5 things that education should have moved on from since 1985

In honour of Back to the future day here is my list of 5 things we should have moved on in education since 1985.

1. Detention

Detention does little to sort out whatever problem it is that landed a kid there. However on a related note, would the Breakfast club kids have become friends now if they all had phones?

2. Corporal punishment

I was one of the last group of kids in New Zealand where teachers could hit kids – often the problem was more about the teacher losing control than anything the kid had done.

3. Rigid timetables.

I’m doing maths. Next I’m doing reading. How we break up our days in schools is truly tragic.

4. Exams/Multiple choice tests

How much of what we do in education is still teaching to the test? What if we measured schools effectiveness on what kids do after they exit the system not at the point  of exit?

5. Computer labs while blocking student-owned devices

Unless you need a supercomputer, you don’t need a computer.  Likewise the most powerful computer owns is their phone. Why do we ban those?