October 10, 2006

Teaching history with more narrative and fewer "tiny gobbets of chewed-up material"

Found this interesting post from writer (and new home educating father) James Bartholomew, based on this interesting article from The London Times last week.

Worth noting too that The Times article is based on an interview with historian David Starkey before last week's premiere of the film version of the play, The History Boys, which "depicts the clash between two teachers, one who values learning for its own sake and one who sees teaching as a series of artificially selected exam techniques. It is a debate that Dr Starkey believes is worth having, not least because he fears that the current system of exams, targets and league tables is destroying Britain’s education system."

1 comment:

Becky said...

This is the case in the provincial school system here too. I've had a post in draft for a few weeks now about the courses I discovered at the local college -- how to study, how to take notes, how to take an exam. What on earth are they doing in high school then? Oh yes, making collages about movies...