HISTORY


Amazing histories


An Australian psychologist has registered a new approach to historical biographies called ‘BioViews’, which he believes can engage students in the life stories of some


of history’s most amazing people. Child psychologist Karen Sullivan checks out his claim


a collection of dickens’ novels, chances are they will search out something a little, well, more immediate – not to mention shorter. our students also live in a culture where celebrity is


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embraced. “Famous” people inspire our youth, but often for the wrong reasons, and rather than welcome the idea of learning about, and from, the lives of past masters, they instead choose rather dubious modern role models. dr Charles Margerison is an Australian psychologist


and a member of the royal Institution and the royal Literature Society. he is also founder and author of the Amazingpeople


Club, which he says is “the place where you can meet inspirational people who made major contributions to our lives”. he explained: “I had the idea that it would be


interesting to meet people like William Shakespeare, Michelangelo, Florence Nightingale (and) Galileo to ask them questions about their life and work.” using a formula, which he has dubbed (and, indeed,


registered as) a “BioView”, dr Margerison has created a concept in story-telling which involves a short biographical story, similar to an interview. he believes that this approach, in which the subject tells their own story, as if he/she were being interviewed, provides a more modern way to understand the people who have made our lives what they are today. he added: “At school, children tend to get the


impersonal version of someone’s life – it is portrayed as facts, but often edited to give one point of view.” each of the BioViews can be read, dramatised or


heard in 10 to 15 minutes and provides an intimate insight into the lives of “amazing people” as diverse as Coco Chanel, Waltdisney, elvis presley and Mother Teresa. While a short biography might nicely summarise the


facts of someone’s life, the BioViews help to humanise their subjects, while bringing their achievements, motivations and ethos to life in a way that will appeal to teenagers and teachers. In fact, they read rather more like the confessional style of interview that is popular today, and feel distinctly unlike a formal learning experience. The BioViews are also designed to provoke thought


and encourage further learning.dr Margerison says that the dramatisations of his audio books, in which actors ask questions, are a valuable way to help kids learn. he added: “It gets them involved in problem-solving


rather than memorising. reading, seeing, listening and doing – the last is the most important.” he not only suggests that the stories can be used as a


springboard for more in-depth discussion and research of the various subjects, and used as a vehicle in many


12 odAy’S STudeNTS are


accustomed to reading and delivering sound-bites of information via text and other social media; they are the masters of brief summarisation. Given a chunky biography of Shakespeare or darwin, or faced with


different subjects to aid learning, but has put together a series of teaching plans to make best use of them. For example, children can be encouraged to take on


the persona of a particular character and write a regular blog from their perspective. They can create their own illustrations to develop communication skills, and they can find inspiration in the lives of people who often started out with nothing and extrapolate that to modern times. every sentence (wildly unpunctuated by traditional


means) is short and concise, which can aid those with learning difficulties such as dyslexia. This approach is intended not just to make these BioViews easy reading, but to make them hard-working. The series covers a range of subjects including aviators,


engineers,olympians, entrepreneurs and even “Amazing Love Stories”.each includes BioViews of notable figures, as well as summaries and historical data at the end of the book.you can download individual BioViews, too, and, if you are heading out on an international exchange or school trip, you can help to bring cities and their famous inhabitants alive through titles such as Amazingpeople of paris and Amazing people of London. Tuned into their ipods en route, most students will


enjoy this dramatic and personal way to learn about the people who once populated the cities they will visit. dr Margerison chose subjects that “used their time


exceptionally well to contribute in ways that left legacies that are still regarded as exceptional”. he added: “The reason it is important to study their work is that we learn from their achievements to improve our own performance. As a psychologist, a major part of my job has been to help people improve their performance in business, sport and life in general. We must look forward and plan better ways of developing people’s talents. each of the amazing people learnt by experience and application. After all, who taught Shakespeare to write plays? There is no evidence that he went on any special courses.” dr Margerison believes that through these


inspirational stories students will learn to focus more on their innate talents rather than expecting unachievable success in areas that are probably unattainable, and for which they probably lack the necessary skills or talents. he said: “That is what these people did and they


practised and worked hard at what they did. In all cases, the people who we now regard as amazing were able to find out what they were good at and focused on it. “Shakespeare enjoyed writing. rather than taking


it for granted, he looked for opportunities to share his creations.einstein pursued his interests against the odds and indeed against conventional opinion. “Abraham Lincoln lost the first major election


that he entered. he went on to become an outstanding American president and abolished slavery. “Mozart and was trained by his father to play


music from a very early age and developed his skills as a professional performer before he was a teenager. Michelangelo pursued his interest in art despite opposition from his father.


“Amazing people produced results rather than


excuses. They converted inputs of time into outputs of art, music, science, business and other measurable activity. They managed their work time well and their stories can inspire both career efforts and personal development in all students. Kids like mysteries and people who get into and out of danger and beat the odds to win. Most of the amazing people did those kinds of thing. They overcame the odds.” .


SecEd Union address: NAHT Who owns the curriculum


Russell Hobby on the key questions and


debates that must be held as we create our new national curriculum


The reporT of the expert panel for the national curriculum review generated some initial scepticism. however, when the government announced a


lengthy delay in implementation, widely interpreted as a dislike of the conclusions, many people deduced that there might be something in the report after all. And, in fact, there is a great deal that is thoughtful and challenging in the document; even profound. The clearest example of this is the suggestion


that it is wrong to measure different degrees of attainment against national curriculum levels, expecting a spread of attainment based on ability and background. Instead, the report proposes, each stage of


schooling should focus on ensuring that every child masters a fundamental threshold of knowledge and development before moving on to the next level. each threshold would be designed to provide the foundations for the one after and to be attainable by the vast majority (I don’t think this implies holding the whole class back until every child has “got it”, as reported in the papers) There are two implications: that the thresholds


are pitched to be attainable by every child without serious learning difficulties (a whole debate in itself) and that the amount of resources dedicated to each child are varied according to the amount of progress they are making: to hold the learning constant and vary the resources, rather than vice versa. This challenges our model of resourcing education; the pupil premium would, so far, be an entirely inadequate response. Although this naturally raises concerns about


how the most able will be stretched and challenged, it is also an attractive proposition, offering as it does the hope of eliminating in-school variation and minimising attainment gaps. It challenges the notion of a bell curve of ability and attainment which is a fundamental assumption of our society.


The report also wades into the debate on subject


knowledge versus behavioural development, with a pragmatic position. It recognises the importance of individual development and growth but goes onto define subjects as “powerful” bodies of knowledge and technique accorded special status by society. I’m not sure that anybody seriously contends that


knowledge is not an important outcome of schooling, but it is a reasonable proposition that some methods of delivering and structuring knowledge make people less able to use their knowledge in creative ways and less able or willing to acquire and integrate new knowledge. It is certainly the case that young people will


constantly need to acquire new knowledge, skills and ideas throughout their lives and abandon or revise old knowledge. The way we teach and the culture of enquiry and confidence that we create will be fundamental to this. Being good at finding stuff out and solving


non-routine problems while working well with people from different backgrounds is a passport to satisfying careers and lives. It is for these reasons that the report’s discussion


of the basic “size” of the prescribed curriculum is vital. Schools need space to build on any body of prescribed knowledge with wider programmes of enrichment, cultural learning and skills development (learning to learning, critical reasoning, etc). The secretary of state may deny a bias in policy


for any particular model of traditional versus progressive schooling, but an overwhelming prescribed curriculum based on knowledge would effectively mandate such a preference. I am not convinced that the structure proposed provides sufficient space – there is very little that has actually been taken out at the highest level. A lot depends on how radically each area is


slimmed down. The report suggests prescribed programmes of study for relatively few subjects, and attainment targets for the rest.however, we all know that attainment targets can easily strangle discretion and autonomy. At best, we must watch this space with caution as the programmes and targets emerge. It is time to talk more about what happens inside


the classroom than about who owns that classroom. I don’t imagine we will ever agree or achieve


consensus on the curriculum. Nor is it a topic which we can rightly say should be left to the profession: teachers have a right to the “how” – but the “what” belongs to everyone.


• Russell Hobby is general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers. Visit www.naht.org.uk


• Karen Sullivan is a child psychologist and writes a fortnightly column for Seced.


Further information


SecEd readers can download a free Meet Christopher Culumbus audio BioView and eBook as well as an accompanying educational resource pack by visiting the website and entering the code: edu2011. Visit: www.amazingpeopleclub.com/education


SecEd • January 26 2012


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