I had an opportunity to meet some children at a private school in Poland in May 2024 where, among other things, I shared the story of Sahil’s response when we were correcting his pronunciation and asked what they thought of it.
The body language was of agreement, and one child spoke up “I agree, I don’t like it when I’m corrected at school”
So I asked, “May I clarify, since you mentioned ‘school’, is there a difference between a friend correcting you and the teacher correcting you?”
“Yes, my friend is just helping me”
At this point the teacher’s jaw dropped - “Am I not helping you?”
And then another child explained - “It’s different; my friend can help me, the teacher must help me.”
This is, of course, a structural issue - teachers are expected to help; if the child doesn’t perform well in an inspection or examination, no one will ask the friends “why didn’t you help your friend?” but they will ask the teacher “why didn’t you teach this child properly?”
This showcases that the responsibility of learning is placed on the teacher - which is actually an unrealistic responsibility.
PLACEHOLDER: Update when writing stories about who is responsible for learning
And how do we “encourage friends to help” without making them responsible for it?
PLACEHOLDER: Update when writing stories about learning communities