The Decelerated Learning movement

"Stop! This student is not ready yet." If Grolsch were in charge at the Department for Education, things would be rather different, but definitely better.

Is there such a thing as the Decelerated Learning Movement? If not, why not? The term was coined, I believe by a British educationalist (I'm trying to identify who), in reaction to the appaling and ill-considered drive towards force-feeding huge quantities of low quality content into curricula at all levels. The slogan of the movement is, as my wife (Head of KS1 at a primary school) always says: "do less better". Yes, quality matters, not quantity. In this sense there is a shared agenda with the Slow Food Movement, off which I am also a supporter.

I heard on Radio 4 today about an American politician who holds the record for the fastest completion of their degree. I think he may have missed the point somehow. We must act now to stop this lunacy before it is too late. Sit down, open up a copy of The Logic of Sense, and slowly, very slowly, do little but contemplate the implications.

Now I have a genuine excuse for taking 11 years to even get to the point of actually starting a PhD.

As for all of the new students starting their courses over the next few weeks, I have this to say: you really do have plenty of time, so enjoy it.

Robert O'Toole : 19 Sep 2004 20:15 |  Tags: E-Learning Warwick University |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem