A few days ago I fell into a conversation with a hospital doctor who happened to come from Poland. The conversation covered a wide range of topics but it touched on education and his perceptions of education in this country and in Poland.
He said that in Poland every child is pushed. The children from the poorest backgrounds are pushed as hard as those from more affluent homes. It is possible for poor children to 'make it' because of the push that they get. He was very clear that the this idea of valuing achievement was ingrained in Polish culture. The push came as much from parents as it did from teachers. He was equally clear that high achieving children were pushed just as hard as lower achieving children. Children were always made aware that there was another level to be conquered.
He contrasted his understanding of the Polish system with his experience of his own children going through the English system. He said that in England no one was pushed. At parents' evenings everything is sweetness and light and achievements are celebrated but there is no apparent aspiration for the next level and there is little recognition of children's faults. He did finish off by saying that despite these differences, it is the Anglo-Saxon (American) culture that has 'conquered the world'.
I was very interested in these opinions from someone who obviously achieved highly throughout his education. The obvious question is, should children in England he pushed more? Should they be more aware of the 'next level' and how they can reach it? And more crucially, does English society as a whole value education?
Another whole area is opened up by this conversation: the difference between perception and reality. A conversation with one Polish doctor is a pretty poor foundation for research. Equally, this man's view of each education system may be wide of the mark. He may have thought that he was telling me about the education systems but he was really telling me about his perception of the education systems. Perception is reality filtered through our experiences and preconceptions. In fact, for all practical purposes, it is our own personal reality. In many ways, perceptions are at least as important as the underlying reality. The only problem is that two people may have different perceptions of the same reality. This relationship between perception and reality has many implications for teachers in the classroom, and for schools in general. For instance, one learner my perceive a task to be hard, and another may perceive it be to easy. One learner may think that a sanction was harsh and another think that it was lenient. These perceptions will be based on differing previous experiences and preconceptions. It is important for teachers to remember this.
He said that in Poland every child is pushed. The children from the poorest backgrounds are pushed as hard as those from more affluent homes. It is possible for poor children to 'make it' because of the push that they get. He was very clear that the this idea of valuing achievement was ingrained in Polish culture. The push came as much from parents as it did from teachers. He was equally clear that high achieving children were pushed just as hard as lower achieving children. Children were always made aware that there was another level to be conquered.
He contrasted his understanding of the Polish system with his experience of his own children going through the English system. He said that in England no one was pushed. At parents' evenings everything is sweetness and light and achievements are celebrated but there is no apparent aspiration for the next level and there is little recognition of children's faults. He did finish off by saying that despite these differences, it is the Anglo-Saxon (American) culture that has 'conquered the world'.
I was very interested in these opinions from someone who obviously achieved highly throughout his education. The obvious question is, should children in England he pushed more? Should they be more aware of the 'next level' and how they can reach it? And more crucially, does English society as a whole value education?
Another whole area is opened up by this conversation: the difference between perception and reality. A conversation with one Polish doctor is a pretty poor foundation for research. Equally, this man's view of each education system may be wide of the mark. He may have thought that he was telling me about the education systems but he was really telling me about his perception of the education systems. Perception is reality filtered through our experiences and preconceptions. In fact, for all practical purposes, it is our own personal reality. In many ways, perceptions are at least as important as the underlying reality. The only problem is that two people may have different perceptions of the same reality. This relationship between perception and reality has many implications for teachers in the classroom, and for schools in general. For instance, one learner my perceive a task to be hard, and another may perceive it be to easy. One learner may think that a sanction was harsh and another think that it was lenient. These perceptions will be based on differing previous experiences and preconceptions. It is important for teachers to remember this.
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