I am a primary teacher in an international school which follows the British system. I also have a DD in year 2 at the school. Non teaching friend has a DD, same age, in a local school. We have just had a long conversation about the differences in the two systems and for the first time in 15 years of teaching I am doubting myself! I have always believed that children come to school to learn through stimulating, fun, interactive activities that cater for them as individuals. Friends school is taught through text books, dictation, sitting in rows, and masses of homework! The level of what friends child is being taught, especially in maths, in comparison to our year twos is amazing! Already doing vertical addition and subtraction into the thousands, long multiplication and division. I argued that children must be taught the processes and concepts first so that they truly understand what they are doing, she thinks that sometimes you just have to learn to do it and ask questions later!
So I suppose what I want to know is should we be going back to the time when we taught children in rows drilling in the basics or should we, as I believe be teaching them to question, think for themselves and enjoy their education. Or can we mix the two and if so how?