Fads and phases in education
June 22nd, 2007 at 08:24am
Good morning Mike,
You had an interesting interview just after 7:30 about education, and I found the discussion of fads and phases in teaching methods quite interesting. In my experience almost everything in education is affected by fads and phases.
I remember when I was in high school the policy on mobile phones changed regularly, I had three different principals during my four years of high school and they all had a different policy, and they even changed their policies from one week to the next. One of them banned students from even bringing phones to school, even if they were turned off and stored in a school bag. This policy was enforced heavily for about two days, with phones being confiscated whenever a teacher saw them, then they all lost interest and the policy was changed. That same policy was reinstated about a month later, and lasted for a week.
It was a big change when I got to college and found that because students are treated like adults (and expected to act like adults in return), the only policy on phones was that teachers could request that they be turned off in class. Generally the students complied because staff were being reasonable…and the policy didn't change. If the high school policy on phones hadn't changed from one week to the next an awful lot of time and angst would have been saved.
Have a good weekend.
Regards,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Entry Filed under: Talkback Emails
10 Comments
1. Bearded Clam | June 22nd, 2007 at 6:57 pm
I once brought a short-wave radio into school. It got confiscated. I went to get it at the end of the week and found my principal trying to pick up girls over the airwaves.
true story.
2. Bearded Clam | June 22nd, 2007 at 6:58 pm
But now I have a regular mobile. My ringtone is “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey.
3. Samuel | June 22nd, 2007 at 7:01 pm
My ringtone is the standard ringing noise. Nokia call it “Nostalgia” because it sounds like an old telephone with an actual bell.
I’m not fond of using anything other than a ringing noise as a ringtone.
4. The Beige Baron | June 24th, 2007 at 4:18 am
A shortwave radio, Clam? How odd.
My ringtone is the sound of someone clearing their throat. ‘Ahem’. I am not fond of loud jangling bells. And instead of vibrating, my phone tugs discreetly at my sleeve.
5. The Beige Baron | June 24th, 2007 at 4:20 am
And where is John 4b2 lately? I really miss his insightful comments.
6. Dingleberry Cufflink | June 24th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
I miss them too Baron. Although any mention of R1D4’s name usually results in the purging of the offending comment.
Back to the topic at hand. I have a normal ringtone. However, I have to answer my shoe via the heel.
7. The Beige Baron | June 25th, 2007 at 2:21 am
You have a shoe phone? That is very cool Dingleberry.
I will try harder to remain OT and not mention our mutual friend Mr #########. or else samuel my cut off my #####.
I remember when the old spindle-style phones were changed over to push-button types. I remember our old green spindle phone being forcibly removed from our house and replaced with a white Telecom push-button. I was very upset because I didn’t like the new sound it made and wanted the old ding-a-ling style.
That’s progress I guess.
8. Dingleberry Cufflink | June 25th, 2007 at 2:53 am
Well the heel phone is not all it is cracked up to be. On weekends (and some week nights) I like to change my gender by way of clothing and I can tell you that a 5 1/4 inch high heel in the inner ear can be quite painful and embarassing on Carlisle st.
I’m sure out mutual friend Mr ###### will have several photos of the old style phone on his blog. Mind you his name ###### will be scrawled across the image as to avoid copyright issues from other bloggers who may want to steal it.
9. Samuel | June 25th, 2007 at 8:30 am
I should point out that people are adding #s to their own posts…I’m not entirely sure why…however:
You can call it a ##### if you like, but I think the correct term is #######.
Two can play at that game!
10. Bearded Clam | June 26th, 2007 at 6:00 am
Can I buy a vowel?