A teacher with chalk by a blackboard. A class of 14-year-olds in inner city London. An English lesson with mixed-ability pupils.
They’re working on a topic of The Underground. They’ve been doing this since September. There’s a low hum of industry – discussion, laughter, learning. The teacher, not balding or burned out, is not stuck in a syllabus set in stone. The topic is open-ended and will hopefully nourish various modes of talking and writing. The pupils have been working with other subjects, like science, history and art.
The excellent head, Dr Rushworth, sees education as “a seamless web of knowledge” and has introduced the Faculty System. The teacher zips cheerfully about and stops at a group, who consider some of the following. How many stations has the London Underground? Who was Harry Beck? Which line is the deepest? Why can’t you smile on the Tube? Who cleans the suicides off the buffers? Who does all that phantom graffiti?
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