ELT News Think Tank

This Month's Think Tank Panel

Curtis Kelly

Marc Helgesen

Chuck Sandy

Chris Hunt

Panelists: Curtis | Marc | Chuck | Chris
Date: January 2006

Topic: "What was the best idea you had in the last year?"

Chris Hunt

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"1.It is the right of all child citizens of a democratic state to be able to practice democracy in school on a daily basis 2. This democracy must include age-appropriate sharing of authority over the learning environment and over the control of social relationships within the learning environment 3. It is the right of all child citizens of a democratic state to be offered a minimum curriculum only.” Leonard Turton (teacher at Summerhill)

Somewhere in King Lear there’s a discussion about the worst. For better or for worse the argument goes as follows ­ so long as we can say this is the worst, then it is not the worst. But how does the argument stand up the other way around? Let’s try it out. As long as we can say this is the best, it is not the best! What is best can be bested. Something better this way bends. I guess whether you find this a cause for celebration or a cause for concern depends upon your point of view. Or perhaps it is both? Or perhaps it is neither?

“I think when we focus on the idea of best we run the risk of not seeing what is.”

Why is it that human beings get so wrapped up in what is best? Is it a facet of what has been termed the ‘human condition’ or just a function of social conditioning? Is it the pursuit of excellence or merely the expression of ego? Is the source a love of life or a fear of it? Does it spring from an abundance of self esteem or from a lack of it? Don’t expect much of an answer from me ­ at the moment I fear I am not in my perfect mind. Perhaps I need a drink; but first an aside.

Where do ideas come from? When I sat down to write this piece I began with just one idea in mind, a feeble joke. It went like this. Ah yes, my best idea of the year ­ I’m still waiting for it. But now thoughts are swirling around me and through me like so many phantoms. Which ones can I give shape and substance to? Which ones will allow me to? Suddenly I’m reminded of an old Monty Python skit where John Cleese (I think) dressed as a middle aged woman recites his theory about dinosaurs, “Dinosaurs are thin at one end, fat in the middle and thin at the other. This is my theory and mine alone.” Yet how many of us have had an idea that we can honestly lay claim to alone? Can ideas really be born in isolation? And if this is not the case, what price copyright?

Back to my drink. Okay, who’s been drinking from my glass? Just look at it! I could say that it is half empty. I could say that it is half full. I could say it’s just a glass. After all, it’s just imagination.

I think when we focus on the idea of best we run the risk of not seeing what is. This year I’ve been working at a kindergarten where the teachers are expected to teach and the children are expected to learn. Within this framework my best idea has been to create an incentive system. High on the wall of each classroom is a room-length space panorama. There is a rocket and it travels between the planets. When the rocket reaches a planet the children are rewarded with a surprise (so far this has been watching Wallace and Gromit videos). By succeeding in tasks the children earn rocket point counters. There are also flowers stuck to the whiteboard with magnets. Every day begins with six flowers (English lasts all day, once a week). A flower is removed every time a teacher uses Japanese to scold. At the end of each day the number of rocket points is multiplied by the number of flowers to determine the number of centimetres the rocket moves across the wall. The furthest travelled so far in a day is 57cm. The shortest distance 2cm. It’s a clever system.

The planets look beautiful against the black of space. The children are happy when the rocket moves a long way and when it reaches a planet. The planets are merely laminated paper cut-outs and space simply bin-liners cut at the seams and stuck together. It’s just illusion and it’s garbage. The rocket points, the flowers, even the position of the planets remain almost exclusively under the control of the teachers, that is, myself and my assistant. It is a control system. Forward little donkeys, chase those carrots, forward little donkeys, mind those sticks. Be good and you’ll grow up to be mules. I feel what this system teaches is to accept that authority exists and that it should be obeyed. Obey the teacher and succeed. The idea fits the kindergarten perfectly.

Lately I haven’t been sleeping so well. I’m wondering about whether to renew my contract. I guess what’s on my mind is whether I can come up with an idea that I will be comfortable with and that fits within the framework of the kindergarten. Parents have expectations. The children should learn. However, childhood is too precious to be thrown away in obedience. I want to work out something that is democratic and balanced. I want to create a kind of partnership between the children and the teacher where there is individual choice and mutual respect. Oi! Phantoms! How long is this process going to take?

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Panelists: Curtis | Marc | Chuck | Chris

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