David Mitchell Being Bored Summary

David Mitchell has, in his argument, overlooked some vital points about the development of our high class education system. Being bored is a skill that needs to be learnt by students and people of all ages as it is extremely useful in all situations whether social or educational. However is it right that we teach this in a place that decides the future and what we are able to achieve. He is right to question the crackdown on boring teachers because these kinds of teachers are often the ones that know the most about their subject. Sacking them because of that may not have the right effect, however we must make every effort to try and engage students to allow them to have the best chance in life.

‘She is cracking down on the ones who

fail to convince the random bunch of kids in front of them that physics isn't just some dry and counterintuitive rules, but a veritable party in their brains’. The attempted humour in this passage contributes to the ridiculous image he is trying to portray to his readers. He is using it to try and make any opposing argument seem absurd. This technique may be effective but I disagree with his views on the subject. This agenda that Christine Gilbert is proposing is, in my opinion, one that is long overdue. Teachers have one of the most important careers in the world, teaching the youth so they can achieve more in later life. They have to be able to engage the students, if they can’t then their failing their job. We need to have a greater insight into the way that they teach to truly get an understanding of their lessons. We have to make kids interested in school and the only people to do this are the teachers, if they can’t do this then I think they should be fired. People may say that this is extreme but without the ability to make sure the information that is taught stays present in the mind of their students then surely they are doing their job badly and should be fired?
He also talks about the fact that ‘some teachers have boringness thrust upon them by the national curriculum.’ This phrase is one that is taken and edited from Shakespeare, this attempted on humour from the comedian is the introduction to talking about how school is boring and we can’t change that. Is it possible to make all subjects so exciting and interesting just by adding witty anecdotes and relating to them at a personal level? I think not. This statement from David Mitchell I agree with as dull subjects make dull lessons and this may mean that due to their subject quality these teachers may be sacked.
We have to allow for the fact that some subjects will never be interesting no matter who teaches them; however they still have to be learnt by the pupils as they are core subjects in our curriculum. This means that we can’t sack the boring teachers, ‘he admits that they are the ones that know the most about their subject’, and so they are a valuable asset to any school. This means we have to find an alternative way to make them teach better lessons. Therefore I think we should teach them how to improve their lessons itinerary.
‘I imagine the plan is even more hopeless than that - they're going to try and make boring lessons more interesting’.

David Mitchell talks about this being the wrong answer by formatting it in a way that makes it sound like a fact rather than his own opinion. This is a technique he uses to convince people to comply with his opinion. I disagree with him as I feel that this is the way to raise grades and the overall ability of students. We have to try and make lessons appealing to the learner, a way to make them learn and not battle it. At the moment in classes students try to fight learning by not doing work, talking and just having a negative attitude to school. This has to change before we can move forward, and I think that improving lessons is the way to do this, David Mitchell has criticised this but not made any alternative suggestions. He says that ‘If you don't listen at school, you're screwed. If you're at a school where no one does so you can't, you're screwed.’ However he continuously opposes the attempts to try and make it easier to learn at school. If we made the lessons more mentally stimulating then there wouldn’t be talking as everyone would be absorbed in the lesson, allowing all pupils to reach the maximum of their

potential.
In conclusion I think that he is wrong and speaking from a viewpoint that doesn’t understand the way that the youth thinks. He doesn’t understand that school is viewed as a nuisance, and people don’t enjoy any part of it. This means that we have to make it more appealing to them so they don’t reject the teaching and view school differently, as a chore. The only way to get them to appreciate school ids to employ better teachers, with better lesson plans which appeal to them. That is what I feel is the best way to encourage students to enjoy their school life.