True Story www.studycoach.uk.com
Study Coach is in the business of Education and Entertainment – We Educate and Entertain. My name is Morel Benard and I’m the founder of Study Coach. I’m an educator and ex-actress. The lecture theatre is really no different to the stage. On the stage the actor is usually scripted, in the classroom or lecture theatre the lecturer must improvise and deliver knowledge according to the set curriculum. Be it actor or lecturer it is still a performance. The world of work be it public sector or private sector provides so many fascinating stories, unfortunately many stories are never told. Study Coach look forward to publishing many stories via ebook and paper, and in due course we hope you will allow us to tell your life story. I would like to tell you a little story; the heart of the tale is true, it is based on facts but in order to protect the identity of the institution and characters Study Coach make use of a mixed genre.
TRUE STORY
Ms Lou, how do you take an exam?
What do you mean by ‘how you take an exam’? You have to study hard, you need to revise.
Ms Lou, I don’t need to revise.
Child, how can you pass the exam if you don’t revise? I am telling you that you need to revise, and you need to revise real hard, so that you can get top marks. So you go into your house and make sure that you revise; say hello to your mother for me. By the way, the day before the exam you must make sure that you get yourself a good night’s sleep, have you porridge in the morning, and then go and take your exam. I am sure you will do just fine; you will do a brilliant job.
But I don’t need to revise! My teacher said that it’s not about memory. We don’t need to remember anything. She gave us the exam questions – Look!
What! Your teacher gave you the exam questions, but that is cheating. Oh little one don’t cry, I am not calling you a cheat. Tell me the truth; Come on; Tell Ms Lou the truth. Where did you get the exam questions from?
My teacher gave it to us. She said that we need to take the exam and we must have the exam questions; she gave everyone a copy of the questions. We don’t understand, we thought that when you take an exam, you’ve got to learn everything and remember it, but the teacher said that we are not being assessed for memory. She doesn’t want us to use our memory.
This is outrageous, how can this be? God has given you a memory and the teacher is telling you all not to use it. What a foolish, stupid teacher, I know I shouldn’t call your teacher a fool, but how comes she doesn’t want you to use your memory? Are you sure, she is a real teacher?
Yes, Ms Lou, she is a teacher, and she’s a chimney sweeper.
Who is a chimney sweeper?
My teacher
The same teacher who gave you the exam questions is a chimney sweeper?
Yes Ms Lou
You have a chimney sweeping teacher. Is she teaching you how to sweep chimneys (but everybody got central heating). I didn’t realise that they’ve got chimney sweeping on the curriculum.
She’s not teaching us to sweep chimneys; chimney sweeping is her other job. She is a teacher and a chimney sweeper.
Well, I think that she should give up the chimney sweeping, because it’s affecting her brain. She must have soot on the brain. She’s got creosote (that’s tar) messing up her mind, and now she’s trying to mess-up you and the other children’s minds; telling you that you don’t need to use your memory. People can be very bad minded, she can’t get a full-time teaching job, so she have to sweep chimneys. She is jealous of you all, she doesn’t want you to get ahead; they should fire her. Fire her up the chimney.
Thank you Ms Lou, thank you for listening, but I better go and start to prepare my notes, the teacher told us that we must bring notes into the exam.
What? Are you having a laugh, you’re having a joke on me; but your little face don’t look like you’re joking. She told you to take notes into the exam; she’s allowing you to take notes into the exam. Sweetheart, you can’t take notes into the exam. What’s going on at your college? That is cheating, if you take notes into an exam; this is bad practice.
I know Ms Lou, I know, but that’s what she wants us to do – that’s why I am confused. I don’t know what an exam is anymore. I don’t want to take notes into the exam. I don’t want to cheat. I want to do the exam the proper way.
It’s like she is saying to you all that you’re not good enough to pass the exam the proper way, she is trying to cheat the system; to get more people to pass; to get higher grades. This is wrong. Listen, when I were at school, a boy wrote notes on his arm; he was kicked out of the exam for cheating, and when I was working as a teacher we didn’t allow students’ to take any papers into an exam. No notes, no mobile, nothing!
But, it’s what she says we must do. Ms Lou, I told you, she gave us the exam questions, she told us not to use our memory but to make notes for the first two questions, and to bring the notes with us to the exam. She said that we will complete the two other exam questions at home.
Backside! Exam at Home, What! She want you to do the 2 other exam questions at home?
Yes, Ms Lou
I think I have heard enough of this, no wonder England is falling behind on the global school ranking. Oh boy, if I were to tell people what you’ve just told me they would never believe me.
Come, we need to do something about this; everybody needs to know what’s going on at your school. We need to write a letter, send an email, or do something. Let’s write a letter; here is paper, do you have a pen?
Yes, Ms Lou
Start writing; Dear Department of Education…….. END
Author: Morel Benard