Quote:
Originally Posted by RickyMaveety
It still chaps my hide that everyone expects children to all be able to perform the same physically. Some kids can run .... some can't. I had exercise induced asthma (well, pretty much anything induced asthma in me), and when the teachers would force me to do laps (because I failed so miserably at gymnastic exercises), I would generally end up unconscious with my face in the dirt and bronchial spasms suffocating me.
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We used to have to do cross country running at one school - there was a group of us who always came in last, including those of us who just couldn't run (I can't run. I can walk all day and then some, and I'm above average in strength, but I get exhausted running down half a platform to catch a train!), those with asthma, and those who didn't see the point. We came in last because as soon as we were out of sight (which wasn't very far at all) we stopped our feeble attempts at running and walked instead!
*checks* Still in vent and rant thread, good
The bit that gets me is that people expect all children to be able to perform the same, period. Be it physically or academically. And it seems to have been getting worse over the years. All children seem to be expected to be able to be high achievers in all the
important subjects (emphasis very much sarcastic - important subjects seem to be those that make the school look good in the league tables), to be able to learn in the same way(*) and at the same pace. In reality, of course, not every child is going to be able to get excellent grades academically, and go on to get a 1:1 at university. And if they could, then surely that devalues the whole system anyway?(**)
I very strongly suspect (***) that the problem doesn't lie with the teachers on the ground, but more with govt ministers who don't know when to stop fiddling with things.
(* One of the things the place I work at is involved in is looking at alternative means at getting students who, for whatever reason, have difficulties learning in a typical classroom environment to learn; and it's apparently meeting with some success.)
(** I don't believe that university degrees are the be-all and end-all, either. They have their place, but so also does experience. And I've never understood why companies advertise vacancies for the most mind numbingly boring office jobs and then demand a 2:1 degree or better - unless the company is very, very good, they will have left before they have a chance of getting promoted)
(*** Again, this is a feeling I get from some of the people I work with)