I write to take issue with the view of Tegwen Ellis (TES Cymru, February 23) that “children are empty boxes” and it is up to teachers “to fill that box”.
I believe we should be facilitators of children’s innate desire to learn about the world and facilitators of their growing and changing personalities.
All that children are capable of is within them, and it us up to their teachers and parents to provide an environment in which their true selves can grow. In that sense we learn from them, they show us the way.
I guess this is child-led learning and the reason why I home educate. It saddens me to read Ms Ellis’s view. She is obviously a committed and respected headteacher. I was hoping, though, that we were moving towards treating children as individuals with interests and talents.
Elisa Lloyd Cwmparc, Treorchy
