School "refusal" or refusing

to go to school is apparently a big issue now.

Our state newspaper has been running a series on "neuro-divergent" children. There have been stories about children with "autism" and "ADHD". There have been stories about "anxiety" and "school refusal" and more.

I have read all these with a growing sense of bewilderment. Are there really so many children out there with these problems? At very least, are there so many children out there with these problems that they all need specialist attention at great expense?

I tried to find some information about a school I visited during my teacher training. It was a state run primary school. It was an experiment in "progressive" education. I am not sure how long it lasted. It is unlikely it lasted very long at all. 

The idea was that all the students would "progress at their own pace". They were given work sheets to complete. Some teaching was done of course but it was done in small groups. Teachers were "monitoring" the progress of each child and giving them "extra help" where needed.

The Senior Cat knew the headmaster of that school of course. It was not too far away from the school he was responsible for. The two schools were almost exactly the same size and social mix. I know the Senior Cat had his own concerns at the time - more of that in a moment - but they were nothing compared with his concerns about what was happening in the other school.

It was chaos. It was not the sort of "organised chaos" which can occur in some settings where people know what the outcomes should be and have the experience to work towards them. What was happening in this school was just chaos.

There were children constantly moving all over the place. Some of them were working but others were not. Of those who were working there were children who appeared to know what to do and others who looked anxious. I remember one child sitting in a far corner, hands over ears and a frown on her face as she tried to read an assignment sheet.  There was a teacher who told a child, "You need to do a maths sheet. You haven't done any today and I don't think you did any yesterday." 

Above all else it was noisy, far too noisy. Some people can work against noise and others cannot but there are certain types of noise and this was not the sort which is conducive to learning at all. 

I have no idea how long the experiment lasted. The school has an entirely different focus now but I cannot believe many of those who attended it at the time look back on it with delight and I wonder what their parents felt then and now. 

The Senior Cat had been transferred to his own school the year before this. It had one of the new "open space" units. This meant having three or four teachers and classes in one open space. The students in these were supposed to benefit from being able to move from one year level to another as their ability demanded. They were supposed to be able to be taught as one big group or in smaller groups. There were supposed social benefits and more. 

I recently met the man who was the Senior Cat's deputy at the time and he reminded me of how concerned they both were by this unit. It simply did not work the way the theory said it should work. They were told it was the "policy" and it had to continue to function but both of them knew that it was not working. It was too big. There were too many distractions. Children got "lost" there as other children demanded more attention. 

In other parts of the school, not run on the "open plan" unit teachers had done what they believed to be "right". The children were sitting in groups. They did not always face the front of the room. Some had to twist around to see and hear their teacher. 

It still happens in some places but the teachers under the Senior Cat 

voiced their concerns. As far as possible they went back to the old style "in rows facing the blackboard" - or a horseshoe shape. They did it because that is what, for most of the time, actually worked well.

The open plan unit soon had divisions up so that the classes were separate. The divisions, built by several parents, could come down occasionally for group activities but teaching and learning took place in old style class groups.  The low reading standards rose to acceptable levels. There were still issues with "new maths" but every other area was improving. Behaviour was improving too.

I have no idea what sort or report the school inspectors gave the other school but I had a "proud daughter" moment when the Senior Cat was highly praised at a conference of teachers of those with special educational needs. Everything being said and done for children with special needs had been turned on its head - and it worked. 

 

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