Asking silly questions

[shewhomust]

Lucy Mangan offers this anecdote as a comment on the government's citizenship test:

At university I once came across the following true story in a textbook. A young teacher from Leeds had accepted a temporary job teaching a class of four-year-olds out in one of the most isolated, rural parts of north Wales. One of her first lessons involved teaching the letter S so she held up a big colour photo of a sheep and said: "Now, who can tell me what this is?" No answer. Twenty blank and wordless faces looked back at her. "Come on, who can tell me what this is?" she exclaimed, tapping the photo determinedly, unable to believe that the children were quite so ignorant. The 20 faces became apprehensive and even fearful as she continued to question them with mounting frustration.

Eventually, one brave soul put up a tiny, reluctant hand. "Yes!" she cried, waving the snap aloft. "Tell me what you think this is!" "Please, Miss," said the boy warily. "Is it a three-year-old Border Leicester?"

I don't for a moment believe this is true; 'Sheep' so obviously begins not with 'S' but with 'Sh'. But it's a good story.

Comments

[cellio]

*laugh* I don't believe it either, but it's a great story!

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

Love it.

Nine

[hunningham.livejournal.com]

Another anecdote on the same lines has a young teacher newly arrived in a rural part of the country, who tried reading Peter Rabbit to her infants class. A small child piped up with "We shoot rabbits on our farm", and the rest of the class then joined in, vocal in their disapproval of rabbits and their general support for Farmer Gregor. I think she had to abandon the story.

Anthropomorphism of animals really didn't work for them.