Jan 31 2006
Show of hands… Who thinks this is stupid?
British school bans raising hands
LONDON, Jan. 28 (UPI) — A school in London has banned children from raising their hands in class and teachers from calling on students with their hands raised.
“It is every child’s instinct and every teacher’s instinct as well because it is ingrained in us,” said Andrew Buck, the school’s principal.
“Some pupils are jiggling so much to attract the teacher’s attention that it sometimes looks as if they need the lavatory, then when it is their turn they often don’t know the answer. Boys — and it is usually boys — are seeking attention, so they put their hands up before they have had time to think about the question.”
Buck said the same children often wave their arms in the air, but when teachers try to involve less adventurous pupils by choosing them instead, it leads to feelings of victimization, the Daily Telegraph reported Saturday.
To spare embarrassment of the students who do not know the answer, the school has incorporated a “phone a friend” system, allowing one child to nominate another to take the question instead.
You know, I was going to write some long post about the dumbing down of modern kids and how nothing is expected of them and how schools are catering to failing students and are more interested in kids feeling good than educating them.
Why bother?
This story says so much more than I ever could.
