Prospects for Wednesday, 2 April
- 2 Apr 08, 11:15 AM
Liz Gibbons is today's programme producer. Here is her early email to the team.
Hi all,
It could all happen in Zimbabwe today - in which case we can go Zim-tastic. So let's talk about the best possible running order in those circumstances.
If not much has moved on - is there an alternative lead?
What else do you fancy doing? Zero-carbon phone line? Nato on Afghanistan? Global food prices? New coins?
We should watch Harman/Hague at PMQs obv.
We also have a film about a govt-endorsed technique called Brain Gym (basically a series of physical exercises) which is used in schools to aid the learning of pupils. Some scientists are far from convinced that it does what it says on the tin. We can speak to the brains behind Brain Gym who's based near LA.
Liz
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Looks good - not sure about that Brain Gym though. I work as a writer/trainer and it sounds like an April Fool.
Just saw the lamented Ms. Flanders on News 24. Who is the new Newsnight Economics Editor?
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As a teacher, I wish I could say that very few schools use Brain Gym and most teachers know better.
Sadly, I think it is rather a sadly telling story, of a national education system staffed with trained 'learning deliverers' who are used to just dishing out the latest claptrap ideas from a nice new folder... after all, it's how the government's curriculum develops these days.
There are, though, a few of us still about who are wise to the nonsense. Too few, sadly.
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I thought the fact that the 'Brain Gym', is apparently being used by hundreds of schools around the country, and that it is endorsed by the government, was outrageous and extremely worrying. Children should be protected from this sort of weak-minded rubbish, not have it foisted on them while they're still too young to make critical judgments. It belongs in the same garbage pile as 'Creationism' and has no place in a properly regulated educational establishment. If I had a child at such a school, I would withdraw them from exposure to this claptrap immediately.
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Brain Gym.. A good friend of mine is a primary school & special needs teacher and I spoke to her last night after the programme. She has first-hand experience of 'teaching' Brain Gym in the classroom. In her experience, "Brain Gym is a fad that appeared a couple of years ago and it's one of many alternative supplemental teaching techniques.. Despite the dubious science that's used to try and give Brain Gym credibility, the fact was that children did seem to enjoy it.. And that's the essential aim of these techniques: to engage the kids.. The exercises did seem to help the kids to relax and focus, but along with this there's surely a novelty value at work."
She ended: "Forget Brain Gym; it's harmless. There are far more important concerns.. like the use of Ritalin to 'treat' children with ADHD. It's horrific that these kids can be pumped with drugs just so that they 'fit in', basically. I've taught kids like this and it's truly one of the saddest and most disturbing experiences of my teaching career."
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