3 ms·

I went to school in the 60s. We did a fair amount of sitting down, but also we did quite a lot of moving about. There was the little field behind the school ('n

I went to school in the 60s. We did a fair amount of sitting down, but also we did quite a lot of moving about. There was the little field behind the school ('nature table' in the classroom &c) and there was 'music and movement' every day for half an hour with music and instructions broadcast on school radio. Team games, beach walks, and so on. There was also a fair amount of play-like activity in the classroom itself. No national testing. Now we have this... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-35940084 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-35940084 ...which the government is actually doing something about (replacing the tests with teacher-lead assessment). So I agree about the (pointless and counter-productive) introduction of stress into early education. On the more positive side (I'm an optimist, teachers tend to be) I was in a bank yesterday doing some stuff a bit out of the ordinary and there was a queue. A bank employee toddles up with an iPad and a chip reader on the back and asks me what I wanted to do. We moved to a corner of the large banking hall and completed the transaction. We could just as easily have been in a large public room somewhere or a cafe. The future could include a lot of movement!

burntsushi 10y ago
I went to school in the late 90s/early 00s, and there was at least as much movement as you describe. We had "gym" class every day (almost every day in high school), which was basically non-stop movement. We also had recess when we were younger, which again, was typically non-stop movement. If you played a sport (which a lot of people did), then there was even more movement. No arguments here about the testing crap though. :-)
- 3131s 10y ago
  I remember gym class containing not nearly enough movement. Every week was learning some new game and it took half the time each day to explain rules. I worked in an elementary school a few year ago though and it's gotten worse. About 20 minutes lunch and 20 minutes recess, which was often canceled due to weather. The kids only had gym one week out of every three.
  - mschuster91 10y ago
    (warning, German experience bias) Additionally, obese, impeded or just untalented kids get mercilessly attacked by the other kids. The only ones to shine are the guys who go on soccer or basketball practice, and they're usually the guys going after "weaker" kids in the first place (which is easy when you got some muscle). Usually it is one teacher responsible for the entire group of kids, which means that the teacher is busy the whole time explaining stuff to kids which means that inappropriate behavior gets unnoticed way too often. Organized school sports/gym classes like the ones I had are beyond evil and next to useless, speaking out of more than enough experience.

burntsushi 10y ago

I went to school in the late 90s/early 00s, and there was at least as much movement as you describe. We had "gym" class every day (almost every day in high school), which was basically non-stop movement. We also had recess when we were younger, which again, was typically non-stop movement. If you played a sport (which a lot of people did), then there was even more movement. No arguments here about the testing crap though. :-)

3131s 10y ago
I remember gym class containing not nearly enough movement. Every week was learning some new game and it took half the time each day to explain rules. I worked in an elementary school a few year ago though and it's gotten worse. About 20 minutes lunch and 20 minutes recess, which was often canceled due to weather. The kids only had gym one week out of every three.
- mschuster91 10y ago
  (warning, German experience bias) Additionally, obese, impeded or just untalented kids get mercilessly attacked by the other kids. The only ones to shine are the guys who go on soccer or basketball practice, and they're usually the guys going after "weaker" kids in the first place (which is easy when you got some muscle). Usually it is one teacher responsible for the entire group of kids, which means that the teacher is busy the whole time explaining stuff to kids which means that inappropriate behavior gets unnoticed way too often. Organized school sports/gym classes like the ones I had are beyond evil and next to useless, speaking out of more than enough experience.