When did school become so competitive? Competition is fine, but I’d rather keep it to the sport’s field or the Monopoly Board. Academic endeavour, I think, is the wrong place to compete. We learn best when we learn from and with one another. A head teacher of an international school in Geneva, who had previously led a prestigious girls’ private school in the UK, commented in the press recently that in Geneva pupils were less competitive and were treated with more respect than in the UK.
American educator Marva Collins has some views on education I don’t necessarily agree with. However, what I LOVED in her approach was the way that she got ALL her pupils working as a team. Success was something everybody celebrated and if you’d finished your work or found something easy, you helped somebody else.
SO…..after half term I’m off to Bootle, to the wonderful Thomas Gray Primary, to focus on storytelling, as always, and on the #character strength of #friendship. I’ll be telling a Buddhist tale, The Elephant and His Mother, which you can find here
And here is a great picture from #Frodingham Infant School of the same story
I’ll also tell one based on a beautiful book by Jane Yolen, Rainbow Rider.
My version is here
We will talk about, think about, be silent together and reflect on #friendship. And if I can, I’ll post videos here soon of the stories I tell.
Watch this space.
Yolen, J. 1975 Rainbow Rider, London: Collins
Collins, M & Tamarkin, C. 1982 Marva Collins’ Way, New York: Penguin Putnam Inc
Jennifer Fox Eades: Alexander Technique Teacher 