Have the Germans got a point??

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ellie Nelson on January 10, 2013 at 6:57am

Hi Gina,
I am in total agreement. I feel also that this encourages students to participate in extra curriculur activities, and gain skills in other disciplines that are not included in schools.
The only problem with this could be when students leave education and join the work-force, where most will not have the luxury of finishing at such a respectable time.

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Permalink Reply by Gina Allen on January 10, 2013 at 11:18am

Adding extra activities like drama clubs, orchestras, arts and crafts is an added bonus to this set up Ellie, you're right! Another advantage to the earlier start. 

On the flip side, regarding changing to work, isn't that just how life goes?! Alternatively, incorporate work experience into 14-16 yr old schooling perhaps?

What do you think?

Gina :-)

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Permalink Reply by Melissa Jade Totman on January 14, 2013 at 11:54am

Hello Gina, it's a good question! I personally struggle to concentrate in the morning so an early start would be terrible for me as it takes a while for my brain to get into gear. However it does make sense to start earlier and finish earlier but if that was the case I don't think I'd engage in other activities and would probably just enjoy the freedom.

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Permalink Reply by Andrea Thompson on January 17, 2013 at 12:18pm

I agree with Aimee about giving students the choice between earlier and later starts, as some can function better later during the day than earlier. I do feel a lot of things are aimed at people who prefer to get up earlier and then go to bed earlier, which is part of our cultural heritage; you would need to work when the sun was out as that was the main light source. We don't have those same issues now and it would be good to stop labelling people as lazy, (as some people do) as they want to get up at 10am as an example, but give options and choices. If people could work when was best for them, then maybe more people would achieve; understandable it may not apply everywhere and be feasible, but for some places it might be. I agree with the Portuguese, where coffee shops can open until midnight or later.  

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Permalink Reply by David Antrobus on January 17, 2013 at 1:18pm

Hi Gina , Germans are usually right about things and I have to agree there is a limit on how much you can take in at 3.30-5.00 in the afternoon. Concentration levels go down after a certain  amount of time. The secondary school I did some GTP time at agreed with your thinking and realised that there students struggled with concentration after lunch, especially when they were all fuelled with food and sugar the behaviour management went through the roof. They decided to change there timetable and put lunch back an hour leaving them one afternoon session which became a more interactive and fun lesson. Students were allowed to be more human with the bonus of making the students more managable to teach the following morning.

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Permalink Reply by Gina Allen on January 18, 2013 at 6:41am

Thanks for your comments all!!!

I'm agreeing here that choice is key because not all students behave in the same way - it's impossible to generalise.

However i think Ellie and Dave have hit the nail on the head by focusing more theory based "book learning" style teaching to the morning and having more practical "hands on" classes in the afternoon, to allow kids to stream their energy (with all the food) into something as opposed to acting out in class!!

Love this!!

Gina:-)

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Permalink Reply by Colin Chaplin on January 20, 2013 at 4:10am

Hi Gina,

For certain ages groups that seems like an excellent idea.  BUT, what about the FE/HE area, where clubbing and competing in late night vomiting competitions are SO important!!!?  I suppose it would take time to filter in, and perhaps eventually be successful?  Our working lives are likely to be dominated by early starts or late finishes, so is it a good idea to get this message across as early as possible???

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