5/14/2008 8:01:00 AM
Daily Mail 14 May
The "quick-fix culture" is damaging children's ability to master sport and music, a leading headmaster warned yesterday. Jonathan Milton of Westminster Abbey Choir School said youngsters increasingly lacked the patience to acquire skills such as choral singing. Youngsters increasingly lack the patience to master skills such as playing cricket Even cricket matches now last no longer than a couple of hours, he said. Mr Milton, chairman of the Choir Schools Association, said our exam system was fuelling the problem. School tests forced youngsters to "get the right answer very quickly" rather than developing their ideas over time. Mr Milton spoke out as a top public school demanded greater use of "exam-free" project work in the sixth form. Rugby School has developed a blueprint for an extended project that involves in-depth analysis. It believes the plan could be introduced to other schools. Dr John Taylor, a chief examiner on the scheme, said: "We need a certain amount of knowledge and it ought to be tested. But there are skills which cannot be tested in a one-and-a-half hour paper." His concerns echo those of Mr Milton, who was speaking at a Choir Schools Association conference in Liverpool. "We are increasingly used to sensationalism and the quick fix within our culture all the time," he said. "For a musician or an artist that's really not very helpful. So many of our children these days are just used to producing instant results. "Even cricket, for goodness sake, can increasingly only be sustained for 20 overs."Daily Mail
Lead Story | Curriculum / Quality Assurance
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