I find the idea that worksheets are somehow an awful teaching tool or one which 'progressive' state schools would never use, and that independent schools are somehow lagging far behind and letting their pupils down, huge generalisations based on a lack of information.
To use any one teaching technique constantly is a mistake. Variety and knowing which techniques are suitable for which learning objectives is the key. Worksheets have a place - they are not the work of the Devil! Anyone who thinks a worksheet is always a lazy teaching approach, or who thinks teachers should always be giving their class 2 minute lasting, constantly changing 'active' tasks, is daft. Worksheets are simply bits of paper - they can contain information, links to other resources such as textbooks, physical resources to be used or the internet or to people! They can contain comprehension style questions, or explanations for practical tasks, or group discussion etc. And the ones which do contain some questions which then require some written answers in a book can be very important for building up a body of knowledge, or practising exam style questions - because what is an exam, if it isn't basically a worksheet.
There seems to be a suggestion that independent schools are lagging behind and out of date, using useless teachers and not subject to scrutiny. It does make you wonder why people would pay for such an approach and even moreso, if it is all so awful, how they manage to deliver the results they do. Something clearly isn't adding up!
One of the reasons why people pay for private education and why some people want to teach in those schools, is because there is more flexibility. Whilst state schools can be constantly subjected to having to implement the latest craze and abandoning past approaches, forced by rigid inspection, private schools simply have more flexibility. So they can appraise the latest craze in education and decide which aspects to follow and which to ignore. It means they can stick to tried and tested old techniques rather than abandoning them - they can use their judgement. Don't think that independent schools spend all their time sitting the pupils in rows,working in silence - there will be lots of active learning going on, but there will be time spent (and perhaps more of it than in schools where it is difficult to keep pupils on an individual task for more than 15 mins) where pupils just sit and write - and of course, doing that is absolutely vital and needs lots of practise. It's all about using appropriate tasks and those which enable pupils to learn the skills they need to obtain both knowledge and then to deal with the ways they will be assessed. And don't think there is a lack of accountability either - as well as inspections (which are less subject to constantly moving goal posts) schools carry out performance management and plenty of training - focused on the things that they need to achieve - and if the results are part of the proof of the pudding, in most cases it seems to be working. I think parents would vote with their feet if it wasn't.
There are great teachers and lazy teachers everywhere. I wouldn't equate giving out worksheets or working in a school which might hire some unqualified teachers, or might not be subjected to the whims of government and demoralising inspection with lazy or backward or incompetent teaching.
The shopping issue is one thing, but the use of worksheets and the teacher doing a task not directly connected to the pupils in front of them at that moment is something altogether different.
As always I am surprised to find how many people are quick to condemn the teacher based on a quick comment of a teenager. WE SIMPLY DONT HAVE ENOUGH INFORMATION.