Dilemmas and positions

Thanks to Hannah Frankel for putting together a very thought-provoking piece in today's TES on the topic of praise. 'Good For You' (on page 18 of the glossy) click here for the on-line article: why not add a comment. . .

Praise vs. Encouragement? Seems we are often thrown into adversarial positions when deep down we are all wanting similar things for young people.

For example I had a conversation today about restorative practice; I ended up posing the question,

"Which is more important, knowing how to listen to someone else's point of view or understanding about fractions. Maths v. PSHE; bring it on!

Of course there are valid arguments for both: lack of empathy can ultimately lead to warfare- ok, but having not a clue about fractions can lead to economic hardship and poverty. Has anyone seen those Buy As You View vans driving around housing estates?

A few years ago I was working with a family who had installed their coin-box operated system. I asked what the APR was- having explained what 'APR' meant I found it was rather high to say the least.

Today, with the Bank Of England Base Rate at an all time low the APR is . . . . . 49.9%

Here's the link to their site.

In a world where everyone understood what 49.9% APR really meant more people might have change left over to buy a book for bedtime to read to their child, or to put a good meal on the table. And then sit and have the stomach to listen to someone else's point of view.

So let's not talk about Maths v. PSHE any more. Let's find ways of working together and give full expression to all of our passions (be they for Maths, History, Sport or PSHE) to make education an intoxicating blend of content, challenge, warmth and humour.

“The driving mission of this new department is to break out of the false divide between, on the one hand, policies to promote educational achievement, and on the other hand, policies to promote well-being.” Ed Balls 2007.

maybe, together, we can make this happen?