UK Computing Teachers Concerned That Pupils Know More Than Them

mikejuk (1801200) writes A survey of UK schools carried out by Microsoft and Computing at School reveals some worrying statistics that are probably more widely applicable. The survey revealed that (68%) of primary and secondary teachers are concerned that their pupils have a better understanding of computing than they do. Moreover, the pupils reinforced this finding with 47% claiming that their teachers need more training. Again to push the point home, 41% of pupils admitted to regularly helping their teachers with technology. This isn't all due to the teachers being new at the task — 76% had taught computing before the new curriculum was introduced. It seems that switching from an approach that emphasised computer literacy to one that actually wants students to do more difficult things is the reason for the problem.

Comments

Re:It's been going on for years

[HBI]

I was in a "Data Processing" class in high school in 1983-84. In the class, we learned a little COBOL, and some Applesoft BASIC, as well as some generic input/output theory type stuff. One of the assignments was writing a program in Applesoft BASIC. Everyone else drew pictures on the screen or had it just print stuff in response to a carriage return. I wrote something I called "Nuclear Devastation". It was a cityscape in nice high-res 40x40 15 color graphics. It wasn't overly detailed but you got the idea. On the bottom line, it printed: "Press any key to nuke this city!". You'd press a key, the screen would flash twice, a mushroom cloud would grow in the same delicious graphics and then you'd be presented with the destroyed cityscape. On the bottom line it asked "Do you want to nuke this city again?".

I was given an F and made to erase the program.

Re:Any experienced teacher already deals with this

[Anonymous Coward]

Quite to the contrary. Our teaching schools in the US are the degree mills for the B school dropouts. Simply put, those who can do math realize that teaching is a bad financial career choice. However, this is tolerated by the parents who think that schools are free babysitting and don't value education. There are many great teachers, but few of them can defeat years of shitty parenting on a large scale. Therefore, it really doesn't matter that the plurality of teachers are marginally competent, both in their fields of study and as educators. We set low, low standards as a society, and our teachers meet them. And, we shouldn't blame them; we hire the boards that tolerate it.

Re:Teachers

[uncqual]

In the area I live, we have something referred to as "tenure" for unionized public elementary and high school teachers.

What this roughly means is that once a teacher is past their probationary period (something around two years I think), they can only be let go for gross misconduct (like showing up drunk too often and swearing at their students in a drunken slur) and only after a lengthy and costly hearing process (during which they collect their pay but are assigned duties that don't put them in contact with students or simply do not come to work).

During probation, they can be fired for incompetence, but once they make tenure that's extremely difficult.

Teachers can still be laid off if staffing needs decline - but then seniority rules. The most recently hired is the first laid off. I think this is within classification - if a decline in students results in the need for one less Science teacher, I think the least senior Science teacher goes even though there is a less senior Art teacher at the same school/district.

Re:Animacy is a dimension of gender

[steelfood]

Historically, "he" is the gender-neutral pronoun. Gender itself comes from Latin, and in all romance languages, the masculine is used for gender-neutral or gender-ambigious contexts. It was a hard and fast rule in English until some idiots decided it wasn't PC enough and started railing on people who follow it, but at the same time provide no suitable alternative.