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Post by fretslider on Sept 4, 2011 6:39:07 GMT -5
Did you know school pupils have been missing out on geography and history lessons for classes on the Spice Girls, Big Brother and Cheryl Cole?
Pupils at Nuneaton Academy, in Warwickshire, missed one class of geography or history a week to attend a 10 week course in "self-awareness" aimed at developing their emotional literacy. Yes, yet more me, me, me, me, me, me, me. The course, which focuses on celebrity culture in almost every lesson, included a session where pupils studied Big Brother and made mock audition tapes for the programme. In one lesson, pupils were shown the video for the Spice Girl's debut single Wannabe and then put in small groups to complete a "spicy starter" worksheet. Students discussed the band's personality types and were asked to create their own band with "unique personas".
Teachers are encouraged by the lesson plan to take part by imitating bandmember Melanie Chisholm – known as "Sporty Spice" – by performing a high kick to demonstrate her signature dance move. Another lesson entailed watching a clip of ITV's Mr and Mrs show then pairing up for a friendship quiz. Other pupils played the parts of game show hosts. This lesson helps pupils to "understand that people are all different and behave, react and feel differently about things". Cheryl Cole, the singer and former X Factor judge, and Kerry Katona, a contestant in the current series of Big Brother, are also discussed in another lesson. Hundreds of schools across the country now run "emotional literacy" courses, which attempt to teach children how to manage anger and jealousy and develop empathy and self-motivation. Dubbed "happiness classes", schools use a range of activities, from "worry boxes" where pupils write down their anxieties and post them in a box, to "emotional barometers" which pupils can use to show classmates the strength of their feelings about a subject.
Academics have criticised the various programmes as a waste of time and money and potentially harmful. Frank Furedi, a sociology professor at Kent University and author of Wasted: Why Education Isn't Educating, said the "self-awareness" lessons had nothing to do with education. He said: "These psychological-led interventions are not only a waste of time which take up precious timetable slots, they distract young people from having to deal with the real issues of learning which is about developing intellectual and academic skills. "Pupils think education is about watching videos and talking about celebrities. Attempts to teach self awareness produce a phoney, narcissistic self-consciousness which has nothing to do with education. "All these programmes do is produce illiterate, uneducated children who are really good at watching videos and thinking about themselves."
Furedi is dead right.
Pupils at Nuneaton Academy, in Warwickshire, missed one class of geography or history a week to attend a 10 week course in "self-awareness" aimed at developing their emotional literacy. Yes, yet more me, me, me, me, me, me, me. The course, which focuses on celebrity culture in almost every lesson, included a session where pupils studied Big Brother and made mock audition tapes for the programme. In one lesson, pupils were shown the video for the Spice Girl's debut single Wannabe and then put in small groups to complete a "spicy starter" worksheet. Students discussed the band's personality types and were asked to create their own band with "unique personas".
Teachers are encouraged by the lesson plan to take part by imitating bandmember Melanie Chisholm – known as "Sporty Spice" – by performing a high kick to demonstrate her signature dance move. Another lesson entailed watching a clip of ITV's Mr and Mrs show then pairing up for a friendship quiz. Other pupils played the parts of game show hosts. This lesson helps pupils to "understand that people are all different and behave, react and feel differently about things". Cheryl Cole, the singer and former X Factor judge, and Kerry Katona, a contestant in the current series of Big Brother, are also discussed in another lesson. Hundreds of schools across the country now run "emotional literacy" courses, which attempt to teach children how to manage anger and jealousy and develop empathy and self-motivation. Dubbed "happiness classes", schools use a range of activities, from "worry boxes" where pupils write down their anxieties and post them in a box, to "emotional barometers" which pupils can use to show classmates the strength of their feelings about a subject.
Academics have criticised the various programmes as a waste of time and money and potentially harmful. Frank Furedi, a sociology professor at Kent University and author of Wasted: Why Education Isn't Educating, said the "self-awareness" lessons had nothing to do with education. He said: "These psychological-led interventions are not only a waste of time which take up precious timetable slots, they distract young people from having to deal with the real issues of learning which is about developing intellectual and academic skills. "Pupils think education is about watching videos and talking about celebrities. Attempts to teach self awareness produce a phoney, narcissistic self-consciousness which has nothing to do with education. "All these programmes do is produce illiterate, uneducated children who are really good at watching videos and thinking about themselves."
Furedi is dead right.
