Duncan O'Leary
Duncan works on projects looking at public services, skills and work.
at 3:06pm
on Tuesday, 8th February 2005
The first was the description given by Derek Twigg, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools, of the channel as "A window in to a wider world" � which chimed well with the recommendation we made in Switched On that the channel should act as a "�shop window� showing some of the outstanding practice in our school system", rather than becoming simply another communication channel between government and schools.
The second, which came up in conversation after the launch, was a potentially positive unintended consequence that parents may actually enjoy watching the channel. As schools become more open institutions, seeking to engage parents and communities more effectively, it struck me as an intriguing thought that a tv channel for teachers might actually de-mystify what goes on in classrooms those outside the profession, aswell as helping professionally develop those within it.
The highlight, however, had to be the clip shown of John Humphreys teaching an English lesson � and being told off by one class member for continually interrupting her. A lot of the press that Switched On generated focussed on the recommendation that it should aspire to create �water cooler moments� in the same vein as reality shows such Big Brother, where teachers would discuss the issues raised by the channel in informal settings...by the looks of things the message seems to have got through!
As a footnote: if you�re interested in how the press have covered the launch today, the Education Guardian dedicated a whole section to it, the FT covered the financing of the channel, and BBC online have also written it up.
The first was the description given by Derek Twigg, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools, of the channel as "A window in to a wider world" � which chimed well with the recommendation we made in Switched On that the channel should act as a "�shop window� showing some of the outstanding practice in our school system", rather than becoming simply another communication channel between government and schools.
The second, which came up in conversation after the launch, was a potentially positive unintended consequence that parents may actually enjoy watching the channel. As schools become more open institutions, seeking to engage parents and communities more effectively, it struck me as an intriguing thought that a tv channel for teachers might actually de-mystify what goes on in classrooms those outside the profession, aswell as helping professionally develop those within it.
The highlight, however, had to be the clip shown of John Humphreys teaching an English lesson � and being told off by one class member for continually interrupting her. A lot of the press that Switched On generated focussed on the recommendation that it should aspire to create �water cooler moments� in the same vein as reality shows such Big Brother, where teachers would discuss the issues raised by the channel in informal settings...by the looks of things the message seems to have got through!
As a footnote: if you�re interested in how the press have covered the launch today, the Education Guardian dedicated a whole section to it, the FT covered the financing of the channel, and BBC online have also written it up.
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