I am speaking as a parent, grandmother to an autistic child, teacher and lecturer, having worked in state schools, and also in Montessori and other differening styles in various countries. There is always plus and minus in every situation. I disliked the french system when I was abroad as very regimented, in that all class 4's would be on page 3 of book x, at a specific time. This was far too regimented for most children. However it was very good with children, often diplomats or service personnel s children, as they could change countries and feel at home in the next school so less anxiety about the changes. I have seen how well Montessori works when used properly and have actually taken a group of people who insisted that a 4 year old cannot concentrate for long spells at a time. We watched a particular child through a one way mirror spend over 2 hours going on and on through a particular thing, learning as she went and totally absorbed in what she was doing.
I was very lucky as a child to be in a small junior school, where of course we had a timetable, but all the teachers were good and the headmaster was able to make the most of things within reason. So for example on a lovely day like today, with a sunny and warm patch , which is unlikely to carry on for much longer, we would still do perhaps angles in maths , but we would go outside and look at tree shadows and heights and so forth, so the curriculum was followed , but even if you went to school thinking it was not your favourite day, there was the possibility of something unusual and different to look forward to.
I think these days another area that really concerns me is that what for most people will be part of their lives much longer than chemistry lab tests, or playing football or answering involved maths questions, is music and art, which will be there for you throughout your life, in whichever form you enjoy.
The pressure to pass exams now no longer comes just from families and teachers for the child themselves but putting schools up against each other , means that every child is seen as someone to get averages up etc, so you cannot even be sure now that teachers are giving best advice for the child rather than best advice for the schools sake, and being told or encouraged to do this from the headteachers.
I do see the need for physical education but think that the opportunity to teach relaxation tecniques to young children in junior school as part of physical ed, and it is very easy to do literally 5 minutes breathing exercise at the end of assembly or in the classroom or whatever. Once someone has understood and learnt to use these techniques, you have given them the tools to help themselves and the more they incorporate it within difficult circumstances, the more calm they will become and once you know the pattern to be able to help yourself to either avoid such situations, or at least feel you have something that you can do to help yourself is so worthwhile and important. To expect children especially in infants and juniors, to sit for long spells at a time is not the normal way for youth of any species to behave. Whilst we may be able to school ourselves to follow such patterns of behaviour , we do ourselves no favours by not thinking of our body and the way we sit or walk about. If you asked someone to walk constantly for an hour without stopping, looking round, speaking to anyone and with nothing interesting to look at or take note of, you would find it very difficult. Yet we are asking young children to do that equivalent sitting down for long periods . As head of communications, when I taught in the old days telex staff, I always said that they should look away for at least a minute every 10 minutes from the screen and that approximately every half hour, at least stand and preferably stretch and look as far away as possible. I had a boss at that time who thought this idea was wasting time, and I then spent a week collecting data and dividing people up and making charts etc., and was able to show him at the end of the week that by the end of each day , those who had stood and looked away etc , made less mistakes, did as much if not more than the other people and complained less. If as adults we need this, why do we think that children should spend most of their day following a regime that they rarely have any input into, timed to just fit with a pattern so that the one time they are totally engrossed and want to carry on and finish something they are made to put it away for another week etc. Is there any wonder that a child who has some particular difficulty then feels all these things add to the problems and feel trapped in this way of life. Those children who are able to project and look ahead can also be horrified to think that what and when they do things is going to be governed by someone else and they are helpless to change anything.
I have personal experience of such a situation, when as a child, who had gone to the dentist without any fuss, was then told the school dentist was coming. My mother thought good and agreed for me to see them. What neither of us knew was that the dentist would be coming in a caravan, and that I was claustrophbic. First time I had ever been in a caravan and felt the world closing in on me, but did not have the words to explain what was the problem. It was terrifying , and like being in a foreign land, as no one understood and thought I was hyperventilating because it was the dentist. More than 70 years later, whilst I do go to the dentist and have evolved ways to deal with it, the smell of the gas and the look of caravans still makes me stiffen up and have to overcome my immediate reaction. I can pick up moths and deal with all sorts of things that other people are phobics to, you do not choose what affects you, but if it is genuine, you cannot help it and having people say that you absolutely have to go there five days a week can feel like going in and out of prison to you!
