MR BLUNKETT is rightly concerned that working-class children should benefit from good-quality education (TES, July 23). As a teacher from a working-class background who has, in the main, taught working-class children, I believe wholeheartedly that they deserve the best education and care possible.
However, the notion that this can be achieved by forcing an unpalatable, repetitive educational diet from a set menu (within specified time targets) down children’s throats is absurd.
Variety is the spice of life and if we want children to enjoy learning it has to be exciting and relevant to their needs, talents and interests. Children learn in different ways and at different rates.
An education system based on a very formal middle-class model of uniformity, control and coercion will not win the hearts and minds of either children or teachers, and will ultimately lead to an impoverished society.
Christine Leas 13 Islestone Court Berwick-upon-Tweed Northumberland
