I am not advocating a return to the old days although I do often get the impression that some of those in power would like to see this! What I do think is that we are doing our children a disservice by continually immersing them in a world full of stimulus. This happens from the moment they wake up until they go to bed, and quite often later too.
In schools the inspection system together with the pressure of management observations has created a pressure to teach outstanding lessons all the time. This sounds like a wonderful situation but it does mean that there much place in a pupil’s life for the quiet reflective lesson when they have the opportunity to develop the skills needed to concentrate for an extended period of time working independently.
As with everything in education, we mustn’t go too far in any direction. This has often happened in the past and we need to make sure that we don’t lose all the gains of the last 50 years but at the same time we must try to help pupils regain some of the lost skills, most notably the ability to concentrate for more than 5 minutes on a task.
Parents also need to stop feeling the pressure to entertain their children all of the time. What has happened to those long, dreamy days of summer when we had to make our own entertainment? This really was an important part of my childhood and certainly helped me learn so many important skills. Nowadays many children spend the majority of their holidays going from one organised activity to the next.
