Contested Spaces – Schools
‘The principle goal of education in the
schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things,
not simply repeating what other generations have done’ [i]
It is a given that school is a site of
education and learning. In what Friere calls the banking model of education
that has taken over the English education system learning is seen to exist only
when it is measurable. To reduce knowledge to that which is measurable reduces,
indeed removes what is essential about human knowledge and perception. Measuring
pupils and students also means measuring teachers. This in turn leads to the
safe delivery of ‘knowledge’ to classes. This means pupils and students are able
to recite details when tested, to in turn ensure that individual targets are
met and results are maintained, thus ensuring the circle remains unbroken. When
the coalition government shared their white paper on teaching in 2010 they
stated:
‘…in
the education debate what really matters is how we’re doing compared with our
international competitors’ [ii]
It is easy to see how in the current neoliberal version of the banking model of education we
have lost the role that play and fun have to motivate and explore, to take
risks, to learn, and to be creative. It is also easy to see how the arts are
suffering in this climate as:
‘The arts teach
children that in complex forms of problem solving purposes are seldom fixed,
but change with circumstance and opportunity.
Learning in the arts requires the ability and a willingness to surrender
to the unanticipated possibilities of the work as it unfolds’ [iii]
It is through play we learn how to learn.
Burghardt says that play contributes to developing ‘effective systems for
learning’ rather than particular learning outcomes (2005, quoted in Lester and
Russell 2008: 128)
The Unlesson Manifesto aims to network
like-minded educators who are frustrated with having their creativity and
professionalism undermined by bureaucratic procedural correctness at
the expense of pupils needs. We
encourage educators to share it with other teaching friends and
acquaintances they have who are keen to peel back the years of political prescription teaching.
The Unlesson Manifesto questions what is
knowledge and how we learn within the current neoliberal educational model.
The Unlesson Manifesto demands educators to
reflect on their pedagogical approach and find new ways to make the intangible
tangible.
The Unlesson Manifesto will avoid rigid lesson
directives and involve students in lesser-known learning experiences.
The Unlesson
Manifesto has created a space in where teachers can document and share learning
activities and conclusions.
We are three Art teachers in three secondary
schools, which will initially influence our pool of contact. In time we hope
that teachers across all subjects will share their enthusiasm for creating more
inventive educational experiences.
'We forge a school
adventure, a school that marches on, that is not afraid of the risks, and that
rejects immobility. It is a school that thinks, that participates, that
creates, that speaks, that loves, that guesses, that passionately embraces and
says yes to life. It is not a
school that quiets down and quits.’ [iv]
[ii] Schools White Paper: The Importance of Teaching 2010 page 3
[iii] Eisner,
E. (2002). The Arts and the Creation of Mind, In Chapter 4, What the
Arts Teach and How It Shows. pp. 92. P 2.
Burghardt, GM (2005) The Genesis of
Animal Play: Testing the limits. Cambridge, Ma: The MIT Press. quoted
in Play
for a Change
Lester and Russell 2008: 128)
[iv] Paulo Friere: Teachers as Cultural Workers: letters to those who dare
teach 1998
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