SIXTH FORMS AND "THE SPECTATOR"
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sia,—Dr. Terry Thomas's article on "Sixth Forms and The Spectator" will have been read with interest by those for whom the limitations of the average school curriculum is a matter of concern.
I would like to record my appreciation of the benefit gained from a series of school periods devoted to a scheme similar to that suggested by Dr. Thomas. I know that I shall be echoing the experience of several of those who shared with me this welcome addition to the normal weekly programme, when I say that the interpretations and explanations of current affairs by the master responsible for the experiment (in this case a inan of2cë1t%1derable experience in high-class journalism) did much to stimulate interest and broaden outlook with respect to existing problems, both national and international.
The chief merit of these periods lay in their informality and their tonic effect upon those who had found that in a school curriculum the continual exercise of traditional practices tends to breed boredom. Many of us found that we were learning for the first time to think for ourselves, and, by developing our scanty knowledge of current problems, were experiencing a realisation of .life's complexities and a growing sense of individual responsibility.
Of such an experiment, it may be said that its immediate effect and value will not always be easy to gauge ; but its potentialities are limitless and its ultimate value something for which future genera- tions of "sixth formers" may have every reason to be grateful.—I am, Sir, yours faithfully, 4 St. Mary's Passage, Cambridge. J. M. REID.
Previous page
