INTERNATIONAL THINKING in association with
“Ian Whitwh
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Michael Rosen,
poet, performe
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“Here’s a book to be dipped into
especially after a bad week or at the t
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end of a busy term. Ian Whitwham’
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our will illuminate
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Moreover because he writes with such
economy and beauty the book C

will be appreciated by a much wider aud
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Professor Tim B
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professor
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About this book r
G
At the Chalkface
is a collection of some of the columns published in a
e
They are intended to cheer teachers (and others!) up. SecEd since 2003.
t
inner city classroom with humour
They explore the experience of the o
m
, honesty and compa
ssion.
e
m
n
These columns refl
ect over 30 years’ experience of the
classroom, showing what really goes on – they combine

s
t
n
i
lightness of touch with some depth and darkness. E

refl ect/ catch the vibrant, complex and sometimes
They
u
d
heartbreaking nature of a classroom - and celebrate the a
c
rich variety of pupils within it.
i
t
n
o G
reat
mom
ents
in
About the author
Ian Whitwham has taught for over 30 years in inner city
comprehensives, mostly in the ‘Eton of comprehensives’ – as
d
u
it is still quaintly labelled.
cat
io
As well as writing a weekly column
n
for SecEd, his work has been published in the
Independent
Guardian
and the
, the
TES. He has also been broadcast on BBC
Radio 4 - John Peel’s ‘Home
Truths’ and the series ‘Chalkface
Lovesongs’.
ISBN 978-1-90539-099-1
Published by Teach Books,
a division of MA
In association with
Education
9 7 8 1 9 0 5 3 9 0
9 9 1
Ian W
hitw
cover.indd 2-3
ham
Past
14/8/09 14:52:07
Working together: UK and Japanese
masters
T
rust
students pictured during a science
exchange workshop, while below a
County Upper student leads his team’s Scientific
presentation at the end of the week of
science problem-solving challenges Clifton
Photos:
NTERNATIONAL LINKS are no new
I
phenomenon at County Upper School in Bury
For many schools, international work is
zones. Interestingly, they also became noticeably
more reliable, and having made a commitment to do
St Edmunds. As long ago as 1970, Mary-
Grace Browning, then a young teacher at the a relatively new phenomenon. However,
something, they made sure they did.”
Dr Eric Albone, of the Clifton Scientific Trust, added:
Suffolk school, introduced Japanese as part of “All the feedback we have had is that the exchanges are
the general studies curriculum for 6th-formers
Dorothy Lepkowska visited one school
highly interesting and stimulating, encouraging young
having spent two years working there before people to think ‘outside the box’.
becoming a teacher.
She explained: “I knew a nun from the Sacred Heart
where their international ethos can be traced
“Young people’s awareness of the outside world is
raised considerably and, importantly, they also move
convent, who was working in schools in Japan, and we
establish a close partnership with a view to organising
back almost 30 years
outside of the narrow framework of examinations and
are allowed to use their creativity. These experiences
exchanges. It wasn’t long before we were receiving our have real value for pupils.”
first visitors. It was not until 1985 that the first students Angela Rossi, a former science teacher at County overcome language barriers, but nevertheless still Ben Harrison, a former pupil who spent nine days
from County Upper went to Japan, but the links have Upper, who now teaches health and social care and is needed to get their ideas and concepts across in difficult in Japan in 2007 on the UK Japan Young Scientist
grown from strength to strength since then and in the head of 6th form curriculum at the school, was working circumstances. Workshop, said: “We had to work side-by-side on
past 20 years they have been a regular part of the school at a Japanese school in England when she became “It was a very steep learning curve for all of them, various different projects, ranging from immune
calendar.” interested in the education system in Japan. because they could not make assumptions about what systems to engines.
During the 1980s and a period of industrial action “I was teaching science in English to native Japanese others were thinking,” Ms Rossi added. “My project involved working with plasma, finding
among teachers, which prevented them from running speakers, so I had to be quite creative about how I went “There were also challenges involved for some different uses for it and analysing its reactions. Although
extra-curricular activities, the Japanese element at about it,” she said. pupils in working in mixed gender groups. As teachers, I wasn’t studying physics, I found it easy to understand
County Upper became incorporated into a youth club, “It was quite testing as science is not just about we observed these sessions and were able to be the work we were doing and began to apply my own
which allowed it to attract additional levels of funding simply technical approaches but problem-solving. reassuring and say ‘okay that didn’t go well, but you scientific knowledge, with help from my professor and
and to expand the number of visits. Although that status “Later, in the late 1990s, when I joined County learned this and this’. the other students.
will end next March, the school will continue the visits. Upper and discovered the work of the Clifton Scientific “Overall, though, they probably coped better “The trip was eye-opening. During the time we
Today, the school offers GCSE, AS and A level Trust, I was invited to be part of a group of teachers who than many adults might have done in the situation. weren’t in the lab, we were out experiencing Japanese
Japanese and several students have gone on to study the visited Tokyo to see how science was taught there. They quickly learned who had what strengths and culture. I especially enjoyed the green tea ceremony
language at university. “It was fascinating. We found that pupils tended weaknesses and used their skills effectively. Also and the viewing of a temple under construction.
The links with Japan at County Upper are many to learn by rote and there was little emphasis on it was interesting to see how they made sure that “I also enjoyed experiencing the atmosphere in a
and varied. The school has links with the Japanese actually understanding. A theory or experiment would everyone had an equal chance to participate and take Japanese University, which seemed very different to
school in London, which is run along similar lines to be explained to them and the idea was that they could on responsibilities. English teaching. My nine days in Japan really opened
the education system in its native country and offers then learn and reproduce this in an examination without “It was a wonderful experience which has prepared me up to other cultures and has created an interest in
British students an opportunity to experience another necessarily understanding what it all meant. These are students for the future. Science is an international travelling which I plan to pursue during my summers
culture closer to home. alien concepts to us in this country. discipline and those going into related careers will at university.
There are also annual exchange trips – which have “So they would learn quite complex scientific probably end up working with people from all countries “I really cannot recommend this trip enough. I think
evolved from the original partnerships – which involve information and as long as they could repeat it they and cultures.” a lot of other schools should try to get involved and I
three Japanese schools. Pupils from County Upper didn’t need to know what it meant, what was happening, In some cases, she said, students coming back from felt truly privileged to have had this experience.” SecEd
pay £1,200 for an exchange visit and the cost includes and how it could be used. This meant that their students the workshops decided that they wanted to take an
participation in visits and outings associated with the didn’t appear to have to apply information, which additional science A level and stayed on at school for • Dorothy Lepkowska is a freelance education
return visit by Japanese students to this country, as again, was quite difficult for us to grasp. an extra year. In one case, a boy from another school journalist.
well as a residential and outings to London and York, “We saw that the Japanese – perhaps partly because decided he hadn’t enjoyed the experience, and dropped
among others. of their language – had an amazing capacity for science altogether.
Further information
Ms Browning said the links broadened pupils’ remembering quite complex patterns.” “Students came back from the event with a County Upper received the DCSF International School
horizons and boosted their self-confidence. The Japanese teachers who met the British group were heightened sense of self-awareness, self-confidence Award in 2007. For more information on the award,
“When they are placed with their host families in receptive and interested to learn more about how science and an understanding that people have different things visit www.globalgateway.org/isa
Japan, it can be quite daunting to try to fit in with family is taught in the UK. Ms Rossi continued: “Individually to contribute. For more on the Clifton Scientific Trust, visit
life in a completely different culture. But after a day or they were very open to our ideas, but they just don’t have “They took themselves out of their own comfort www.clifton-scientific.org
two you can see their confidence increasing before your the autonomy to do things any differently.
very eyes, as they realise they can cope and deal with “Ironically, in recent years we have been learning
what is put in front of them,” Ms Browning said. more by rote in this country, so the pendulum is
“Pupils take on a completely new view of themselves swinging.”
as they realise what personal resources they possess to The outcome of the visit was the creation of the
deal with these situations. This is not to mention how science exchanges involving a number of British and
much their view of the world changes and the horizons Japanese secondary schools. The first event was held at
this opens up to them.” Bristol University in 2001, and there have been similar
She said the links also offered a “new beginning” events at Kyoto and Surrey universities since.
to pupils who had struggled with learning foreign The week-long workshops involve problem-solving
languages. experiments, which offer real challenges for students.
“When you learning Spanish or French you still have “The pupils have to work together with students
to deal with the same alphabet and if you have problems from other schools in their own country and with
with that in English, then you may also have difficulty students from a different culture,” Ms Rossi said.
with learning foreign languages,” she said. “The beauty “Depending on whether the workshops were held in
of learning a language as different from ours as Japanese Britain or Japan, one group of students was always out
is that you start with a completely clean slate.” of their comfort zone.
More recently, the Suffolk school has become “It became evident that the British and Japanese had
involved in the UK-Japan Young Scientist Workshops, different approaches to problems. Japanese got stuck into
organised and run by the Clifton Scientific Trust, where the nitty-gritty and the minutiae of a challenge, while the
6th-formers work together in a series of problem- British students tended to see the bigger picture.”
solving workshops. The students worked with a facilitator who helped
SecEd • September 10 2009 19
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