Thanks for the comments. You’re correct in that, to an extent, I can work within the existing framework, but there’s some things that just can’t fit in at all. For example, I can’t control what is blocked by the school network. So out goes a lot of social networking sites, YouTube, etc.

I’m also constrained by my timetable, as I see the majority of my classes for only one 50 minute period per week. This doesn’t really allow the kind of learning relationships I’m after. It means I have to resort pretty much to stereotypical teaching. With my GCSE cohort, whom I see three times per week it’s a different story, but then I’m constrained by the final exam that is just – no modules, a small amount of coursework, and an undifferentiated examination paper.

Some have commented that schools prepare young people for the workplace. And that’s right, to some extent. But schools should not only reflect but help shape society: it’s all very well having a shared common experience of schooling as a society, but that shouldn’t stand in the way of authentic learning.

Things need to change, and quickly. Otherwise I can see some kind of homeschooling/alternative education revolution on the cards in the next 20 years…