Ammonite Projects

Way back in the 1980's when it was fashionable for teachers to have big fuzzy hair do's rather than because they own overly powerful hair driers and under powered fashion senses, a new type of school project became available to mainstream schools. Suddenly 'Design' was the new buzzword and many schools, then educational organisations and (very) finally exam boards embraced this new ethic. The projects were revolutionary for the time! A puzzle frame, A box to hold things that were measured FIRST and a PROJECT FOLDER that considered the users needs rather than your dads. It greatly changed DT and with the IT revolution in schools, we got CAD and then EXPLORATION.

I write these words in capitals because they took over the imagination of teachers in their day. In the 1990's we then got innovation and design started to become less about the colour and style and more about the function. Bauhaus started to seem like a cool way of doing things. It was also the age of the quick project. Newspaper bridges, Eggs supported with sphaghetti high in the air, string transport systems. No longer was it neccesary to produce a total product, you could expore the world and find out stuff without needing to varnish it afterwards!

Unfortunately, many schools are stuck in this mode, even some educational organisations that should know better. I recently attended an event for teachers and academics to meet together which started with the 'build a bridge out of newspaper and sellotape' competition. I actually came second from bottom! This was because no'one measured how far apart the tables were we built from, no'one bothered that many were stuck firmly to the tables and that deflection was fine resulting in bridges that only 4x4's could have crawled uphill on. I was not impressed because despite a decade of trying to get teachers and organisations to think strategically and plan effective activities with rules and mark schemes, the person running this one hadn't even thought it through and there was little that made the task educationally applicable. All we really learned was that cheating won as by sticking ever larger amounts of rolled up paper together, eventually one could support an elephant, but not an educational learning experience.

Now budgets are down, teachers workloads are up and the goverment has delayed the implementation of educational reform http://bbc.in/s77zgL that will rot some departmest as schools decide to wait and see which subjects have traction in the new curriculum model. Why invest in training in a department where half the staff may leave in the next 5 years due to subject reduction. I think many schools are in for even more newspaper bridges run without thought, eggs supported without planning or considered outcome, more ideas left behind because investing is diffciult when you dont know what you are investing in..

These dusty bridges and ascending eggs are ammonite projects. Fossilised and slowly becoming tokens of a wider culture rather than a gateway to new learning opportunities. Most museums sell ammonites attached to keyrings, something to remind you as you get on with the real work. Will these ill prepared and ill defined dinosaurs condemn you and your department to a dusty drawer? Change them! Do something new! Lest the chill wind of change dessicates your very creative bones...