2. Read a panel discussion description and tell what a tacher should know and what abilities to have to fulfill the needs of the modern society.

What should schools teach?

Editor: This month our panel looks at education. Every one seems to want more schools. But what sort of schools do we want?

Politician: Good ones, of course. My party believes that good schools make good citizens.

Headmaster: I prefer to talk of good people. In my school we aim to develop character. We try to teach the pupils about right and wrong, and …

Mrs.Barnes: But that’s the Family job! Schools should prepare children for their future careers.

Businessman: We’d be happy in my firm if schools taught their pupils to read, write and count properly! But teachers don’t seem to care about the needs of industry.

Headmaster: Work is only a part of life. We feel we must educate children for leisure too. I’d like more art, music and games on the timetable.

Professor: There’s too much already. What about academic work? Schools should pass on knowledge from one generation to another.

3. Read a quotation and explain it. Prove it with your own examples.

Being a new teacher is like trying to fly a plane while building it.

4. Here is a modern model of a teacher’s development concept. Look through and answer the questions:

1. What educational studies comprise the knowledge base of a teacher?

2. What does the word ‘repertoire’ mean for a teacher?

3. How should a teacher reflect to solve his teaching problems?

4. What way to use to improve both schools and teaching?

5. Read the short descriptions of the teachers. Do you believe all of them are true.

a good teacher	a bad teacher
friendly	very strict
explains things	doesn’t let the STS speak
gives good notes	gives marks all the time
uses group work	fixed in a chair
talks about her life	shouts for no reason
treats STS as partners	gives a lot of tests
talks on the problems of the school	doesn’t smile
doesn’t push weak learners	shouts when STS make mistakes
like an actress/actor	like a machine
asks STS opinions	treats kids like objects
educated	sarcastic and ironic
uses movement to make meaning clear	only lessons – doesn’t discuss anything else

Education: fact or myth?

Do you agree: Genuis is one persent inspiration and ninety-nine purspiration. Th.Edison

Look at the headlines of the five articles. Without reading the articles, decide whether you think they are facts or myths.

WATCHING TV IS BAD FOR TODDLERS

To give your children a head start in life, sit them in front of the television. A study of 200 American pre-schoolers has recently revealed that toddlers who watch TV for two hours a day develop more quickly than those who do without. On average, the two-and tree-years-olds who watched TV scored 10 per cent higher in reading, maths and vocabulary. However, the programs have to be aimed at their age group – children derive no benefit from watching TV designed for adults. Television opens up the world to many young children and gives tham a head start, which is sustained in improved academic achievement throughout their school lives,’ said Aletha Huston of the University of Texas. But the positive impact of TV declines the age, reports The Sunday Times. Older children who watch more than 16 hours of TV a week perform worse that their peers.

Watching TV programs

1. Seems to benefit all children up to the age of 16

2. Is particularly beneficial for 2-and 3-years-olds

3. Is good for toddlers whatever the program

THE EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WORM

The early bird may catch the worm – but people who lie around in bed in the morning and work into the evening are more intelligent, according to Richard Roberts of the University of Sydney. The scientists asked 400 volunteers to fill in questionnares to work out if they considered themselves early-rising ‘morning types’ or late-working ‘evening types’. Each was then subjected to mental agility and memory tests. The researchers discovered that the ‘evening types’ had significantly better mental speed and memory. The results indicate that, contrary to conventional folk wisdom, evening types are more likely to have higher intelligence scores, ‘Robert told The Sunday Telegraph. He also suggested that the link between intelligence and working late may be a hang-over from prehistoric times, when those who were still alert after dark would be more likely to survive attacks by nocturnal predators.

According to Richard Roberts, ‘evening types’ do better in intelliegence tests because

1. They sleep more

2. Of their genetic inheritance

3. They did the tests in the evening

PUSHY PARENTS HELP CHILDREN SUCCEED

Pushy parent may be doing their children more harm than good, says Washington-based childcare expert Matthew Melmed. Professinal parents frequently overstimulate babies and toddlers and buy them educational boys that are too old for them in the belief that they are improving their prospects. In fact, faced with such demands, the children may become frustrated and give up completely. Worse still, the children recognize that they are disappointing their parents and this sense of failure eats away at their self-esteem. The warning comes as an ever-increasing range of educational material is being produced for the very young. In the US, ‘hyper-parenting’ is rife, says Joanna Coles in The Times. Expectant mothers are preassured into buying Cds such as Mozart for Mothers to Be while no self-respecting newborn would be without educational videos including Baby Einstein and Baby Shakespaere. By the age of one, enrolment in a plethora of classes, from languages to arithmetics is de rigueur.

According to matthew melmed, the best way for parents to help their children would be

1. To enroll them in extra classes

2. To spend more time with them

3. To put less pressure on them

SCHOOLDAYS AR THE HAPPIES DAYS OF YOUR LIFE

One in five modern children suffers from anxieties so severe that they should be classified psychiatric disorders, say scientists from the University of Maastricht. The researchers intervied 290 Dutch primary school children aged between eight and thirteen; 20 per cent of them were beset with worries so serious that they limited their ability to lead normal lives, reports The Daily mail. Many had trouble sleeping; some were afraid to leave their hmes; others had problems interacting with their peers. ‘Nobody is really sure exactly why this is, but these disorders are caused by children internalizing their anxiety,’ said a child psychiatrist Peter Muris. ‘This could be caused by parents being away from their children for long periods or by children being stressed at school. A parent who does not spend time with their child miss out on the fact that the child has the problem, meaning it can go untreated and get worse.

According to Dutch scientists, the children’s sress disorders are probably mainly caused by

1. The inability to sleep

2. Problems at school

3. Being alienated from thei parents

WE ALL HAVE GENIUS WITHIN US

For years, scientist have speculated that the talents possessed by so-called ‘idiot savants’ – as depicted by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man – may be accessible to us all. According to Professor Allan Snyder of the University of Sydney, it is just the question of switching off the concsious part of the brain. ‘I believe that each of us has non-concsious machinery to do extraordinary art, extraordinary memory, extraordinary mathematical calculations,’ he told The Daily Mail. Now, Dr Robyn Young of Flinders University in Adelaide has tried to prove the theory by using an electronic brain zapper to release the artistic and mathematical skills of 17 volunteers. Using a technique known as Trans cranial magnetic stimulation, Dr ‘’young switched off the conscious part of the volunteer’s brains, and then tested their skills in calcualtion or drawing. The process did not turn them into geniuses, but five showed improved performance. Dr Young believes tthat the technique could eventually be used to help children learn to read, or adults to pick up a new language. In the meantime, however, the brain zapper’ seems to do as much damage to the brain as it does good.’ We had a hard timer recruiting volunteers to get their braine zapped,’ admitted Young. ‘One guy got lost on his way to work the day after the experiment.’