I love adventure, and this summer has been no exception. I write this from London in a friend’s flat, but recently stayed in a hostel in Brussels and worked there for over a week. While my purpose was to work with Serve the City, I had the opportunity to work beside a 15 year old Australian student who was in the public school system there. As all teachers do, they like to question, and this student was remarkably mature and great conversationalist. While we chopped through massive quantities of cabbages as we prepared for 500 people for dinner that night, the conversation revolved around their school system.
What an eye-opener! Students are not allowed to advance to the next grade until they pass the end-of-year tests. I about dropped my knife when he said that it is quite common for over half the class to fail the grade level and rare for students to graduate before 20. Surprisingly enough, he commented, the teachers don’t seem to worry about the high numbers. What an amazing comparison to how the American schools work. He was shocked when I told him in the States the teacher would be in trouble.
And, as a technology teacher, I had to direct the conversation to technology. Computers are rarely, if ever used, in the classroom. “They’re a waste of time,” he said, madly chopping the heads of cabbage, “and the only lesson we had was how to turn the computer on.”
I wonder what other countries around the world handle instructional technology in the classroom?
