After school learning - what's the difference?
01/07/08 16:57
We were struck by this article from the UK about a shortage in physics teachers and a fear that the subject will be ‘lost’. Teacher shortages is a talking point the world over it seems. And so too is the fear that ‘generalists’ are making ‘specialists’ extinct.
But what struck us about this story was one of their proposed solution - to set up an after-school science club. This is the kind of initiative that we’ve been doing in New Zealand for awhile now. We’ve even got a meeting with a representative from the after-school IT Clubs tomorrow.
All of which begs the question - why are these learning experiences defined as ‘after’ school? Isn’t it learning too? What if in the future the boundaries between school activities and after school activities collapsed? Does it matter if secondary school students are learning at 9pm or 9am?
But what struck us about this story was one of their proposed solution - to set up an after-school science club. This is the kind of initiative that we’ve been doing in New Zealand for awhile now. We’ve even got a meeting with a representative from the after-school IT Clubs tomorrow.
All of which begs the question - why are these learning experiences defined as ‘after’ school? Isn’t it learning too? What if in the future the boundaries between school activities and after school activities collapsed? Does it matter if secondary school students are learning at 9pm or 9am?
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