The highly publicised Jamie-Oliver-Saving-The-Kids-Extravaganza finally aired last night, kicking off to an inevitable start. Getting a group of disinterested, unmotivated teens that failed most of their GCSEs to get into learning again is going to take more than some highly accomplished yet completely untrained experts? Strange.
Jamie does likes to remind us a good few times from the outset that he did completely rubbish at school and left at 16 with few qualifications. So he’s just like these kids and can totally empathise with their situation. Only problem is that the aim of this experiment (well…tv show) is to get them back into the education system by inspiring them through unorthodox teaching methods. So even IF yachting lessons with Dame Ellen Macarthur and dissecting rats with Professor Robert Winston does get their creative juices flowing, A Levels are going to seem rather boring in comparison. But hey, we’ll have to wait and see what the outcome is.
Predictably, the whole experiment seems to be more about how untrained academics and celebrities can learn to teach, rather than getting the kids to be interested in learning again.
Bizarrely, David Starkey, a legendary historian with immeasurable knowledge of all things in British History ends up having his wrist slapped for daring to call one portly individual ‘fat’, in a comment which I certainly interpreted as a joke. The individual didn't exactly take kindly to the comment, branding it 'disrespectful'.
Starkey, unfortunately, fell victim to the ‘can’t teach em’ crowd and got very draconian on them when trying to get them to pay attention. Watch below to see him struggle with this band of youngsters.
When headteacher ‘Dabbs’ (cringe) reacts with shock and dismay at Starkey’s comment, my heart sank. If kids can get away with disciplinary action being taken at the slightest misdemeanor from their teacher then no wonder they won’t pay attention. Why should they? They can sit back, untouchable, not pay attention and then sob on television that the system has failed them.
Children and young people do respond to discipline, I should know, one of my favourite teachers at school was the strictest man alive, but he got all of us through our maths GCSE because he was tough on us. He ruled his classroom with an iron fist but we all sat and hung on his every word because he was just a brilliant, natural teacher.
The biggest problem with the whole concept is that kids have changed and won’t necessarily respond to traditional teaching methods. They need a hands-on approach, not sat facing the front listening to facts, even if it’s coming from David Starkey. He also picked Anglo Saxon artifacts to show them and compared them to the ‘bling’ that rappers wear today; a tenuous link and probably too far back in history to get these urban tearaways interested.
There was a report recently that talked about ex-soldiers going into schools to teach, again, to inspire youngsters and adopt a fresher approach to teaching. Similarly to this scheme, it will only work in certain areas, with adults who have a natural charisma and energy with young people, being an expert at something just isn’t enough to get them going.
It takes a special person to inspire a class of 16 year olds, and I’m sorry Jamie, but unless you’re willing to rewrite the entire national curriculum, stick with school meals. That was something you got spot on.
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