For the past few
years, the cutting edge talk has been about informal
learning and the death of formal courses and formal educational institutions,
now that the internet can provide a learner with so much information to study
and so many other learners to whom to connect. This year, with the rise of the MOOC (Massive Online Open Course - see review by John Daniels), the trending talk seems to be swinging back
towards the traditional course, even if not the traditional institution.
So I was amused to
re-discover, while clearing out my clipping collection, a brilliant statement
of the case for traditional formal learning, made by a 16-year-old schoolgirl
in 2005.
Millie Wilcox (aged
16, from Birmingham), was asked by a Guardian journalist whether she thought
English at school should be about classics such as Chaucer or about writing
skills. Her answer included the following.
The really good thing about doing literature in school is that often you have a book and you think "Oh no" but once you've been through it in class and it's been explained to you, you realise it's really good. We've done Pride and Prejudice and when I saw how long it was, I thought it would be really dull and boring. But in fact it's better than the TV programme. Some bits of Shakespeare are good, too. There are some books you just read for fun, but some you need help to get into.
All of which could
be (and has been) said at much greater length by learning theorists and by
learning and teaching consultants (such as Clive Shepherd). But I prefer Millie's down-to-earth and
learner-centred formulation. The case (or place) for formal learning is for
those things you just wouldn't study on your own ("you think 'Oh
no'", "really dull and boring"), but when you have studied them thanks to the compulsion of
a formal programme you're glad you did ("better than the TV").
Get that:
"better than the TV programme". Respect, teacher. Respect,
Austen. And respect, Millie.
Reference: The Guardian, 26 April 2005, "Multiple choice: should we study classics such as Chaucer, or concentrate on writing skills?"
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