Comments on: …well, well Will http://lgwilliams.edublogs.org/2008/04/21/well-well-will/ cause life's pretty straight otherwise Sun, 09 Aug 2009 23:56:02 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 By: Graham Hughes http://lgwilliams.edublogs.org/2008/04/21/well-well-will/comment-page-1/#comment-78 Graham Hughes Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:06:01 +0000 http://lgwilliams.edublogs.org/2008/04/21/well-well-will/#comment-78 I can quite honestly say that I have never read or memorised a single page of Shakespeare, but I can still recite some lines from Ode to a Grecian Urn and Ellergy in a Country Churchyard!! However, my secondary education occured in South Wales where the language is unpronounceable and the weather is worse. I remember trying to translate some Homer ....does that balance out my lack of bardy knowledge?? What is this focus on a "classical" education all about? Honestly, unless we get our syllabuses up-to-date and relevant, we can expect our customers to vote with their feet. To Shakespeare and Homer, I'd add algebra and calculus ...... Surely, memorising stuff (even the periodic table) is a nonsense. How creative is that as an educational pursuit? Why do we do it? Any of this trivia that might be entertaining at dinner parties but is hardly the way we want our kids using their valuable time is it? It is about time we modernised our syllabuses and had our kids focus on what is relevant and interesting. There must be hundreds of good books being overlooked in favour of the "classics"....... I can't explain it, or why we perpetuate it. And as for horror movies ......not this little black duck. I'm all for the chick flicks ..... Sleeplesss in Seattle, While you were sleeping, Pretty Woman etc. Yes I would rescue the princess from the tower, on a white charger ....and then she would rescue me right back! Oops, I must have memorised that bit! Yeah I know...I'm a sad, sad case I can quite honestly say that I have never read or memorised a single page of Shakespeare, but I can still recite some lines from Ode to a Grecian Urn and Ellergy in a Country Churchyard!! However, my secondary education occured in South Wales where the language is unpronounceable and the weather is worse. I remember trying to translate some Homer ….does that balance out my lack of bardy knowledge??
What is this focus on a “classical” education all about? Honestly, unless we get our syllabuses up-to-date and relevant, we can expect our customers to vote with their feet. To Shakespeare and Homer, I’d add algebra and calculus ……
Surely, memorising stuff (even the periodic table) is a nonsense. How creative is that as an educational pursuit? Why do we do it? Any of this trivia that might be entertaining at dinner parties but is hardly the way we want our kids using their valuable time is it? It is about time we modernised our syllabuses and had our kids focus on what is relevant and interesting. There must be hundreds of good books being overlooked in favour of the “classics”……. I can’t explain it, or why we perpetuate it.

And as for horror movies ……not this little black duck. I’m all for the chick flicks ….. Sleeplesss in Seattle, While you were sleeping, Pretty Woman etc. Yes I would rescue the princess from the tower, on a white charger ….and then she would rescue me right back! Oops, I must have memorised that bit!

Yeah I know…I’m a sad, sad case

]]> By: tech4teach http://lgwilliams.edublogs.org/2008/04/21/well-well-will/comment-page-1/#comment-77 tech4teach Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:49:11 +0000 http://lgwilliams.edublogs.org/2008/04/21/well-well-will/#comment-77 Now that was an eye opener! I read with interest your post, and then read Clay's as well. Some of those figures from the USA were frightening. I'd be interested to see how Australian statistics go too. I never saw Friday 13th, but recall watching a film with Dobermans that had glowing red eyes and ate people, just can't remember what it was called though. I watched it with my very pregnant sister who wanted something to "set her off" so to speak. That didnt work either. If you do ever want to watch Saw 1, 2, or 3 let me know. We have them all here somewhere. And no, I haven't watched them either, but my Teenage boys have. Does that make me bad? I have no idea what they have watched when they ar enot here. Again this all highlights the mixed up messages that we send our students by what is and isn't acceptable to be taught. We teach them the good safe things, hide the above mentioned nasties in "Olde English" speak, and don't teach them about real world issues that may very well affect them in the future. This includes being safe in the wider connected world that didn't exist when we were at school. I live daily (at the moment) with a past student that was involved in the disarming of a Crossbow & Molotov armed student at his School. He's 22 now, and life is not what it should be, or could be for him. Was that normal behavior for schools in Australia? Nope. Did we know how to pick up the pieces afterwards? Nope. As for the issue of sexual activity I would hope that our year 5 students are safe. Can we be sure? That really is a scary thought. Now that was an eye opener! I read with interest your post, and then read Clay’s as well. Some of those figures from the USA were frightening. I’d be interested to see how Australian statistics go too.

I never saw Friday 13th, but recall watching a film with Dobermans that had glowing red eyes and ate people, just can’t remember what it was called though. I watched it with my very pregnant sister who wanted something to “set her off” so to speak. That didnt work either. If you do ever want to watch Saw 1, 2, or 3 let me know. We have them all here somewhere. And no, I haven’t watched them either, but my Teenage boys have. Does that make me bad? I have no idea what they have watched when they ar enot here.

Again this all highlights the mixed up messages that we send our students by what is and isn’t acceptable to be taught. We teach them the good safe things, hide the above mentioned nasties in “Olde English” speak, and don’t teach them about real world issues that may very well affect them in the future. This includes being safe in the wider connected world that didn’t exist when we were at school.

I live daily (at the moment) with a past student that was involved in the disarming of a Crossbow & Molotov armed student at his School. He’s 22 now, and life is not what it should be, or could be for him. Was that normal behavior for schools in Australia? Nope. Did we know how to pick up the pieces afterwards? Nope.

As for the issue of sexual activity I would hope that our year 5 students are safe. Can we be sure?

That really is a scary thought.

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