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The second season just started! We're all about the nuts and bolts of education in these episodes, starting out with recommendations for the littlest learners.

welltrainedmind.com/the-well-trained-mind-podcast/
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19 hours ago

The second season just started! Were all about the nuts and bolts of education in these episodes, starting out with recommendations for the littlest learners.

https://welltrainedmind.com/the-well-trained-mind-podcast/

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I've been checking weekly since the last episode 😆

🎉🎉🎉

woo hoo!

Curious as to what both parents and classroom teachers think of this article. "‘You Can Hear a Pin Drop’: The Rise of Super Strict Schools in England. Inspired by the academic success of schools like the Michaela secondary school in northwest London, some principals are introducing tight controls on students’ behavior."

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In a growing number of schools, days are marked by strict routines and detentions for minor infractions, like forgetting a pencil case or having an untidy uniform. Corridors are silent as students are forbidden to speak with their peers.

Advocates of no-excuses policies in schools, including Michael Gove, an influential secretary of state who previously served as education minister, argue that progressive, child-centered approaches that spread in the 1970s caused a behavioral crisis, reduced learning and hindered social mobility...

Since Rowland Speller became the principal of the Abbey School in the south of England, he has cracked down on misbehavior and introduced formulaic routines inspired by Michaela’s methods. He said that a regulated environment is reassuring for students who have a volatile home life.

If one student does well, the others clap twice after a teacher says, “Two claps on the count of two: one, two.”

“We can celebrate lots of children really quickly,” Mr. Speller said.

Mouhssin Ismail, another school leader who founded a high-performing school in a disadvantaged area of London, posted a picture on social media in November of school corridors with students walking in lines. “You can hear a pin drop during a school’s silent line ups,” he wrote...

At her school, many students expressed gratitude when asked about their experiences, even praising the detentions they received, and eagerly repeating the school’s mantras about self-improvement. The school’s motto is “work hard, be kind.”

Leon, 13, said that initially he did not want to go to the school, “but now I am thankful I went because otherwise I wouldn’t be as smart as I am now.”

...But some educators have expressed concern about the broader zero-tolerance approach, saying that controlling students’ behavior so minutely might produce excellent academic results, but does not foster autonomy or critical thinking. Draconian punishments for minor infractions can also come at a psychological cost, they say.

“It’s like they’ve taken 1984 and read it as a how-to manual as opposed to a satire,” said Phil Beadle, an award-winning British secondary school teacher and author.

To him, free time and discussion are as important to child development as good academic results. He worries that a “cultlike environment that required total compliance” can deprive children of their childhood...

In the United States, charter schools that adopted similar strict approaches were initially praised for their results. But growing criticism from some parents, teachers and students in the mid-2010s triggered a reckoning in the sector.

In 2020, Uncommon Schools, an American network of charter schools and one of the pioneers of the “no excuses” approach, announced it was abandoning some of its strictest policies, including “Slant.” The organization said it would remove “undue focus on things like eye contact and seat posture” and put greater emphasis on building student confidence and intellectual engagement.

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www.nytimes.com/2024/03/09/world/europe/uk-strict-schools.html?unlocked_article_code=1.fE0.aPg_.H...
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4 days ago

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Something has to happen. In my community the divide is wide open, with the majority of students living in poverty being raised by a relative, most likely a grandparent, and the students who come from 2 parent households & get to eat 3 meals a day in a clean environment. The majority is so dis regulated, that teachers spend 9/10 of their day dealing with emotional problems rather than teaching. I don’t think this is the universal solution.

“Under a policy called “Slant” (Sit up, Lean forward, Ask and answer questions, Nod your head and Track the speaker), the students, aged 11 and 12, were barred from looking away.” What a nightmare scenario for neurodivergent students.

I'm a lover of order and many kids thrive with it. But this extreme and a hellscape for neurodivergent students. Moderation in all things.

As a teacher not gonna lie, there are days I wish you could hear a pin drop in my classroom, but overall, I question what actual learning is taking place. If all their mental energy is directed toward modifying their behavior what's left for absorbing information, nevermind actual learning. We don't ask this of adults, why would we demand it of children?

My son went to a classical “Christian” school that operated like this. He was there K-2. Biggest parenting mistake we made. It killed his spirit and his love of learning. It’s horrible that this is becoming popular. It’s evidence that authoritarianism is becoming normalized.

My thoughts. Great way to raise an army. Just do as you're told, when you are told, the way you are told. If you are going to teach in a classroom setting, respect for fellow classmates should be expected and required. Pin drop silence? How on earth will they function when they hit an office, manufacturing or construction setting. Having to navigate a multi generational work setting, which is a major hurdle for many classroom graduates, and discovering that the world doesn't become quiet so you can work?! School should be a safe space. The described setting would have me worried about things other than my academics.

My daughter went to a school where it was a "tale of two teachers". One was very lenient with classroom management and didn't mind if students talked at random times. He quit and was replaced by a strict disciplinarian teacher. While my daughter did not have as much "fun", her grades improved, her stress calmed down, and she was able to do homework during class time because the teacher didn't need to constantly discipline students for talking during her lesson.

I home schooled for 21 years and have taught sophomore English in a mid size urban school for five years. I run a tight ship in my classroom and can tell you doing so makes all the differing the world. I have neurodivergent students and behavior students, all of whom do better with structure and boundaries. Some of my fellow teachers are far more lenient and have far more problems bc they don’t have rules and don’t require respect. Also please stop insulting public education. It’s unhelpful. Not everyone can or even should home school and believe it or not, society benefits when students learn to read, write, and think. Those of us in the trenches need support, not insults

My kids have gone to a fairly strict charter school for about 7 years now. At the beginning, it was too strict. Some students were having to leave the school because of anxiety and depression. I think the admin has done better at finding their way. Being too strict is not practical and it's just mean. Some of the overly strict folks are gone. However, in general, the uniform codes are healthy, there is a ban on cell phones, and the teachers are trained (especially in the younger grades) to expect the students to meet rules. It really does help the goal of learning. And, most importantly, the admin actually backs up their teachers when they have a disruptive problem in the claasroom.

An extreme response to an extreme situation. Where to find an Aristotelian mean? I know neither I nor my children (at least one of whom has ASD & ADHD) would benefit from such an environment. Harder does not equal better, and brittleness is not a sign of strength.

I feel anxious just reading about this! I do get the appeal: historically, top achieving schools/systems have operated this way. They do have a track record for learning and achievement, but not so much for producing healthy, well-balanced people. There's absolutely no emotional or relational development in such situations. It seems like that would cause further harm rather than help to children from unhealthy home situations.

I do think that, in the western world at least, adults have abdicated their authority due to misguided ideas about how to foster creativity and self actualization in children. But these two things must always be grounded in the reality of the world. Critical thinking, which was mentioned in the article, is a form of creativity that, in order to be truly critical and not just emotion-laden drivel, must be firmly grounded in facts and reason. It is not a free for all; indeed, it is the polar opposite. With regard to self actualization, something similar is at work. If your attempts to grow into your "true" self are embedded in a worldview that is at odds with reality, you will be doomed to frustration or worse. Self actualization that is successful looks like a dance between the self and the wider world, with full understanding that the further one strays from the norms of the dance, the more the dance will become a struggle. Yes, the world and its approach to the dance changes over time, but real change comes from the ground up, can be slow in arriving, and cannot be dictated by individual whims. So, this is a long way of saying that rules are important for children, though the schools in question might be going overboard.

“To him, free time and discussion are as important to child development as good academic results.” I don’t think that the proponents of the stricter school policies would disagree! It’s about protecting free time from those who would make it self serving instead of something that is enriching to all members of the community. It’s about protecting the classroom as a place for meaningful discussion.

I read this article when it first came out and I think one of the key points is that this type of charter school was designed for high risk, low income youth in inner cities. In the article, the head of school explained the benefits of a tightly structured academic setting for kids who lack structure at home. That being said—I taught at a diverse high school and believe in a tightly run classroom, but I think enforcing SLANT would be counterproductive. There is a happy medium.

It’s the easiest way to teach the largest amount of students to regurgitate facts in the shortest amount of time, preparing them for nothing.

As a homeschooler, I question why it has to be either extreme. As a mentor in a 4-12 th grade robotics club, we can maintain a certain level of behavior without becoming draconian. Have high expectations and commit to appropriate behavior balanced with compassion and grace. Why the need to either extreme?

Pendulum swiiiiiiing. 🕰️ The impetus is not wrong — but why can’t we react proactively and not so reactively?

I read this blog post earlier today, and it seems to provide a counterpoint to the article: theillusionofadulting.blogspot.com/2024/03/an-open-letter-to-parents.html?fbclid=IwAR3I8N93-bkPdx... I tend to agree with the blogger, that so much of the issue comes down to permissive, screen-driven, or lacking parenting. The school with rules sounds better than the behaviors I witness from my son’s classmates.

Kids pay a price as the "adults in the room" go from one extreme to the other. Personally, I would have preferred one of the "strict school." It would have relieved some of the anxiety, perhaps even bullying I saw all around me. But I'm 57 years old, perhaps I'm too old to compare ; )

And so the pendulum swings… <sigh>

Militaristic people who encourage, implement, admire ideas like this should be nowhere near education—or other human beings, actually. I think the biggest problem here is a fundamental misunderstanding of “education” & more importantly of what it is to be human.

My Kids are exhausted after school bc of and the noise and movement And it's not bc students are out of control or lack Of classroom management It's just a lot of bodies in rooms 😞

Definitely an option for certain kids who need it and could flourish under that structure. More options should be available to parents and students, including this.

There’s no one size fits all Education,I have been to many schools and places.When the kids are ready they are ready to learn.We quickly forget that you can’t measure an IQ,children have different strengths and weaknesses. Working more on their strengths rather than pushing them so hard. Have you even watched the Documentary about the Korean Kids that many of them kill themselves?

When classes have tii many kids This is what you get

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Just posted this on our farm page but I thought you'd all enjoy it too!

Our first kids and lambs aren't actually due for another three weeks or so, and this Angora doe was NOT in a breeding group. She's a great-grandma, in fact, and was supposed to be enjoying a peaceful retirement. But we did have a couple of Angora-buck-jailbreaks that resulted in bucks escaping from their bachelor's quarters and hanging around the doe barn. Apparently, one of them (at least) did a little more than just hang around!

Kezzie seems to be taking the unexpected arrivals in stride, though, and they sure are cute--although they're going to have to go on the registry as Sire Unknown (which is one of the more common entries you'll see!).
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7 days ago

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Starting their existential crisis early.

She looks kinda tired. Lol

The outrage!😂

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