On one hand, teachers need the feredom to educate students rather than drill them with facts. On the other hand, if children are to be educated properly, they need teachers that are capable of understanding the basic principals themselves. League tables and low salaries appear to be preventing schools and school children from obtaining either goal.Having recently taught at both Southampton and Cambridge Universities, I can reliably say that the inability of undergraduates to think for themselves is not confined to students that are the product of state schools. The culprit may be the curriculum itself. The most worrying fact is that today’s current crop of university goers will be the teachers of tomorrow. In other words, the situation will only get worse unless radical changes are made now.
On one hand, teachers need the feredom to educate students rather than drill them with facts. On the other hand, if children are to be educated properly, they need teachers that are capable of understanding the basic principals themselves. League tables and low salaries appear to be preventing schools and school children from obtaining either goal.Having recently taught at both Southampton and Cambridge Universities, I can reliably say that the inability of undergraduates to think for themselves is not confined to students that are the product of state schools. The culprit may be the curriculum itself. The most worrying fact is that today’s current crop of university goers will be the teachers of tomorrow. In other words, the situation will only get worse unless radical changes are made now.