Member-only story
How has teaching changed since I was at school?
And is it for the better?
I went to an old-fashioned school. The teacher stood at the front of the class and talked. Sometimes it was interesting, sometimes not. We all sat at small, wooden desks with tops that lifted up to reveal books, sweets, pencils, pens, pencil-shavings, half-eaten chocolate bars, and assorted paraphernalia, most of which I couldn’t identify.
The chairs were wooden and hard and we sat bolt upright. When the class bell went off we’d run between classes or out into the playground. It didn’t seem to matter what the weather was doing outside either.
In maths, we learned our times' tables, and straightforward addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in the simplest way possible. In English, we learned grammer rules and stories, with a bit of literature thrown in for good measure. Art was an opportunity to flick paint over the pupil in front then look as innocent as you could. I’ll never forget the drawing pin incident. It passed around a few seats, pin side up, until somebody sat on it and yelled, quickly followed by a clip round the ear from the teacher, and everybody in the class sniggering and chuckling.
Has it changed much today? Absolutely. In ways, I couldn’t imagine. It’s a lot more complicated. There are more subjects to learn. The…
