DC being asked to write letters to Michael Gove

[wizzler]

DC are 9 and 7. They started a discussion today about letters they were writing to Michael Gove in school and how the best ones would be sent to him.

I probed and discovered from them that Micahel Gove wanted "shorter school holidays, longer school days without any extra pay for the teachers ". The DC were being encouraged to write " persuasive letters" to make him change his mind

I am usually quite laid back about the stories they bring home but am at this one. If it is an academic exercise and they are using some of Gove's suggestions to motivate the DC to give a passionate response then I think I may be ok with that.. but it seems to me that they are using my DC to make a political point, without explaining the full implications.

To be clear, I do not agree with Michael Goves suggestions.. but neither do I want letters from my DC being used in some sort of political campaign.

wwyd... go to school with all guns blazing, or calm down and watch the ?

Mine did that too, as a piece of persuasive writing. I have no problem with it. To get 9 year olds to write persuasively you have to engage them with something they care about - losing holidays and free time is something they feel strongly about.
As long as they aren't sending the letters on behalf of any political party, but merely as a selection of children's views, I can't see any harm.

Hmm, letters to MG where they get to chose their own topic or express their own pov i would approve of but if they've been told which way they need tp argue then no I don't think that's on at all.

e.g mg is thinking if introducing xyz what do you think, persuade him he's right/wrong, i could live with.mg is wrong and we need to tell him why. no way (even though he is!)

I thought there were strict rules about no politics in schools.

wasn't there this exact topic almost word for word a few weeks ago?

thanks for the responses... I am on the fence. DH does school drop off and pick ups.. I might ask him to have a word and see what is really going on. It was the bit about " and the teachers wont get any more money for all the extra work" which made me suspicious!

My first thought was my son's would never get picked .Then my next thought is actually yes I would let my DS write a letter as I do think the young children need to be bought into politics partly due to the low apathy and voting figures of politics.

I also know from my experience trying to explain politics to my DS(7) I have found really difficult and this is a way of explaining how politicians make decisions that effect our every day lives

Yes, i thought that wizzer. i can see 9yos being moved to action over shorter holidays but i really can't see them having strong views (or informed opinions) about teacher salaries

I don't have a problem with it. It's persuasive writing, for a real purpose.

Thanks for giving me some perspective .. will take a deep breath and calm down.

We did this in Year 6 as a piece of balanced argument.

To be honest, most of mine found it to tricky to come up with a convincing paragraph in favour of longer school days and shorter holidays.

Maybe we should have used it for persuasive too...

That's really interesting, we had the same thing about 2 months ago. The kids were really exercised because they were told that MG wanted to take away playtime. This sounded preposterous. So I didn't pay much attention. I figured it was to inspire them to write a persuasive letter as a piece of class work. Now I wonder

He would be taking away play time if he wants shorter school holidays and longer school days.

I think it's a good idea if they were allowed to argue the opposite point of view if they wanted. I imagine that they were though but didn't take this point of view.

I think it's persuasive writing for a purpose and far more interesting than the usual topics of 'should school uniform be banned' and the like. It also teaches them about politics and how it works and how they can change things if they want through politics.

I am 35

I did that piece of work at Primary school only it wasn't Michael Gove but the Education minister of the time.

I think I asked for big libraries in every school swot

Have to say I find this quite creepy. The longer school days thing is based on the success of Mossbourne secondary school, for children who are often heavily disadvantaged, where (if I understand correctly) the longer days provide: 1) time for disadvantaged children to do their homework in a quiet supportive environment; and 2) time for enrichment activities, sports, clubs etc. These are all things that middle class children can get at home after school; disadvantaged kids far less likely. (Also, I've not heard of it being suggested for primary schools, though could be wrong about that).

Sounds like in some cases children are being given one side of the story, yet expected to write a "balanced" piece. I remember thinking when my daughter (now 15) was doing the opposing views task that it conveys totally the wrong impression about what what "balance" should be about. Balance isn't about trying to "think up" opposing arguments; it's about actually doing some research to find out what those arguments are, and what facts they are based on.

My DS did the same piece of writing. His letter was hilarious and the head teacher showed it to me (I am a teacher though) - it obviously engaged my DS so I didn't mind at all.

If you don't agree with Gove's suggestions then why don't you want your children to get involved in political campaigning? That's a special kind of apathy isn't it? I wish people were more involved in politics ls I actually think involving them from a young age might help.

Because i don't think they should be told what their opinion is mrsr, not by me or their teachers

Agreed. Ds' persuasive writing was about how to make our city an appealing destination for aliens - not that Gove definitely isn't an alien but I don't think the letters will go to him :)

I think the school should have presented the suggestion neutrally and let children decide what they thought about it (let's face it, no child is going to be in favour of shorter holidays whatever the academic benefits are perceived to be) and write on that basis. The issue of teachers' pay is not a concern for the pupils.

It is simply a stimulus to engage the children to write persuasively. Children, when given statement, can choose which PoV to take and use a range of devices to write persuasively.
one of these will be to research the view of the opposing side (Gove) in order to oppose it. In the midst of the research part the teacher pay probably came up.
Gove's policies do and will affect children-they are entitled to debate/discuss it. Actually a great way to get them thinking politically.

As for sending off some of the them to Gove...why not? the children then see that they are writing for a purpose and have more of an incentive to produce better quality writing.

I can't see anything to complain about to be honest-this isn't a political campaign (though I do think children should be involved in campaigning and understanding they have a voice and a duty to be informed on current policy-I. Think more adults should be too!)

As a stimulus to get good creative writing this is fine. As soon as it goes into a situation where the carrot being offered is that the best letters will be sent to M Gove, I begin to get a little concerned.
Firstly will the letters really get sent. If not then it is very poor thinking on the teachers behalf as the kids will expect a reply. When they do not get one they will be disappointed, Gove's name will be mud in the playground when actually it is the teacher's fault if they do not send the letters to Gove.
If however the letters are being sent and it seems quite widespread from the above comments then this clearly starts to look political and that is the point where I would start to be very worried. It is totally inappropriate for teachers to be using children to advocate their concerns about the teaching profession. I really do hope that this is not coming from one of the teaching unions.

My DD wrote to Michael Gove but that was entirely her own doing, was about an issue she felt very strongly about and would be directly affected by. She actually decided that although she probably should write to him, she didn't like him (two teachers for parents) and so would deprive him of her letter . Fortunately, she had a rethink and sent her letter anyway. She received a reply from Lord Someone who urged her to raise it with the school governors (which she had already done...and the local MP, councillor, mayor, newspaper etc.). She's been well and truly affected by the politics of teachers she knows, but not by those she's taught by!

If my class complain about school-related things they've heard in the news, about NC tests etc. then I always suggest that they write to Michael Gove to let him know how they feel but I wouldn't make him the focus for a sequence of lessons, for lots of reasons . Children need to write with a purpose in mind, letters of complaint are excellent for that but will always be more effective if the children are worked-up about something.

Not on IMO.

Ours did their persuasive letter on why they shouldn't get homework, and the teacher gave them a week off homework! Much better as their persuasiveness had a result. There is no point trying to persuade Gove anything at all.