The Last Brick in the Wall
Can you hear the dark sarcasm in the classroom?
The playground has changed behind all recognition from when I was gracing those concrete steps. I remember all the quirky trends: The Pokémon cards, the Gameboys, the yoyos, and not forgetting the alien pods. At the time there was this rumour going around that if you were to put two alien heads together, they would make an alien baby.
Some loved school and would remark on those times as the best years of their lives. On the other side of the coin, some despised every minute of their tenure and believed that the whole thing was a complete waste of time. That was me.
“At the age of nine, they stick you in a silenced room and whisper in your ear that you better do well, or you won’t be going to that good school Mummy, and Daddy desperately wants you to go to.”
At this stage of my journey, there was much going on. Everything was changing, and I didn’t know if I was coming or going. Women were weird creatures that, even to this day, are more mysterious than Godzilla and the Lockness monster. At home, a war waged between family members. Of course, I knew better than all of them, and their stark warnings were empty threats designed to make me do my homework.
I remember a teacher they once brought into my primary school. Proudly, she told the audience that she went by the name of ‘Nits, tits, and dangly bits!’ We were all sat cross-legged on the varnished floor, wondering what the hell was going on. Even though it was slightly unorthodox, I still remember this lesson some twenty years on. This poor woman is now out of work due to the political correctness nonsense that has plagued the UK.
I had some excellent teachers, yet I always felt that the lessons were never going to benefit me. I wished those painful years away and remembered watching the world from my mum’s car window on the way to school. Even at such a young age, I questioned what was the bloody point.
My views on this subject haven’t changed much over the last sixteen years. I do understand the importance of education and how it impacts people’s lives for the better. However, I feel that especially in the UK, the teaching system of state schools is non-beneficial. With all the potential it has, I feel it doesn’t provide students with all the tools necessary to succeed. This type of teaching should be admired in a museum rather than in the classroom.
Let’s face it; the curriculum is completely outdated.
I feel there should be fundamental changes in the way we approach education. For starters, those days of teachers lecturing their students for an hour at a time should be banished. The days of asking students to turn to a page in a textbook, and write an essay is a waste of everyone’s time. There needs to be mutual respect, where students look up to their teachers and want to be in school, eager to learn and grow.
We need teachers with imagination, passion and intuition to be running the classes. We don’t need more men and women with mechanical minds and rusting hearts. The classroom should be a place where students can voice opinions and have the opportunity to challenge their teachers at any time. No subject matter should be censored from any place of learning as long as it is conducted in the right way.
Not every student will be at the same level, which makes teaching tricky. The one shoe fits all approach makes those poor sods out in the playground look like clowns or cripples. Those who are advancing at a faster pace will get the attention, while those who are finding learning more challenging will sadly fall by the wayside. Yet, incredibly we still test students based on memory rather than knowledge.
Young children are year on year put under unnecessary pressure to perform like dancing monkeys. At the age of nine, they stick you in a silenced room and whisper in your ear that you better do well, or you won’t be going to that good school Mummy, and Daddy desperately wants you to go to.
I remember doing my GCSEs and the teachers openly stating that these grades will decide what type of life you will end up leading. This concept traumatized me, as I was not the most academic of students, and I knew I would be lucky to get just five A-C’s. The stress and fear prompted me to believe that my life was going to be a struggle… that the best I could ever hope for would be a basic office job pushing paper for the rest of my life.
What a disgraceful message to be sending out to a fourteen-year-old kid. The whole ideology is farcical. For years I believed I was a failure when the opposite was true. The education system failed me.
To say the subjects in schools could do with some tweaking is the understatement of the summer holidays. Why politics and history are not mandatory subjects is a question no one can give me an answer to. Yet in this country during arguably the biggest shift in modern UK politics, nobody has a clue what the hell is going on.
Yet, don’t worry about all that political nonsense; we have more important things to learn, such as right angles. Turn to page 34, chapter six. Where are the lessons which will help us after we leave the education system? There are no lessons on how to fill out your tax return, how to change a car tyre, or what to do when you want to take out a loan.
The answer to why schools are set out the way they are is because the curriculum is designed to make people more productive. Output and boosting those GDP figures is the name of the game. We are programmed like robots, to work out the remainder of our lives on a Monday to Friday, nine to five roster. No one really gives a damn if you are happy or not. Those feelings you can leave at home because you have work to do my friend.
As mental health comes to the forefront of the debate, we still don’t seem to be able to grasp why people are so stressed and lost in the twenty-first century. Why are there no classes related to the subject of well being? Why are we so focused on production and output when our levels of happiness continue to be ignored?
Tied to mental health is something every person will face in their lifetime- rejection. In work and relationships, there are no offerings on how to deal with this common hurdle.
“This type of teaching should be admired in a museum rather than in the classroom.”
The way forward would be a complete revamp. Lessons will be places of fierce debate and a safe space for anyone to come forward and share their views without feeling worried about the PC police. Everyone will be engaged, even if they are not contributing to the discussion. We should also look outside our shores to other countries who have implemented courses that allow those students who are not academic, the opportunity to go out and learn skills and trades that will benefit their lives.
The school and the education system are only one part of the machine. The second part, which is also crucial, is the influence parents have over their children. The culture we teach is extremely fascinating.
When you are young you are taught to share your belongings with friends and those less fortunate than yourself. This is continually drummed into your head until one day the rules of the game unexpectedly change. Now your colleagues and acquaintances are potential rivals and they are fighting for the same spot. The battle lines are drawn and you quickly learn that it is every man for himself. To get to the top of the ladder requires a new set of skills. Sharing, sportsmanship and compassion, are now weaknesses!
You will be pleased to know that the learning process never truly ends. For those that don’t do well in school, you have many options at your disposal. My advice would be to get out there and find yourself a job. Work for a while and see what the real world is truly like. Save up as much cash as you can, and buy a one-way ticket to wherever takes your fancy. You will then learn that there are certain lessons in life you can not teach in a classroom.
Dean Middleburgh has travelled to over 85 countries and is in constant need of adventure. Over a ten year period, he has travelled far and wide armed with a backpack and one beaten up passport. How he has made it this far remains a mystery to most of the people that know him. You can find Dean on the island of Mallorca where he works on a 35-metre superyacht.
You can connect with him on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or by following his Medium publication, Hit the Road. If you enjoyed this story check out more below:
