Open and honest debate

My guess is that Gordon McKinlay heard the same report that I did on BBC Radio Four yesterday morning. I meant to take a glance at it during the day but forgot until Gordon reminded me to follow up the report, which was based on an open letter sent to the Daily Telegraph by a large number of "paediatricians, academics and authors". As an old fashioned leftie, I tend to bridle at anything the Telegraph prints, but then I remember that at least it's not the Daily Mail and, well, it can't be quite as bad as that scurrilous rag...... I've read the letter and, while it is shot full of assumptions that I do not necessarily agree with, it deserves a second, and considered, reading, especially from anyone involved in education, whether in the classroom or in any other capacity. Now, if this had been printed in the Daily Mail (note: I can't even bring myself to include a link to the Mail !!), there would have been lurid screamer headlines about trendy education, about hapless parents, about the collapse of society as we know it, and - probably - a call to the gathering mob to string all paediatricians up from the nearest tall trees for being child abusers! No doubt there may well be some "paediatricians, academics and authors" amongst the 100+ signatories whose position might not be far from the 'Daily Mail' view (minus the bit about paediatricians, I guess), but, in fact, so long as we respond to their words with intelligence and consideration, and without retreating into a bunker mentality, the letter actually outlines an agenda that few in education would wish to ignore, and most would at least want to debate openly and honestly. If we respond simply by defending computer games or other 'screen-based entertainment', we will miss the point. Few parents or teachers would want to condone a life for a child that leaned too heavily towards an existence in which the screen (whether TV or computer) took up large proportion of their days or weeks. We know that we all should exercise our bodies as well as our minds (I just hope no one who knows me laughs at this point!) and good exercise and good food will always be important for children and young people, especially while they are growing. How, though, should we respond to the central point of the letter: "Since children’s brains are still developing, they cannot adjust – as full-grown adults can – to the effects of ever more rapid technological and cultural change. They still need what developing human beings have always needed, including real food (as opposed to processed “junk”), real play (as opposed to sedentary, screen-based entertainment), first-hand experience of the world they live in and regular interaction with the real-life significant adults in their lives." Is, for instance, the assumption that adults can react to 'rapid technological and cultural change' more easily than children a tenable view - how does it fit with the whole 'digital native / digital immigrant' metaphor? And why would they choose to conflate technological change with cultural change? Are they two sides of one coin? I would certainly want to question the implicit view that 'real play' will always be better for young people than 'sedentary, screen-based entertainment' - is there not room for both in the balanced ideal life of a child? And how does this view chime with our promotion of Web 2.0 and all those learning and collaborative tools that will be available through the likes of Glow? I think I agree wholeheartedly with: "...children are expected to cope with an ever-earlier start to formal schoolwork and an overly academic test-driven primary curriculum." It is obvious from this that the writers are basing their argument mainly on how we educate and bring up our youngest children. And the 'overly academic test-driven primary curriculum' may be more about English education than it is about Scottish or other national systems, but the basic point is a fair one, I believe. So, despite my natural aversion to the Telegraph I would not want to react dogmatically to a letter such as this - to do so runs the risk of widening any gap even further between those who would seek to develop the intelligent and rational use of ICT in teaching and learning and those who would scrap all technology other than pencil and chalk from our school. And, anyway, who could argue with: "This is a complex socio-cultural problem to which there is no simple solution, but a sensible first step would be to encourage parents and policy-makers to start talking about ways of improving children’s well-being. " postscript I should have put a link to the conversation on Radio Four's Today programme yesterday with Susan Greenfield and Michael Morpurgo - Greenfield, in particular, has some decidedly odd views about what can and cannot be achieved through technlogy. This, though, is radio at its best - something TV rarely matches - three intelligent people given the time to engage with the subject! Technorati Tags: childhood, daily telegraph, well-being, health, lifestyle

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© John Connell
The views expressed in this weblog are entirely my own and are not intended to reflect the views of any other individuals or organizations. All sources will be fully acknowledged.