Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Jamie's Dream School: Episode 3


Jamie's Dream School: Episode 3

Headteacher
* John "Dabbs" D'Abbro

This week:
* Alastair Campbell, Politics Teacher
* Alvin Hall, Maths Teacher
* Jane Poynter, Science (Enviroment) Teacher


Alastair Campbell, Politics Teacher

Alastair Campbell is speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival (which Jamie Oliver on voice-over calls the Cheltenham LITERARY Festival), and he brings along two of his students - Harlem and Nana-Kwame. In one way this is a continuation of Campbell's previous classes where he sticks to what he is good at, but in another way it's just him off on a junket and he's taken some kids along to make it seem like it's part of the Dream School project.

Harlem is very pleased to be at the Festival and thinks Campbell is "a lovely man".

Campbell is on stage discussing cutting benefits to people without jobs, and introduces the students to the audience, and asks the students if they have any questions. Harlem says that if benefits are cut and there are no jobs, it will lead to a war between the rich and the poor, and the poor will rob from the rich, so what is he going to do about it?

An audience member thought that Harlem's directness was refreshing.

What worked:
Playing to his strengths as a teacher, taking students out of the classroom

What didn't work:
Not really much of a teaching and learning experience


Alvin Hall, Maths Teacher

Alvin Hall is a very interesting choice for Maths Teacher, he has a degree in English, and a Masters in American Literature, and lectured in literature before moving into finance. His ability to understand complex financial instruments, and explain them simply, led him to becoming the director of course development at a company selling training materials for Wall Street examinations. This in turn lead him write articles and books on financial matters. From these articles and books he became a media personality who has presented television and radio shows. Jamie selects lots of people for the school who are TV presenters, this is a good idea TV presenters know how to sell a concept, are quick-thinking on their feet, and know how to communicate.

Jamie meets Alvin before class and says that "the traditional academic classes" aren't succeeding for many students and "where the young people are given things to solve, they have been great". Alvin says that his view is that they "need to know the basics now".

First Lesson

Jamie says on voice-over that Maths is the subject that the students hate, and ten minutes into Alvin's class none of the students have shown up, Dabbs has to round them up, and get them into class. Twenty minutes into class and only half the kids have arrived.

Nana-Kwame has his laptop at a desk, but Jenny sits down at that chair facing that desk, so Nana-Kwame pulls the chair from under her and she pushes him into the wall. A group of students and Alvin have to step in and calm the situation down before it escalates into a very serious fight. Nana-Kwame calms down, Jenny runs out of class in tears.

Alvin then begins the lesson, there's a bit of chat, so Alvin says "Shhh, OK, class let's stop" and then "OK, let's get started". Some students are fiddling with their cameras from Rankin's class, so Alvin says "Put all cameras down on the desk...where I can see them". Some students obey, others don't so he says "If you don't put the camera down I'm going to have to get the principal to take it away from you". He reinforces this message with "And I will do it, don't think I won't". And finally he says "I don't like to have to tell you things twice".

Alvin has very little time for teaching because all the students were so late, and after the fight that occurred immediately after class started, the students were too giddy to do anything in that first class.

Second Lesson

In the voice-over to Alvin's next class Jamie says Alvin will use his "tough, deep south discipline" to get the students to behave.

Alvin makes the lesson personal by telling the students his family story, he says his mother worked as a maid in Florida for 25 dollars a day, 5 days a week, 51 weeks a year, and she had seven children. He says they were very poor going up, in fact so much he says "we weren't POOR, we were PO, we couldn't afford the O and R". This kind of humour is gentle, lighthearted and a nice way to get the students in a positive frame-of-mind.

Conor asks Alvin his name and wonders should they call him 'Alvin' or 'Mr. Hall', Alvin is very clear on this point: "Call me, Mr. Hall!" insisting that they respect his authority.

Alvin tells them that the thing that transformed his life was one phrase "Self-discipline" and that for him to be a success he "learned basic maths skills"

On voice-over Jamie says that Alvin is getting them to do "a shopping exercise to get them to Add and Subtract" - I know I shouldn't say this, but seriously, what sort of dopes are these students that they need help adding and subtracting, most of them are Leaving Cert. age for Heaven's sake, in Ireland they would have finished getting help adding and subtracting in primary school. Still tying the lesson into practical things like shopping is a great idea.

After class Jourdelle stays behind to learn more maths skills, he wants to be successful and rich, Alvin is very supportive and friendly, he tells Jourdelle that he has enough control and discipline to succeed.

Third Lesson

In Alvin's next class he has to teach fractions and percentages using only the board and a pen. Alvin spent all night worrying about how he was going to teach fractions to students who are afraid of Division. He called a couple of friends, a Child Development Psychologist, and a Mathematician, and based on their advice at 4:40am in the morning he figured out how to teach fractions and percentages. We have to applaud Alvin's dedication.

He teaches them fractions by using a pie chart, so he asks them "How many hours do you think I spend sleeping? (6 hours), and "How many hours do you think I spend working?" (11 hours). Then he says "I have one hour I spend on a dirty little secret" - a wonderful way of creating a bit of mystery and humour. It turns out Alvin's dirty secret is "either going to the gym or taking a nap". Alvin also spends 6 hours on personal time. He gets them to calculate the percentages that correspond to the amount of time he spends on each activity as a fraction of a 24 hour day.

Next he says "I want you to create a pie chart of your day" making the activity personal to them which they love.

He reinforces the idea the "if you can master the basics when the right opportunity comes knocking at your door, you can answer and grab it" appealing to their greed and ego, Alvin made it, so they can too.

When the students are leaving class one of them says "you make it fun, you make it enjoyable".

After class Nana-Kwame is shown working through the maths book on his own time, a clear sign that Alvin's approach is working.

Also after class Alvin says "I'm very skeptical when people say they are bright...bright isn't the word I would first use", it's interesting to hear an American perspective on things. Americans are usually more literal and honest about things, and typically when Americans talk about "bright children" they mean students who enjoy class and and interested and attentive; which is not something these students could be accused of. In contrast when Jamie is saying they are "bright children" that is code for "they aren't as thick as they seem". British people tend to be much less blunt about things, and tend to talk things up a little bit.

Jamie and Alvin

In voice-over Jamie says "Alvin seems to have a clear way of making maths relevant and he's really tuned into their kind of psyche, which is the clever bit".

Jamie meets Alvin after class, impressed by the interest that has been generated in Maths, he asks Alvin the secrets of his success, to which Alvin says that "given that the children are money-focused, and self-focused" he shows how his success story can be their story. Also he says that "immediate feedback" is the main goal of his teaching, that's why he set the classroom up in a U-shape to be able to reach all of the students as quickly as possible. 'Immediate feedback' is a brilliant goal, and we can't help but think of John Hattie in that context.

Jamie asks Alvin how would these students be treated in America, Alvin says that in America they would have to get Childhood Therapy to deal with their anger management issues.

Alvin is a brilliant teacher.

What worked:
Setting disciplinary boundaries and reinforcing them, making it personal by telling a story about his own history, appealing to the student's greed, appealing to the student's ego, using humour, "Call me, Mr. Hall!", tying the lesson into practical things like shopping and his daily timetable, being supportive and friendly, asking other people for advice, create a bit of mystery, being a role model that the students can replicate, giving immediate feedback.

What didn't work:
The students were very late - maybe he should have canceled class after 15 minutes. After the two students had gotten into a fight in the class he should have canceled class - it was obvious that the other students were too giddy after this incident


Dabbs and the Extraordinary Head Teachers Assembly

After speaking to Jenny about her altercation in Alvin's first class, Dabbs decides to hold an Extraordinary Head Teachers Assembly, getting all the students together and as many teachers as he has on hand. He feels discipline is slipping and he needs to draw a line.

Dabbs says "I've had enough", he is unhappy with their behaviour, he is dismayed that he has to ask them: "Have you had a drink before you came to school?". When Connor tries to interrupt him, he says "Not now please". He then says "You think because I'm reasonable, I'm soft, but I ain't" (shades of Simon Callow last week).

He asks for the students to raise their hands to comment, Connor raises his hand, so Dabbs says "Connor first" then one of the students, Harlem, says "I'm second" without raising her hand, this irks Dabbs, and he says he'll decide the order of comments. This sets Harlem off, first she just starts saying nice things about the other students, but then gets very angry and accuses Dabbs of thinking he is better than everyone else. Another student, Jenny, points out that Dabbs is the Headmaster and is above everyone else, which drives Harlem crazy, she threatens to batter Jenny, and makes aggressive moves towards her until some students step in between the pair and Harlem is asked to leave the room. Harlem's level of anger is way off the charts, she clearly has anger management and self-sabotage issues.

Shockingly it is David Starkey who makes a joke to diffuse the situation, he says that Harlem could be an opera singer, this lightens the mood a little.

Alvin is not impressed by Dabbs' behaviour, he feels that Dabbs drew a line but then let it expand.

In voice-over Jamie mentions that Dabbs himself was kicked out of school three times and has great sympathy for troubled students. Dabbs decides he needs to phone Harlem's mother, so he first writes out a script of what he wants to communicate to her, he tells her that he is thinking of expelling Harlem, but will sleep on and and talk to Jamie.

Jamie invites Harlem and her mother in to meet with him, he shows them a video of Harlem's behaviour, who is blaming everyone but herself. Her mother is plainly shocked and disappointed at Harlem's behaviour, and tries to reasons with Harlem, and explains to her that she needs to look at herself. This approach to parenting seems a bit weak to me.

Jamie says "that was ugly", he says "that sort of aggression will end up ... in blood". He paints a grim picture of Harlem's future, he says he would love to hire her in a year's time, but if she behaved like that, he would have to fire her immediately. It is interesting that Jamie frames the situation in terms of employment, when at the start of this episode Harlem expressed her concern about getting at job when at the Cheltenham Literature Festival. Jamie has the right approach, explain the problem in terms of things that matter to her.

What worked:
Dabbs setting disciplinary boundaries, Dabbs writing a script to speak to Harlem's mother, Dabbs sleeping on a decision, Jamie explaining the problem in terms of things that matter to the students.

What didn't work:
Dabbs going into the meeting angry.


Jane Poynter, Science (Enviroment) Teacher

Robert Winston, Science Teacher has selected four students (Conor, Henry, Danielle and Chole) who have shown a lot of interest in science to accompany Jane Poynter into an artificial biosphere for 3 days. Jamie says "I'll try anything" to get the students interested in science, another lame excuse on Jamie's behalf to explain away the highly unrealistic nature of this part of the School, there is no way a regular school could afford to build an artificial biosphere, so any outcome of this part of the process is unfair.

In voiceover Jamie calls Jane Poynter "a great scientist" which is an interesting assessment of her - between 1993 and 1995 Jane Poynter with seven other people stayed in a sealed environment "Biosphere 2" for two years. What is interesting about Jane Poynter is that it is very difficult to find out any information about her before that point, based on comments she has made in interviews and her conversations with the students it appears she comes from a very wealthy family, she didn't go to college but instead traveled the world trying to find a career that suited her, and decided to live in the "Biosphere 2" as a challenge. Since then she has written books about her experiences, and married Taber MacCallum, a fellow "Biosphere 2" crew member.

Before going into the artificial biosphere Connor thanks Robert Winston for choosing him as one of the four participants, it means a lot to him.

When the students enter the artificial biosphere Poynter explains rules of the confinement, and explains to the students that they will have to monitor their oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, and that they will have to manually empty the toilets, which causes the students to complain loudly.

When the students complain they want to smoke, Poynter says that "everybody fails if anybody tries to leave", a rule which she doesn't stick to.

The next morning Poynter wakes the students up at 6:30am, and within a short few hours they are complaining about their inability to smoke. A few hours later a student from the outside burns a small hole in the plastic of the biosphere to give one of the students a drag of a cigarette inside. This strikes me as woefully bad behaviour, it's not simply damaging property that isn't theirs, I see it as an attack on the experiment, the point of which is that it is a sealed environment, so to puncture it is an attempt to destroy the whole experiment, a really selfish act. It could be the case the students on the outside were jealous of those who got picked to go in, but whatever the case the students really let themselves down.

In a few hours Chole makes a break for it and leaves the biosphere to get a smoke, and Conor and Henry soon follow. Thus breaking the one rule Poynter set. Danielle stays in, explaining that in her old school everyone else was messing so she couldn't pay attention, so eventually she just gave up and joined the messers, so she isn't going to make the same mistake twice. Danielle continues to monitor the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, and Poynter gets her to write up her experiences in the form of research questions.

After the three days are over the students and staff celebrate when Poynter and Danielle come out, Jamie asks "is everyone really proud of her?" to which everyone cheers. As a reward Jamie presents Danielle with a plane ticket to fly her to Arizona to go visit "Biosphere 2". This is definitely a good idea, rewarding good behaviour.

What worked:
Practical experiment, teaching about research questions, rewarding good behaviour

What didn't work:
Poynter doesn't stick to her rules, Jamie fails to punish the students who vandalized the biosphere.


David Starkey, History Teacher

David Starkey says "for me the thing that was transformative was one-to-one tutorials". He feels that "group teaching with people like this brings out the worst in them rather than the best in them" and that "those who want to learn are hindered by those who do not". He feels some of the students suffer from "emotional incontinence".

Starkey meets with Jordel, and asks with "Are you happy with reading and writing?".

Starkey meets with Jamal and challenges him by saying "You have to do a bit of thinking".

Starkey speaks to Danielle over video-chat to the biosphere and is very supportive, saying "I got the impression you were enjoying the class" and "you were saying sharp and sensible things"

What worked:
Teaching to his strengths (one-to-one tutorials), being positive and encouraging.

What didn't work:
Nothing

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Free Computer Science courses

There is so much good computer science material out there, it might be good for the students:

Free Computer Science books

One of the best things about the Computer Science field is that many of the authors are big supporters of the idea of Open Education, as a consequence have lots of sites like these that provide free computer books:

Friday, April 22, 2011

Jamie's Dream School: Episode 2


Jamie's Dream School: Episode 2

Headteacher
* John "Dabbs" D'Abbro

This week:
* Alastair Campbell, Politics Teacher
* Jazzie B, Music Teacher
* Simon Callow, English Teacher
* Rankin, Photography Teacher
* David Starkey, History Teacher


Jamie and Dabbs

Jamie feels that the teachers have to adjust and learn from the students, and he wonders how can the teachers can break the disruptive behaviour of the students.

Jamie and Dabbs continue with their Social-psychological intervention, getting students to explain why they are in Jamie's dream School. what was wrong with their old schools, and what are their hopes for the future.

Jamie also asks the students to stop texting and chatting in their classes.

What worked:
Social-psychological intervention

What didn't work:
Nothing


Alastair Campbell, Politics Teacher

Continuing on the trend from last week of having subjects that are not on the GCSE curriculum, but are more engaging and exciting, Jamie gets Alastair Campbell to teach a politics course. This seems to me to be a real cheat, if you can add any subjects in you want it's really easy, but not at all realistic.

Alastair Campbell started his career as a journalist rising to become Political Editor of the Daily Mirror. He was an advisor to Neil Kinnock, and became close friends with Tony Blair who appointed his Director of Communications. As such Campbell is a fantastic "spin doctor" and teaches his class in a manner that plays to his strengths - debating and arguing.

Campbell says he wants to focus on "Politics, Media and Campaigns", and he wants to show them that "they are probably a lot more political than they think". He suggests that his classes will be a lot less structured than other classes.

First Lesson

Campbell opens with the statement that there is only one rule in his class "one of us speaks at a time" but unfortunately doesn't manage to ensure that the students stick to this rule. He then asks each of them the question "What does politics say to you?" which gets them thinking about the themes of his class, and could be seen as an attempt at the Socratic method.

The key focus of the class will be to put together a campaign on a topic of the students choosing (topics that they suggest include abolish taxes, more social housing, and legalise pitbulls), this approach seems a lot like a Project-Based Learning approach.

At the end of the first class Campbell is happy how things went and says to Jamie "they're not bad kids on any level".

Second Lesson

In the next lesson Campbell wants to teach them how to argue so he starts off showing a video of his favorite person, himself, on a Sky News interview arguing with Adam Boulton. The video goes down very well with the class and then he asks them "Is it better to be passionate or laid back?" to which everyone agrees it is better to be passionate.

Next he gets them to role-play an interview where one of the students is arguing for gay-only youth groups. Unfortunately there is too much talking while the interview is going on, and most of the other students are unclear as to the exact nature of the topic. One of the students says she knows of know youth groups that explicitly forbid gays, which starts an argument between her and the interviewee, that continues on after class and lead to aggression in the playground. Dabbs bring them in to see him and says he's going to sleep on their punishment and take some advice.

What worked:
Playing to his strengths as a teacher (debating and arguing), allowing the students to choose their own topics to discuss, asking the students questions instead of telling them things, showing a video

What didn't work:
Not enforcing his "one of us speaks at a time" rule, not explaining that an argument is something that should not lead to an aggressive fight.


Jazzie B, Music Teacher

Jazzie B (Trevor Beresford Romeo) is a really excellent choice as Music teacher, he is a well-known performer, having founded "Soul II Soul" who had a number one hit with "Back to Life", he has produced and remixed records for many others, as well as founding an advocacy group - the Featured Artists Coalition. He also presents a radio show "Back 2 Life". He has a good mixture of technical skills and presenting skills.

Jamie describes Jazzie's teaching style as "tough bur fair". Jazzie is teaching them music using computers, getting them to do something practical immediately. Jazzie starts the class establishing the ground rules, before anyone is allowed to touch the computers he gets them to answer two questions: "Does anyone want to go to the bathroom?", and "Are your phones off?". This is a wonderful way of taking away any excuses for being disruptive.

He then says he wants it to be so quiet in the room that he can hear a pin drop, but the students are still chattering, so he says "I can't hear this pin drop", and when there is still chattering he says "Look guys, we're killing the lesson, we gotta have this little bit of discipline". This is a superb approach to show the class that he identifies with them while at the same time giving out to them, because it is "we" who are killing the lesson it includes all of us (very Ron Clark).

He then gets them to stand up, raise their hands in the air, and sing "Do Re Mi", this gets them energised, focused and ready for work. He then gets on with the teaching.

What worked:
Remove any excuses for distraction (mobile phones, bathroom breaks), identify with the students verbally ("we"), get the students standing up and doing exercise.

What didn't work:
Nothing


Simon Callow, English Teacher

This is the second week for Simon Callow, as their homework from last week the students had to look at Romeo and Juliet on DVD. Callow asks one of the students, Connor, to summarise the play for him, which the student does successfully and he is praised for it.

Last week Callow said his objective was to "turn them onto Shakespeare", this week he says he hopes to show them that "Shakespeare might be of some value to them in their lives" and to show them that "drama is a very engaging form of art".

The lesson starts off well but the students get more restless over time, Callow's comments start off mild and he gradually becomes more and more frustrated. He start off with gentle comments, "please listen", after getting a little more annoyed he says "Excuse me", but eventually he completely loses his temper and shouts: "SHUT UP ... ENOUGH ... Can you imagine what it is like for me to be here with this unending hubbub and buzz". Callow started off too nice so had to eventually set some boundaries. After the event he says he thinks it was a good thing he gave out to them, to show that he is "not a pussy cat" and they might pay more attention.

To help further their interest in Shakespeare he takes them to see his one-man play "Shakespeare: The Man from Stratford", some of the students don't recognise their teacher, and their behaviour is appaling throughout the performance, constantly chatting to each other and generally distracting the rest of the audience. After the performance many of their fellow patrons express their dismay at the students behaviour, which the students completely reject any responsibility for.

I will restate what I said previously that this is must more a Drama class than an English class.

What worked:
Asking the students to summarise the homework, finally setting boundaries, bringing the students out into the real world

What didn't work:
Losing his temper, allowing his students to interact with the public


Jamie Olver, Home Economics Teacher

Jamie Oliver is the Home Ecomonics teacher, but he is really only teaching Cooking, so the other parts of Home Economics syllabus are left out, e.g. interior design, sewing, child development, and managing money, which is another big cheat. Jamie seems like the type of teacher we would have all liked, he seems to speak the same language as the students and is friendly. The fact that he is dyslexic means that he knows how to struggle and overcome, excellent qualities in a teacher.

Jamie outlines his developing educational philosophy, he says "you want to love them and be their chum, but what I'm starting to learn is to have strictness". This is a key insight, if you don't set up the rules and boundaries, how will the know they are misbehaving? Jamie was a difficult student himself so can sympathise with them but he is trying to find a balance of love and discipline.

It is reported to him that some of the students were drinking alcohol that morning, so when Jamie starts class he asks the students if anyone was drinking this morning, no one admits it for a while, but he keeps asking the question until the two students in question admit to their behaviour. Jamie says that they can't use knifes today. He then passes around a mixing bowl and insists that all the students put their phones in the bowl to stop interruptions, setting down some ground rules.

Jamie explains the three important types of knife (a chef's knife, a pairing knife, and a bread knife) and their uses, then he gets then chopping, Jamie thinks doing stuff is good for the students.

What worked:
Sympathising with the students but setting boundaries, practical work, getting their mobile phones, not giving knives to drunken students.

What didn't work:
Nothing


Rankin, Photography Teacher

Rankin (John Rankin Waddell) is the Photography teacher, at this stage I'm getting sick of saying it, but this is yet another class that is not actually featured on the GCSEs, and therefore although it is a fun class to do, it has no direct correspondence to what would happen in a real school. Rankin is a highly successful photographer. It is interesting to note that he was studying accounting in college before he gave it up and transferred to photography, so he knows well about the frustrations of the academic life, and is therefore a very sympathetic teacher.

In the voiceover Jamie wonders if schools are neglecting the creativity of children to justify this additional course. My own view is that schools are definitely not neglecting creativity in their students, teachers do an unbelievable amount of voluntary after-school activities to foster creativity in students, so this is just a bogus excuse for a new subject.

First Lesson

Rankin says he will teach them about photography and lighting, and will get them to take pictures one at a time. He tells them their homework will be to take a picture of themselves and to add something to the picture: draw on it, tear them up, or change it somehow. His students loudly object, and start shouting they can't do it, but he shows them examples of previous images that celebrities have altered and they calm down. One of the students, Jenny, refuses to take a photo of herself, so Rankin gets her to take pictures of him instead.

Second Lesson

The students are thrilled with this exercise, so much so that before class on the day that they are meant to hand up their assignments, one of the students, Connor, wants to show Rankin his work. Rankin gives wonderfully positive feedback to this student and to all of the students, he is very kind, engaging, and positive about everyone's work, for example, "this is really good mate".

Another wonderful touch Rankin adds is to create an exhibition of their photographs, he puts them on display in a large classroom and gets all the teachers to come and view their work, and mix with the students, this is a powerfully positive experience for many students. Rankin is a super teacher.

What worked:
Creative assignment with a personal dimension, examples of previous assignments, really positive feedback, the exhibition

What didn't work:
Nothing


David Starkey, History Teacher

Last time we saw David Starkely he was refusing to take any more classes after a disaster of an initial class. An interesting coda to that class was to see the students reenacting the event, and they said the following: (playing Starkey) "You're fat", (playing Connor) "You're short", (playing Starkey) "...and you are all failures". It is amazing to note that the key message they got from Starkey's speech was that they are all failures in his eyes.

Before the lesson

Starkey met up with Jamie and Dabbs and insisted that the students are the problem, and Jamie has to make sure that the rules are understood and obeyed. He says when he looked at Connor he saw an "arrogant, self-satisfied, porcine boy". He also said that he did nothing that "every teacher in my school would have done". He feels that no one "has given them any structure". Jamie and Dabbs appeal to him and ask him to please come back and give it another try, that mistakes were made on both sides and the important thing is to learn from the event.

Starkey takes this advice to heart and arranges a meeting with Connor, the student he had the argument with, where they settle their differences, and Starkey even asks Connor: "Will you help me [to teach in a more suitable way]?" This is a major change in Starkey's attitude and it keeps on coming.

Starkey meets up with Jazzie B to ask for some teaching advice. Starkey opens up emotionally, telling Jazzie B that his parents made him take piano lessons as a child and he absolutely hated it, he felt trapped, and didn't enjoy it at all. Jazzie suggests he turn that around, and consider that maybe this is the way the students feel about their schooling experiences. Jazzie also tells Starkey that he shouldn't talk down to the students and to use his humour and laugh with them.

The lesson

When Starkey's class starts he opens by getting the students to put away their laptops and turning off their mobile phones. He then shows them a video of themselves taking part in the previous history class that he missed where they are being taught jousting. The students really enjoy this.

Starkey makes a big effort to relate what he is teaching to the student's lives, he says "Henry the VIII was the same age as you when he took the throne". He asks them to guess Henry's height and when a student guesses a height, Starkey says "it's a very good guess". He asks them how we know Henry VIII's height if we have never measured him, someone shouts "his suit of armour" to which Starkey says "GREAT!" very positively.

He is lighthearted and positive - a major improvement. Starkey comments on the class "we're sort of getting to know each other" and "there's a human and humane reaction going on", but he still feels there is a hardcore that is still disenchanted.

The students feel he did a good job and that he explained things in ways that suited them.

What worked:
Making peace with the students, looking for help from other teachers, using humour, being positive, explaining topics in a way that is relevant to the students, asking questions instead of just talking, showing a video, setting the rules on laptops and mobile phones.

What didn't work:
Focusing on the few students who aren't interested, there will always be a few who don't want to engage no matter how hard you try, that's their choice - you can lead a horse to water...

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Jamie's Dream School: Episode 1


Now that the education blogs are calming down a bit over "Jamie's Dream School" I'm going to write a review of each episode to see what we can learn about teaching from it.

Jamie's Dream School: Episode 1

Jamie sets up the premise well - he is taking twenty students "who hate rules and regulations" and is "ripping up the rulebook" by using "brilliant minds" and "inspirational experts" to enthuse them. The students have "flunked their GCSEs" and hate education, as they feel it has let them down,

Headteacher
* John "Dabbs" D'Abbro

This week:
* Simon Callow, English Teacher
* David Starkey, History Teacher
* Rolf Harris, Art Teacher
* Ellen MacArthur, Unspecified
* Robert Winston, Science Teacher

Jamie Oliver starts off very well telling them they are normal and brilliant, and is able to persuade them to wear uniforms in spite of their objections.

Simon Callow, English Teacher

The choice of Simon Callow as the English teacher is a very interesting one, as well as being a respected actor Callow is also a writer and biographer. Obviously being a teacher and being an actor are two different professions, but nonetheless they definitely require some of the same skills in terms of creating a performance, using your voice to command attention, getting the audience emotionally involved. Simon Callow also loves literature; Shakespeare, Wilde, Dickens, etc., so his enthusiasm is a real plus.

He says his objective is to "turn them onto Shakespeare", an excellent ambition, and one that he is uniquely equipped to achieve, but clearly that is not the whole of the English syllabus.

His classroom manner is friendly and kind, when students speak out of turn his reproaches are mild: "focus a bit, please", "O.K., guys, shush, shush", "quiet, please, OK, please, listen" and seems to manage the class well.

His exercise to get them to think about "anyone you would like to be like" proves to be effective in terms of getting them to identify role models and look at ways they can achieve their dreams, although at times the lesson does become more like a n Introductory Acting class as opposed to English. He then matches their role models to Shakespearean characters.

He does a very good job, but comments afterward that he feels the students are "unruly, not disciplined".

What worked:
Getting them to identify role models, treating them like equals, being very positive and enthusiastic

What didn't work:
Classroom discipline


David Starkey, History Teacher

David Starkey is a poor choice as History teacher, he was a university lecturer for 26 years and as such he would imagine he knew something about teaching, but the reality is that he would have no way to relate to students who hadn't chosen history as their specialism. Also he is famous for his abrasiveness and rudeness, his behaviour on this show should be no surprise to anyone who ever listened to his BBC Radio 4 show, The Moral Maze. He is famously provocative, in 2009 he suggested that female historians had "feminised" history by focusing on female historical subjects -- let's face it, he's a git.

It is interesting to note that before his class begins he wonders if the students have low self-esteem and that's why they are having difficulties.

The class begins well with Starkey bringing in historical artifacts to outline the history of Britain. Jamie Oliver comments that Starkey is teaching them the "origins of bling". Starkey also moves the class up to the front rows since he wants them to be able to see the artifacts.

All is going well until the students start speaking out of turn and then Starkey (who previously commented on their possible low self-esteem) says "quiet everyone, you are all here, I'm told, because you failed ... you didn't get the magic five GCSEs ... and one of the reasons it seems to me you failed is you were too busy talking and not listening enough". If this is an effort to build up their esteem it's a strange one!

Further to his self-esteem building measures, he picks out one student and says "Come on, you're so fat you couldn't really move" and "with Jamie's food there will be lots of dieting opportunities". This doesn't surprise me at all, I had a number of teachers in Secondary School who did exactly the same thing - pick on one student, and make all the other students co-conspirators in the harassment of the one student by getting everyone to laugh at the teacher's cruel comments. The problem in this show is that the students are sufficiently independently-minded to reject his bullying approach, and worse still the student he picked on has the temerity to give back as good as he got. Starkey is clearly in way over his head.

Starkey feels that since they will not listen to him "they are destroying what they could be" and "cutting off their noses to spite their faces", but sees nothing wrong with his own interactions with the class.

In the next history class Starkey stays at home and lets a jousting expert teach them the basics of jousting. Starkey is hurt by his experiences and feels that the school is leaderless and it needs rules and sanctions, and that these students have had "too much of the milk of human kindness".

Jamie feels that he and Dabbs can "help" Starkey become a better teacher.

What worked:
The use of props, telling history as a story

What didn't work:
Insulting students, getting into a fight, trying to be cool


Jamie and Dabbs

As the students are very unsettled after their History class Jamie and Dabbs undertake an intervention. They get the students to tell each other their stories and ask them about their ambitions. This is a brilliant social-psychological intervention that is very effective. As Alexander Astin points out: "The student’s peer group is the single most potent source of influence on the growth and development".

Jamie asks that students to respect each other and the teachers.

What worked:
Social-psychological intervention

What didn't work:
Nothing


Rolf Harris, Art Teacher

Rolf Harris is a great choice as Art teacher, he is not a teacher by profession but is a performer with decades of experience as a singer and presenting television shows. In the same way that Simon Callow is a good choice so is Rolf Harris, he knows how to engage an audience. He is also teaching what he knows about.

The class starts with Harris asking them if they know what impressionism is (his mentor was impressionist painter Hayward Veal) so he starts off with asking the question "Have you heard of a fella called Monet?" and proceeds to explain impressionism in a simple and clear way.

He gets them painting which they all enjoy, but still there are some students who don't pay attention and are texting, Rolf says "you're not phoning someone there, are you?" He does a good job teaching the class.

After the class is over Rolf is very upset, he feels that if he had half the number of students in his class he could have given everyone more attention, he says "Henry and Jake, they just gave up". Every teacher in the world can sympathize with Rolf, we all have too many students in the classroom.

One student, Henry enjoys creating graffiti, so Rolf gives him some canvases to paint on, but Henry is unhappy with his own work and smashes his canvases and throws his can across the room and leaves in frustration.

What worked:
Friendly manner, simple explanations, positive feedback

What didn't work:
Focusing on the interested students


Ellen MacArthur, Unspecified

Yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur takes four students yachting and teaches them how to sail. Jamie doesn't pretend this is part of the curriculum or that a regular school could afford to do this, what he says is that "getting out together can really broaden your horizons" (shades of Robert Baden-Powell).

What worked:
Team work, sharing a meal

What didn't work:
No specific learning objectives


Robert Winston, Science Teacher

Robert Winston is a great choice as the Science teacher, as well as being a scientist, medical doctor, television presenter, and a politician, he also teaches and lectures in secondary schools and universities championing the importance of science. Being a television presenter means that he is well able to engage audiences, and being a politician means that he is able to "give as good as he gets".

Winston decides to deliver a "hand's on" course, focusing on practical work without a lot of theory, and focusing on having fun. This is a good approach, obviously it is not an option for teachers since the students are going to be examined on theory as well as practice, but it is a great way to engage students.

Winston is a surgeon so he decides to get the students to dissect a rat, and smiles his way through the noise of the students chattering. Jamie notes that most schools don't do dissection any more for financial and Health-and-Safety reasons. Winston gets some of the students engaged in this process, but others less so.

Next he creates a bit of tension by wheeling in a trolley with a sheet covering it, the students are intrigued and are concerned that the trolley has a cadaver underneath it, this is a great way to build up a bit of excitement. Eventually he removes the sheet and reveals a pig corpse. He begins to do an autopsy which causes about ten students to leave the classroom in disgust. His class was generally successful.

What worked:
Practical work to inspire curiosity, building up a bit of excitement

What didn't work:
Grossing out the students with entrails, focusing on the interested students

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Thank Heavens for Jamie's Dream School


No greater love letter has been written to the art of teaching than the wonderful Channel 4 series "Jamie's Dream School". Hosted by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, the series shows a fundamental lack of understanding of the job of teaching, and as a consequence makes for great television, but is of sparse value for anyone attempting to learn anything about teaching. There are a few wonderful teachers in the bunch, but generally the series gives us incompetence of the highest order.

The fundamental error that the series makes is that someone who is an expert in a particular field is automatically a good teacher in that field. Part of the reason for this might be the foolish assumption that expertise makes you good at everything, whereas the opposite is true, expertise is, in fact, "spectacularly narrow" (W.G. Chase). Brilliant chess players are not automatically good at playing draughts, nor are they automatically good at playing a chess-like game with different rules ... and they certainly are not automatically better at teaching chess just because they are good at it themselves. And beyond this, someone who is naturally gifted at a particular endeavour might be a very, very poor teacher because have no idea of how to break down the endeavour into simple steps to explain it to novices, and they might be very impatient with someone who can't understand things as quickly as they themselves can.

Another utterly obvious point the the series fails to recognise is that peer-learning is "the single most potent source of influence on the growth and development" of students (Alexander Astin), so to populate the classroom full of students who are academically weak and are having trouble studying is completely pointless and painfully teacher-centred. Let's face it, it's the body of students in our classrooms that do the heavy-lifting - we create the environment and they do the work. To have a whole class full of students who are weak removes the "champions of the classroom" that inspire the others to work hard.

Nonetheless, I reiterate my initial point, this show is a love-letter to teaching, it shows that the job isn't just a matter of turning up and knowing the subject, there are all kinds of classroom management, motivation, psychology, and trust issues involved as well, thanks Jamie.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/jamies-dream-school