Hello and welcome

Forums > E-forum 2 session 1 (29/4/08) > Hello and welcome

Author	Message
Strategic Director 29th Apr 2008 7:23 PM	Good evening everyone. Welcome to the second of our e-forum opportunities. There are two other e-forum topics besides this one, and there may be more added later as we continue to evolve the format. This identity ("Strategic Director") is Mike and I'm launching this e-forum. You can attend as many or as few e-fora as you like. The aim is to complement the discussion boards, which people contribute to over time; with the e-forum the contribution is in real time so people can respond to one another. I appreciate that people may not be fast typists, nor particularly enjoy reading-based learning, but they are designed as a complement to the other forms of learning / CPD opportunities we have. First, some quick housekeeping for those who haven't seen this before: one, submit at any time in response to a comment above. Responses will overlap, so it sometimes won’t be obvious unless you start it with a short indicator of which comment you are responding to (e.g. “Rich, I agree about the risks…”) Two: you can respond to multiple comments in one go, or start new thoughts. People will take up or leave comments as they see fit. If you want a direct answer, ask for someone to answer! Three: make it as long or short as you see fit. If longer, your topic might have slipped out of the spotlight by the time you’ve finished typing… With a bit of luck we'll have with us tonight participants from both Oxford and Gloucester courses. If someone is making an interesting remark and you don't know them / their context, it's not at all rude to ask them to elaborate on the e-forum! Finally: structure of the evening. We’ll start off discussing the pre-reading (but you can comment without seeing it if you haven't had time) and I'll put prompt questions too. The first will be in a few minutes' time. Please can everyone just sign in and say “Hello, NAME is here” to start us off…
Strategic Director 29th Apr 2008 7:25 PM	I should add: you will need to periodically refresh the page for new comments to show. You can do this by using the normal toolbar button on your browser, or just pressing F5.
ROBERT FALLON 29th Apr 2008 7:27 PM	Hi Rob here! Just reading through the material
monika obhoo 29th Apr 2008 7:29 PM	Hi Just logged on now! Had a lok at the programme of study for citizenship and i don't like the work "taught" students should be taught, i think they should be allowed to explore, discuss, discover and be allowed to see the real situations. There is a programme on BBC 1 called teachers and there was an episode where the headteacher had tried so many strategies with a trouble some life and causing alot of problems in school and not afraid to go to prison, finally the head arranged a visit to the prison where actors gave him a taste of real life in prison...it was brilliant finally he realised the down side of prison. instead of teaching issues like this he got a real feel and this helped develop his charcter and the head helped to find him a part time job! I know this isn't real and is a tv programme however in a school like mine this would really work as quite a few of our students will end up in prison.
monika obhoo 29th Apr 2008 7:31 PM	whom is Character education supposed to serve? the young person? the community? the powerful? the state? i think character education is supposed to serve young people, adults including teachers, the goverment, etc EVERYONE. i think is important throughout life as we develop with time and experinces we have, the good times and the bad times.
Strategic Director 29th Apr 2008 7:33 PM	Quote monika obhoo: quite a few of our students will end up in prison. Yes, I think part of what drives Citizenship's high profile in government eyes (it's a statutory subject, unlike History, Geography, MFL etc, despite their greater timetable dominance) is the feeling that central government can mandate the creation of "responsible citizens" (Curric08 key aim) by political content education. I face a lot of challenging students too, and the political side of the content is the part most difficult to convince them has any relevance to them. How do we gain the benefits of real world learning like that from the TV series, for our students, without just lecturing them about behaving and not breaking the law?
Strategic Director 29th Apr 2008 7:34 PM	... my point being that Character education is about the individual; Citizenship is about the person as a unit of the state. Is this divide bridgeable?
damon hill 29th Apr 2008 7:35 PM	hi, damon signing in here. i'm developing a little character of my own as the wife is away on business and the nine month old son is singing loudly in the background. am now giving serious consideration to boarding school!
ROBERT FALLON 29th Apr 2008 7:37 PM	Just to comment, I also watched that bit of tv, and thought it was a novel idea - and probably an affective type of teaching technique. A similar model was enployed in star trek officer training - sad trekkie! - but the idea being you get to confront one's deepest fear/issue on an visceral , " real" way. And who does it serve? Everyone, our future, and our children's children future. The planet!?
Strategic Director 29th Apr 2008 7:38 PM	Quote damon hill: i'm developing a little character of my own as... the nine month old son is singing loudly in the background. am now giving serious consideration to boarding school! A quote from session five's powerpoint: Forming characters! Whose? Our own or others? Both. And in that momentous fact lies the peril and responsibility of our existence. - Elihu Burritt Damon's example accidentally picks up a key question for character: do we want to teach young people to fit into their society (be citizens) or to find a unique path? Are the two compatible?
ROBERT FALLON 29th Apr 2008 7:40 PM	...is the divide bridgeable? are they not the ends of the same spectrum
monika obhoo 29th Apr 2008 7:41 PM	How do we gain the benefits of real world learning like that from the TV series, for our students, without just lecturing them about behaving and not breaking the law? I THINK PUPILS NEED TO EXPERIENCE THINGS FIRST HAND AND BE ALLOWED TO DEBATE WHAT THEY THINK IS RIGHT AND CHALLENGE US TEACHERS OF THEIR VIEWS! WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES AS HUMAN BEINGS AND I ALWAYS TELL MY PUPILS WHAT MISTAKES I HAVE MADE AND HOW I HAVE OVER COME THIS, I FEEL THIS HELPS PUPILS RELATE TO ME AS A REAL PERSON AND REALISE I WILL NOT JUDGE THEM! f.the work of community-based, national and international voluntary groups INSTEAD OF TEACHING THIS A GOOD IDEA WOULD BE FOR PUPILS TO RESEARCH CHARITY ORGANISATIONS AND THEY DECIDE WHAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO DO INSTEAD OF TEACHERS TELLING THEM, E.G. PUPILS MAY WANT TO PAINT AN SCHOOL...GETTING THEM OUT OF SCHOOL, DOING WHAT THEY WANT TO DO, HELPING THEM TO ACHIEVE A REAL SENSE OF SELF SATSIFACTION AND FEEL PROUD OF THEIR EFFORT AND WORK!
Vicky Woodall 29th Apr 2008 7:42 PM	Hi, its Vicky Woodall from Maidenhill here. I've just finished reading the reports on the proposals for Citizenship ceremonies - I can't help agreeing Labour peer Baroness Kennedy who viewed the proposal as an 'empty gesture'. Such an idea would not be valued by either young people or wider society, so I believe there must be more meaningful ways of creating responsible citizens who contribute to a positive culture and society.
monika obhoo 29th Apr 2008 7:43 PM	do we want to teach young people to fit into their society (be citizens) or to find a unique path? Are the two compatible? I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT TO FIT INTO SOCIETY HOWEVER IT IS JUST AS IMPORTANT TO HAVE YOUR INDIVIDUALITY.
Strategic Director 29th Apr 2008 7:43 PM	Quote monika obhoo: I THINK PUPILS NEED TO EXPERIENCE THINGS FIRST HAND AND BE ALLOWED TO DEBATE WHAT THEY THINK IS RIGHT AND CHALLENGE US TEACHERS OF THEIR VIEWS! ... and Citizenship best practice in schools encourages this. But the costs are prohibitive unless we seriously rethink school priorities: a trip to the Houses of Parliament is unlikely to have the effect we want, is it? And yet how would we cost people being out in greater numbers more often? What happens with risk assessment in those circumstances?

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