tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019828684971971203.post7459883013741595149..comments2024-03-14T02:53:31.171+00:00Comments on Tom Bennett's School Report: We need you to be rubbish: when to ignore whole school policiesTom Bennetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03211959016018081924noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019828684971971203.post-90658718116112853312011-01-09T15:12:33.397+00:002011-01-09T15:12:33.397+00:00While there are undoubtedly benefits in shared sta...While there are undoubtedly benefits in shared standards, these need to be regarded as a scaffold for human interaction, which is by its nature, sensitive to context. There is not, nor do I suspect there ever will be, an ideal, universal way to teach. There very well might be things that work in the majority, or even the vast majority of circumstances, such as the use of consistency, fairness and rigour to achieve good discipline, but until every human being comes off the conveyor belt with a barcode on its ass, the business of raising, nurturing and training children will remain immune to standardisation.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the nature of administrative bureaucracies is that they live to do, to act; they are addicted to passing resolutions, issuing guidelines and sharing best practise until suggestions become requirements. The byproduct of this system is a form of tyranny by ledger; when all that is valued is what can be quantitatively described and recorded. <br /><br />The usual way to deal with this is to do what works in your classroom, and run the school systems when you're being observed.<br /><br />That said, every participant in school should carefully consider if the proposed whole school routines are such an imposition at all: for example, simply asking all teachers to make their students line up outside a classroom before entering isn't such a big deal, and very few circumstances would prohibit the adoption of this, unless space and geometry prohibited it. But it's when they want you to, for example, use the Consequence Code 'no matter what', that laws become handcuffs. Bust 'em open.Tom Bennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03211959016018081924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019828684971971203.post-78846844073284303132011-01-08T19:33:13.069+00:002011-01-08T19:33:13.069+00:00Unfortunately in many areas of education, it is co...Unfortunately in many areas of education, it is considered that there is only one way of doing the classroom thing. You have to conform, you cannot be yourself and find your own ways- which would include some of the 'standards'- because there is always the threat of more observations and competency proceedings-unofficially in the first instance but they do it to make your life as difficult as possible.cannonfoddernoreply@blogger.com