tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732407426313451205.post929353016341785725..comments2024-03-08T15:43:20.236+00:00Comments on Keynesian Liberal: Times tables - common knowledge?Peter Wrigleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481117156930677255noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732407426313451205.post-53759981630815188032018-02-27T06:28:53.529+00:002018-02-27T06:28:53.529+00:00My philosophy is to move closer to "choose go...My philosophy is to move closer to "choose good teachers, pay them well, and let them get on with it."Peter Wrigleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16481117156930677255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732407426313451205.post-62969793687036368512018-02-26T17:10:36.975+00:002018-02-26T17:10:36.975+00:00But if you leave it up to individual teachers then...But if you leave it up to individual teachers then a certain proportion of them won't bother either because it's too hard, or because they simply are incapable of generating that level of enthusiasm. <br /><br />I'm not a big fan of centrally-imposed curriculums, but there has to be some compulsion to make sure that everyone teaches at least a certain minimum set of skills. <br /><br />(Plus, the more times you try to batter a concept through a pupil's thick skull, the better than chance that it might eventually make it through, if only in fragments. If you let each teacher choose their personal favourite way to teach rote learning skills, pupils get one chance to learn it. If you say they have to do some rote learning in every subject area, the pupils get more chances to actually acquire the skill: if they don't pick it up from the times tables they might get if from the Kings, whereas if you had let the teacher who loves maths but is bored by history skip the king-learnign they wouldnt' have had that chance.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732407426313451205.post-6290972022470670902018-02-26T16:18:52.306+00:002018-02-26T16:18:52.306+00:00As I indicate in the original article I'm not ...As I indicate in the original article I'm not against a bit of rote learning and believe that a certain amount of poetry known "off by heart" can be an enriching experience. A lot depends on what individual teachers can generate enthusiasm about. For me it would be poetry (I can still remember a chunk of Shakespeare I learnt at primary schools) for some it would be prime factors of larger numbers, for many it w3as the aliquot parts of a £ (though I'd never heard the term until I went to train as a teacher myself.) Fun and enthusiasm should be the main determinants: not drudgery and dictation from on high.Peter Wrigleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16481117156930677255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732407426313451205.post-90281448546783184332018-02-26T15:28:00.812+00:002018-02-26T15:28:00.812+00:00Why learn "the Kings of England in order cat...<i>Why learn "the Kings of England in order categorical" or the capitals of the EU 28 (with luck) off by heart when you can look them up on Google?</i><br /><br />Um, because if you apply that logic to everything then children end up never learning anything (because why bother when you can just look it up on Google?) and, hence, never actually learning <i>to learn</i>. <br /><br />You might never need to know the Kings of England, but the ability to remember an ordered list of arbitrary items? That's a useful skill, and it isn't innate, it has to be learnt, and the Kings of England is as good a subject to practice it on as any. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732407426313451205.post-75854845804869579762018-02-23T07:22:17.666+00:002018-02-23T07:22:17.666+00:00I hope yu feel all three pieces of information hav...I hope yu feel all three pieces of information have improved your quality of life no end. The "Rhubarb Triangle" still exists: I went walking round it with the local Ramblers only a couple of weeks ago. And there's a posh new pub just outside Wakefield called the Rhubarb Triangle. It's big and serves standard pub food.Peter Wrigleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16481117156930677255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732407426313451205.post-26632411269605282472018-02-22T22:02:05.753+00:002018-02-22T22:02:05.753+00:00I must admit that I thought that I had invented SU...I must admit that I thought that I had invented SUNWACD when studying for GCE O level in the 60s. From the same book I also knew that rhubarb was a "notable feature of the cultivation to the east of Leeds". However, my geographical knowledge was not restricted to Yorkshire. I also knew that the population of Hamburg was 1,700,000.Severn Boarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15542769703676984112noreply@blogger.com