of work for Citizenship/Numeracy/Literacy,/ICT opps/VAK and European Awareness. (Think many HoD's will be deleting the latter soon).
Three part lessons that then had to morph into 4 part lessons, thus occasioning another mammoth rewrite.
Plenaries.
Games...every single lesson had to be based around them according our SLT or the students won't be engaged!

I left teaching 7 years ago, and it would be interesting to know which of these are still going.

KitsAndKids

Non-competitive sports days have enormous benefits for the younger children (prep school age). Whilst my school has traditional events like the triple jump, shot put (cricket balls) and javelin, we have things like wheelbarrow races and best self-portrait whilst running 50m.

Rather than tell a child who's a little behind physically that they're slow and weak, we nurture a love of competition; imagined or not.

We had an alumni compete in Brazil. Teachers still remember her lack of ability as a prep-school child. We played out part fostering what was there and she won a medal. We also have houses. Often the points are arbitrary. Guess what, defying the laws of probability, house points are nearly always in rotation between the houses (day and boarding).

Correct grammar is important and one of the reasons that all children study an MFL from Year 1. "Full, clear sentences" need correct grammar, full stops and capital letters.

I'm not too sure what you mean by "grammatical exercises? He's asked to change sentences from future perfect continuous to pluperfect?

This isn't meant to be a sly dig but does your 9 year old have AEN? He shouldn't be missing words or forgetting full stops, capital letters etc at 9. If he does then using him as an example is unfair. If he doesn't then something is going drastically wrong with his education.

At the dc's sports days the parents were corralled in a fenced-off area like a herd of steers whilst the pupils all did their thing - quite what no one could make out, but it involved quite a lot of bean bags being thrown into hoops. Any running was done as individuals in case someone beat someone else. There were many stickers handed out - just with a thumbs up on them.

There was some nonsense about puppets a few years ago. Now, I totally get how puppets can be useful in getting traumatised/non-verbal/some SEN children to communicate, but several inset days were devoted to puppet training for teachers. The puppets lay discarded in every classroom as no child is going to pick up a giraffe and declare, "I'm a critical thinker."

I could never be a teacher. I couldn't restrain myself from standing up and yelling, "You prat!" at a training person earnestly peddling the latest mumbo jumbo. I think 100% of parents send their dcs off to school in the hope that they learn the 3Rs and make a few friends. No one wants Levels, Assessments, Pathways etc. Just a teacher at the front doing some teaching.

Attendance awards for kids. Mine are rarely ill but I hate the concept.

I had to laugh when even my dad's HLTA wife was waiting for her sticker. used as a staff incentive too. Jeez

On balance I think it's a good thing that studious people in universities are researching ways to improve education. Otherwise children would still be taught as they were in Victorian England.

But I do wish that heads would be selective about what they adopt wholeheartedly.

I agree about brain gym, learning styles and growth mindset.

I don't agree with the criticism levelled at phonics, group work or mastery.

And anyone saying that their dc won't learn anything for a year need to have a word; that's not what mastery is at all.

Don't assume that what you understand to be mastery is what is being taught as mastery in schools.

We may slate Victorian England's schools but if you look at the handwriting! Even children from very poor homes indeed wrote in beautiful copperplate. My dcs' handwriting looks like a spider on an acid trip.

I went to a village school (in the 70s) which was traditional by 70s standards - wooden desks, all facing the front. Believe me, there were faults (certainly no one had SN; there were just "naughty" ones) but in a way it was good that no allowances were made. There were all types of children there from wide-ranging backgrounds. But we all were funnelled out with perfect table manners, neat handwriting, and the ability to country dance!

Growth mindset.

My child ended up weeping as they had " the wrong mindset." Forever.
I went to a meeting about it and it was the way the school was putting it across. Not at all what I'd picked up from reading the book by Carol Dweck.

Handwriting seems to have really gone downhill over the last few years, and I'm not entirely sure why. I also see a wide selection of ways to hold a pen and form letters as I walk around my (secondary) classroom.

Rights respecting school stuff really made me lose the will to attend assemblies. Poor kids.

"British values"
Would be fine if it was about celebrating things that are unique to Britain, but it seems to be "don't be an asshole" lessons, which again would be fine if not sold as something exclusively British

5rivers I agree on group work.

If we wait long enough then things will come round again but others will think they've 'invented' it ! It's just like I'm recognising fashions from my youth only it seems worse now.
About 4 years ago the Head and Deputy (Primary)went on a training day and came back enthused about writing on coloured paper, on windows, post it notes etc. I remember thinking that we were doing that in the late '80s but the National Curriculum with Literacy Hour etc soon put a stop to it. Unfortunately I think the new curriculum has also had the same effect.

Chalk and Talk is now called Direct Instruction

Flipped learning. In theory it means beginning to think about the topic before the lesson and bringing questions to class so theres deeper discussions in class. In practice it means "we don't have enough teaching hours to cover this, so please teach yourself via these readily available/googleable links, and just turn up to class where we will set your assignment and send you away again"

Restorative justice

Thrive

The brightest children being seated next to the weakest children so they can help them. Causes aggravation for both types of children.

Placing the children on ability tables for literacy/numeracy etc but giving the tables cute names so the children aren't aware that they are top middle or bottom. After about year 1 they know within 30 seconds who is on which table and if they have moved up or down.

Seems there is a lot of poor teaching of maths mastery going on, or it is not being communicated to parents well. Personally I have found it to be one of the few good things to come out of the new curriculum.

Free flow

My favourite "you couldn't make it up" fact about Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence is that it isn't actually a
curriculum. Why (as an educational elite) misname something like that?

Attendance awards - FUCK OFF

Star of the week - hate it

Also thought learning styles was a load of bollocks at the time and agree that growth mindset is a massive fad.

For the most part I'm glad I'm in private, and most of this stuff we can laugh at and not engage with.