How Would a Martian View our Schools?

• Why lessons? Why 50 minutes?
• Why a patchwork timetable?
• Why age cohorts?
• Why sitting still?
• Why so little visual material… images… film?
• Why the neglect of the internet?
• Why written examinations?
• Why confuse fast, error-free recall with intelligence?
• Why focus on the markable when life is so remarkable?
• Why try to prepare kids for life by taking them out of life for so long?
• Why so much verbal explanation and so little experimentation?
• Why, why, why…?

This transcript was taken from a presentation entitled ‘School is Very Strange!” by Guy Claxton at the 2023 Rethinking Education conference in London. Guy Claxton is a cognitive scientist, education thought leader and prolific author interested in expanding human intelligence through research, writing and education. You can follow him on Twitter: