Usability Views Article Details  home | timeline | recent | popular | e-reports | userati | books | about  The personal touch (10 Mar 2006) Our current methods of schooling, says Peter, are bound by very rigid and artificial distinctions. There is no good reason, he argues, why children of the same age should all be taught together and kept apart from other children or adults: "If your learning system is based on a set curriculum offer, a linear offer that's linked to an age-stage philosophy of progression and assessment, all sorts of things fall into place in a horrible, horrible way. You immediately create special needs. If you add up the money that special needs eats out of our education system, it's crazy. Most of those learners are only on a different timeline." Children are unique individuals and, Peter argues, it is foolish to make them "jump through the same curriculum-packaged hurdles". But we are so used to the existing linear model that it can be hard to imagine an alternative. We can begin, says Peter, by looking at first principles - asking what outcomes we would like to see from an education system. The answer, he suggests, is "happy people, strong families, good communities, low crime, good health, good mental health, people doing worthwhile work and environmentally sustainable lives." Achieving this requires some radical changes. Add this article to Del.icio.us Article URL: http://www.futurelab.org.uk/viewpoint/art73.htm Read 150 more articles from NESTA Futurelab sorted by date, popularity, or title. Next Article: Who Cares if You are Dressed if you are Alone?          Books about Usability | Information Architecture | Information Visualisation | Technology History This site is a labour of love built by Chris McEvoy

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