24th May 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
This week Education Secretary Michael Gove has angered teachers, writers and academics with an attack on the standards of grammar taught in primary schools, and comments regarding teachers’ failure to encourage children to read more ‘traditional’ books such as Middlemarch. His most recent campaigns have included the introduction of a spelling and grammar test for primary school students, and attacks on teachers who refer to popular culture such as the Twilight Saga in order to engage their students. One of the most coherent criticisms has come from the writer and poet Michael Rosen, who points out that the grammar being tested at primary level results in it being taken out of context, and challenges the idea promoted by the test that there is simply a right and wrong way to write, when the reality is far more complicated.
Gove has consistently provoked despair in teachers and the educational community since his appointment, but what implications does his drive for a return to a traditional pedagogic approach have for educators working in the private tuition industry? Unlike the beleaguered teachers in the state school system, tutors can choose the approach they think will be most effective without fear of being told there is just one right way to teach. But should we adhere to Gove’s curriculum, and rap students on the knuckles for using grammar that, whilst effective, does not reflect the narrow rules laid out by the education department? Should we refrain from linking our lessons to popular culture, even though we know that this is often the best way begin to engage a student?
No. Private tutors are in a unique position to bring a subject to life for a student, where their teachers cannot because their hands are tied by narrow educational reforms. Of course I am not suggesting that we allow students to write poorly without guidance or that we don’t provide them access to a wide range of literature. What we can do is ensure that we are teaching them to write and think creatively, as Gove’s curriculum continues to fail them.