Lesson 9
Why GoSchool?
Text A
MATTHEW: Lesley, you'reteacher. How doesEnglish school system work?
LESLEY: Um, well, firstall most children start school atagefivethey
can't leave school untilagesixteen , whichjust , you know ,age
agefive until eleven. . . um,previously they usedtake an e~even
plus examination which would then determine whether they would goa grammar
school or alternativelysecondary modern school. But now we have a...new
systen where children aren't divided off atageelevenwill go into
comprehensive system ofschooling, and. . . will dothings that they're best
abledo at certain agesif they wanttakeexams they are able
at. . . atagesixteen.
MATTHEW: Do you think that's. . . an improvementth system?
LESLEY: Well,... mm, theoretically... it's supposed t be much better becausegives. . .
stops separating children off atageelevengives them
better chance, andfact what usually happensthat those children who
wouldn't. . . er who would have gonea grammar school tendbe at
top endthe comprehensive system,those that would have gone
secondarymodern school find themselves atlower levelsthe school.
MAT'THEW: Do you think thatpresent school systeman efficient way
educating children?
LESLEY Mm. . . well if you , if you accept that , you know , there havebe schools,
seemswork fairly efficiently. Of course oneour great problems
Englandthat we have very large cl'asses and. . . um,would be very nice
a class, there are only twenty. . . mmso that each child gets more
individual attention so that their own particular needs just aren't passed over.
MATTHEW Do you think the. . .subjects that er. . . children study today are
adaptedpresent-day society?
LESLEY It would be very good if... er, more children at school hadopportunity
learning aboutsociety they live in...economic terms andsocial
terms , so that they are much more awarethe problems that we face today.
Butalso think that education isn't only something that hasbe. . . has
be relevant. . . um,think education can be just a. ..gradual
extensionone self , anddon't think it's um. . . importarit
subjectsbe seen onlytermshow useful they are when you leave
school. . . but how much you enjoy themhow much they meanyou.
MATTHEW David, what would you doan average day at school?
DAVID Um...mainly consistsEnglishMaths, which takes uplotthe
lesson timethen. . . um. . . likeMondays ,example. . .er,
we would do ...er,don't know, Maths, English, Art, Historythen
Tuesdays would be some more English, probably ... um, His tory , Reiigious
studies , Physics , whatever taking now which`O' level , which is...
nine subjectsall.
MATTHEW see, so you can choose. . .subject you wanttake'O' level...
You don't havetake. . . every subjectthe schdol?
DAVID No,.... no, no.
MATTHEW What about games. . . erdramathings like that?
DAVID We have about an hour andhalfgamesweek, andabout an hourweek
we. . . do a. . .thing known as er. . . social studies, which
um... it'skinda cross-section of... er what life wili be after we
we leave school. . . Um. . . where we do drama. ... . . we study
ecology,sociology et cetera... Um, it's not 'O' level, we don't take an 'O'
levelit, it's juster... expersence.
MATTHEW janet, do you... think that your daughters gaintremendous amount from
their education?
JANET think they. . . they gaincertain amountum... necessary knowledge,
yes,butwishwas broader.wish that insteadbeing driven
towards passing exams that they had, certainly at this stageadolescence' ,
chancereally broaden their outlook' completelynot feel this
necessityread towards passing an exam ,collectingpiece
paper atendit.
MATTHEW Er. . . do you have any specific wayswhich you think. . . time at
school could be improved?
JANET Yes ,think there could be a. . .lot more encouragementdoing
thingstheir own sake,gettingsatisfaction out of them... um,
rather than this 'rat race' that everybody's forced into. . . um...what
achieved atend.think . . .lot more should be doneencourage
peoplegetvalue outit themselves.
MATTHEW Do you think that er. . . educationjust something that takes place
insideschool building , or.a. . . an activity which takes
place not only outside but rightway through your life?
JANET thinkstartsmoment you're born,. . . er... that it's going on
all around you. It's notjust taking placea school building. . .
umshould be. . . partyour whole life.
Text B
In 967, The Observer, oneBritain's leading Sunday newspapers papers , organizedcompetitionsecondary school-children ; they hadwrite about "The School that I'd Like". This meant ,course , that they also hadsay what was wrong withschools they had.
David , 5
But whatthe main purposeschoolseducate young people so that when they go out into thewvorld they will be prepared~t? But are they? We learn our Mathematics, English, Physics, etc. , but what do you learn about sex, marriagethings like this? These are just as important but we don't learn very much about them.
Carol , 7
Give us more variety! Give uschancevisit factories more frequently ,talk with miners , dustmen , doctors , lawyers , jail-birdsdrug addicts, too. Give uschancevisit remand mand homesprisons. We wantknow more about lifeless about books.
Robin, 6
Whatbore schoolnowadays,same ashas beenhuniredsyears. What we getthe same old thing: teacher, outdated
textbooks , andclass fed upthe teeth withteacherthe school. What we needone great changethe educational systemthe country. Children do not wantbe taught at, but wantfind thingsthemselves. Ifchildinterestedthe wayrabbit's heart works, let him gofind out, by cutting one up.
Irena , 5
Homework should not be given. Manyus would rather spend another hour at school than two hours at home doing an hour's homework, where we are constantly being distracted by television
and such things.
Sidney, 5
The first step must surely beraise teachers'salaries by at least fifty per cent so asattract first-class peoplethe profession. Andonly meansdoing thisby offering salaries equaltheir responsibilityshapinghopestomorrowcompetitive with those offered by industry.
Christopher, 6
The disciplinelifethe school would be basedfreedomthe pupil. So freedom andminimumcontrol would be importantthe pupils, malefemale, would be treated as adultsallowedsee if they can live togethera community like intelligent people. Given this responsibilityfreedom,pupils obviously would not always be well-behavedsensible, but they would,believe, grow upbe matureintelligent adults who are socially andall other ways, usefulthe community.
Margaret , 4
. . . all this (i. e. freedomschools) suggests thatschool would always be chaotic, which would give all the. pupils an insihgt into what life, after school,like: chaos.
Additional Information
am beginning ro feelpressurework. Nonethe courses are as simple as they appearbe. There arelotreference booksconsultyou can consider yourself lucky if you manageget halfthem fromIibrary. Most copies seembe permanently lent out. The reading rooms are always crowdedyou haveget there earlyorderfindplace.
The biggest headacheour dormitory. Though there are desksuswork at, nobody ever works there. For one thing,roomso crowded that therelittle elbow room,itso dark that we needelectric light evenday time. The worstthe human element - there are always those who don't wantworkwon't let others work either. They either chat, sing, playguitar or listentapes. Howmiss my little cubiclea room at home!
Perhaps it's onlyreaction against my early excitement, but anywayam often overcome by low spirits. Sometimeseven thinkam wasting my time herewishhad not come here at all. Butcourseknow they are only passing moods caused by my disillusionment.find somethe teachers just hopelesstotally irresponsible. All they are interested into earn some extra money by moonlighting. In one way. they arebe sympathized with because they do needextra money what .with their low salariesthe rising prices. But surely they shouldn't let us suffer asresult.
My biggest disappointmentin my fellow students. Of courseam ceferring onlysome,perhaps they are onlyminority. They arefar cry from my old imagecollege students. They dressbehave no better thanhooligans we often seethe streets.really don't know how they managedget intouniversity,they don't seembe interestedtheir studies at all.
All they care forto havegood time , as thoughenter universityan enditself. They hold dances every Saturday evening or play cardsthe dormitories deep intonight , drinkingsmoking heavily. What's more they always jumpqueuethe dining hallsquarrel with anyone who triesstop them. Once they even cameblows. Whatdisgrace!
But despite all this, college lifeopening upmenew vista that brings as much excitement as enlightenment. Here we can talk about anything undersun.had always thought myself well-readmy classmates at school had looked upmemy wide "general knowledge". But now I've comerealize how ignorantreally am.
Just from casual conversaationinformal discussions , I've learnt more aboutwvorldsocietythe past two months than whatlearned from allfo.rmal classes at school. Alsofound many extra-curricula lectures by guest speakers most stimulating. Oneparticular inspired me very much,lecturesymphonic music byyoung conductor fromCentral Conservatory. Before, music usedbe merelycollectionbeautiful soundsme. But nowam constantly discovering newhidden meaning behind all these sounds.
One thingam sure; college lifeand will bemost colourfulfruitful periodmy whole life.
Why GoSchool?
Text A
MATTHEW: Lesley, you'reteacher. How doesEnglish school system work?
LESLEY: Um, well, firstall most children start school atagefivethey
can't leave school untilagesixteen , whichjust , you know ,age
agefive until eleven. . . um,previously they usedtake an e~even
plus examination which would then determine whether they would goa grammar
school or alternativelysecondary modern school. But now we have a...new
systen where children aren't divided off atageelevenwill go into
comprehensive system ofschooling, and. . . will dothings that they're best
abledo at certain agesif they wanttakeexams they are able
at. . . atagesixteen.
MATTHEW: Do you think that's. . . an improvementth system?
LESLEY: Well,... mm, theoretically... it's supposed t be much better becausegives. . .
stops separating children off atageelevengives them
better chance, andfact what usually happensthat those children who
wouldn't. . . er who would have gonea grammar school tendbe at
top endthe comprehensive system,those that would have gone
secondarymodern school find themselves atlower levelsthe school.
MAT'THEW: Do you think thatpresent school systeman efficient way
educating children?
LESLEY Mm. . . well if you , if you accept that , you know , there havebe schools,
seemswork fairly efficiently. Of course oneour great problems
Englandthat we have very large cl'asses and. . . um,would be very nice
a class, there are only twenty. . . mmso that each child gets more
individual attention so that their own particular needs just aren't passed over.
MATTHEW Do you think the. . .subjects that er. . . children study today are
adaptedpresent-day society?
LESLEY It would be very good if... er, more children at school hadopportunity
learning aboutsociety they live in...economic terms andsocial
terms , so that they are much more awarethe problems that we face today.
Butalso think that education isn't only something that hasbe. . . has
be relevant. . . um,think education can be just a. ..gradual
extensionone self , anddon't think it's um. . . importarit
subjectsbe seen onlytermshow useful they are when you leave
school. . . but how much you enjoy themhow much they meanyou.
MATTHEW David, what would you doan average day at school?
DAVID Um...mainly consistsEnglishMaths, which takes uplotthe
lesson timethen. . . um. . . likeMondays ,example. . .er,
we would do ...er,don't know, Maths, English, Art, Historythen
Tuesdays would be some more English, probably ... um, His tory , Reiigious
studies , Physics , whatever taking now which`O' level , which is...
nine subjectsall.
MATTHEW see, so you can choose. . .subject you wanttake'O' level...
You don't havetake. . . every subjectthe schdol?
DAVID No,.... no, no.
MATTHEW What about games. . . erdramathings like that?
DAVID We have about an hour andhalfgamesweek, andabout an hourweek
we. . . do a. . .thing known as er. . . social studies, which
um... it'skinda cross-section of... er what life wili be after we
we leave school. . . Um. . . where we do drama. ... . . we study
ecology,sociology et cetera... Um, it's not 'O' level, we don't take an 'O'
levelit, it's juster... expersence.
MATTHEW janet, do you... think that your daughters gaintremendous amount from
their education?
JANET think they. . . they gaincertain amountum... necessary knowledge,
yes,butwishwas broader.wish that insteadbeing driven
towards passing exams that they had, certainly at this stageadolescence' ,
chancereally broaden their outlook' completelynot feel this
necessityread towards passing an exam ,collectingpiece
paper atendit.
MATTHEW Er. . . do you have any specific wayswhich you think. . . time at
school could be improved?
JANET Yes ,think there could be a. . .lot more encouragementdoing
thingstheir own sake,gettingsatisfaction out of them... um,
rather than this 'rat race' that everybody's forced into. . . um...what
achieved atend.think . . .lot more should be doneencourage
peoplegetvalue outit themselves.
MATTHEW Do you think that er. . . educationjust something that takes place
insideschool building , or.a. . . an activity which takes
place not only outside but rightway through your life?
JANET thinkstartsmoment you're born,. . . er... that it's going on
all around you. It's notjust taking placea school building. . .
umshould be. . . partyour whole life.
Text B
In 967, The Observer, oneBritain's leading Sunday newspapers papers , organizedcompetitionsecondary school-children ; they hadwrite about "The School that I'd Like". This meant ,course , that they also hadsay what was wrong withschools they had.
David , 5
But whatthe main purposeschoolseducate young people so that when they go out into thewvorld they will be prepared~t? But are they? We learn our Mathematics, English, Physics, etc. , but what do you learn about sex, marriagethings like this? These are just as important but we don't learn very much about them.
Carol , 7
Give us more variety! Give uschancevisit factories more frequently ,talk with miners , dustmen , doctors , lawyers , jail-birdsdrug addicts, too. Give uschancevisit remand mand homesprisons. We wantknow more about lifeless about books.
Robin, 6
Whatbore schoolnowadays,same ashas beenhuniredsyears. What we getthe same old thing: teacher, outdated
textbooks , andclass fed upthe teeth withteacherthe school. What we needone great changethe educational systemthe country. Children do not wantbe taught at, but wantfind thingsthemselves. Ifchildinterestedthe wayrabbit's heart works, let him gofind out, by cutting one up.
Irena , 5
Homework should not be given. Manyus would rather spend another hour at school than two hours at home doing an hour's homework, where we are constantly being distracted by television
and such things.
Sidney, 5
The first step must surely beraise teachers'salaries by at least fifty per cent so asattract first-class peoplethe profession. Andonly meansdoing thisby offering salaries equaltheir responsibilityshapinghopestomorrowcompetitive with those offered by industry.
Christopher, 6
The disciplinelifethe school would be basedfreedomthe pupil. So freedom andminimumcontrol would be importantthe pupils, malefemale, would be treated as adultsallowedsee if they can live togethera community like intelligent people. Given this responsibilityfreedom,pupils obviously would not always be well-behavedsensible, but they would,believe, grow upbe matureintelligent adults who are socially andall other ways, usefulthe community.
Margaret , 4
. . . all this (i. e. freedomschools) suggests thatschool would always be chaotic, which would give all the. pupils an insihgt into what life, after school,like: chaos.
Additional Information
am beginning ro feelpressurework. Nonethe courses are as simple as they appearbe. There arelotreference booksconsultyou can consider yourself lucky if you manageget halfthem fromIibrary. Most copies seembe permanently lent out. The reading rooms are always crowdedyou haveget there earlyorderfindplace.
The biggest headacheour dormitory. Though there are desksuswork at, nobody ever works there. For one thing,roomso crowded that therelittle elbow room,itso dark that we needelectric light evenday time. The worstthe human element - there are always those who don't wantworkwon't let others work either. They either chat, sing, playguitar or listentapes. Howmiss my little cubiclea room at home!
Perhaps it's onlyreaction against my early excitement, but anywayam often overcome by low spirits. Sometimeseven thinkam wasting my time herewishhad not come here at all. Butcourseknow they are only passing moods caused by my disillusionment.find somethe teachers just hopelesstotally irresponsible. All they are interested into earn some extra money by moonlighting. In one way. they arebe sympathized with because they do needextra money what .with their low salariesthe rising prices. But surely they shouldn't let us suffer asresult.
My biggest disappointmentin my fellow students. Of courseam ceferring onlysome,perhaps they are onlyminority. They arefar cry from my old imagecollege students. They dressbehave no better thanhooligans we often seethe streets.really don't know how they managedget intouniversity,they don't seembe interestedtheir studies at all.
All they care forto havegood time , as thoughenter universityan enditself. They hold dances every Saturday evening or play cardsthe dormitories deep intonight , drinkingsmoking heavily. What's more they always jumpqueuethe dining hallsquarrel with anyone who triesstop them. Once they even cameblows. Whatdisgrace!
But despite all this, college lifeopening upmenew vista that brings as much excitement as enlightenment. Here we can talk about anything undersun.had always thought myself well-readmy classmates at school had looked upmemy wide "general knowledge". But now I've comerealize how ignorantreally am.
Just from casual conversaationinformal discussions , I've learnt more aboutwvorldsocietythe past two months than whatlearned from allfo.rmal classes at school. Alsofound many extra-curricula lectures by guest speakers most stimulating. Oneparticular inspired me very much,lecturesymphonic music byyoung conductor fromCentral Conservatory. Before, music usedbe merelycollectionbeautiful soundsme. But nowam constantly discovering newhidden meaning behind all these sounds.
One thingam sure; college lifeand will bemost colourfulfruitful periodmy whole life.