Sunday 28 January 2018

You Wait Till You're Older - the curriculum as progress towards the workplace

When you're at college 
they say
this is just a holiday; 
you wait till you get out and face life
and see what work is really like.

When you're in your last years at school 
they say
you wait till you get to college, or university
you'll see what it's like to really get your head down and study something that the rest of your life depends on - there'll be no hiding place then. 

When you're doing your GCSEs 
they say
you wait till you do your last two years at school
you'll see it's much harder, much more intensive,
much more to learn, much more to know, and if you fall behind, you won't get into college or university and that's a choice you want to be able to make and not miss out on the chance just because you weren't prepared to work hard now.

When you're doing your first years at secondary school, 
they say
you wait till you're doing your GCSEs you'll 
have to really get your head down and learn much more stuff than we're giving you now, this is just a taster, but you had better get used to it, so that it won't come as so much of a shock then. 

When you're in your last years at primary school
they say
you wait will you get to secondary school
it's going to be a big, big surprise when you see
how much homework you'll have to do
so you might as well do plenty now to get in the swing of it, and remember: 
the marks you get now, go with you to secondary school and will determine what GCSE's you do, and you know: what GCSEs  you do will determine whether you go to university or not. 

When you're in the first years at primary school
they say 
that you have to get used to doing this
kind of work because coming up soon there's going to be plenty more work like this and it's best to learn now how to do it, or you won't know where you are when it comes along later
and suddenly you'll find that you're left behind 

When you're in nursery school, 
they say
it's best to get used to sitting down for hours on end to get used to what you'll have to do when you go to university. 

When you're in playgroup, 
they say
it's best to not run around all the time and get in some time sitting still and listening so that you get a feel of school and college and life and work. 

When you're in that time before playgroup
they say 
that you've got to get used to the time when your parents aren't there, and you've got to do just as you're told because one day, you'll have exams which decide what you're going to work at for the rest of your life.