Диалоги по темам Школы будущего, Искусство для старших классов

Schools of the future

• Hello, Jane! You look so sad. Are you in trouble? What's the matter?

• I'm given a very difficult task for tomorrow by our teacher. I have to prepare a report for our seminar in Teacher training course. I can't collect myself and I have no idea what about it should be.

• About new technologies, new methodology, new styles in teaching, I suppose. About using computers at lessons, about online testing, multimedia means of learning, distance learning and so on.

• I'm so grateful to you for your ideas, but there is nothing new and everyone knows about them. My report should be unusual and contain something really exiting and interesting. May be some new discoveries in the field of education or something like that. I can't say it for sure now.

• And what if you would share your thoughts about schools of the future?

• In my opinion, there are a lot of opportunities to sound fresh, I mean your ideas can be innovative.

• It's easy to say but difficult to do. I feel like I can't do without you, without your open mind. Give me a few ideas right now. I'm going to put them down.

• To begin with, a school of the future will be democratic. Friendly relationships between teachers and students. No marks, only goals will determine the level of knowledge of students.

• Ha-ha! May be lessons will be also cancelled? Imagine a child sitting at home and conversing with his teacher via the Internet! If the lessons of this teacher are boring or a child is tired of the learning process, he can easily change the situation by pressing on the button…

• You are laughing but believe me - nowadays new technologies are developing so rapidly that we can hardly know what will happen tomorrow.

The simple books won't be able to enhence the huge amount of information, so they will disappear. There will be electronic books on every subject instead of them.

-I've caught. But the essential is that the human society won't be able to do without knowledgeable people. So many very effective methods of teaching will be invented and used by the scientists and teachers to educate children properly.

- Furthermore, all toys and all games may become educative and, vice-versa, all the educative methods may take the form of games.

-It sounds optimistic. And also one thing- teachers should be enthusiastic about the teaching. It'll be possible, if they are not tired, not exhausted. For this they shouldn't teach a lot of lessons to make their living- not more than 12 lessons per week. And they should receive a good salary for their work.

-I'm looking forward to the schools of the future. I hope, it's not very far from today. As for your report, it must be a success, so go and type it right now.

- Thank you very much for your help. See you later in the evening.

Feelings and emotions

• What a wonderful film! Super! I can say that I have never seen anything of the kind before!

• You are too emotional. As for me, I consider it one of the numerous successful films that have appeared recently.

• Your calmness is irritating me. Sometimes it seems to me that lack of feelings may destroy our relationships.

• Darling, please, don't confuse the words "feelings" and "emotions". They are totally different. And if I don't express my feelings so emotionally as you do, it doesn't mean that I'm lack of feelings. I'm a bit reserved, you know.

• Please, forgive me. I didn't want to offend you. Simply, we are contrasts with you. I' m too emotional, I can admit it. I'm undertaken by them very often and I lose sometimes my temper.

• Oh, my darling, you are too young and inexperienced. All your feelings and thoughts can be seen on your face, in your beautiful eyes. You cannot hide them. It's the best feature of youth, in my opinion.

• You mean that when I learn how to deal with my emotions, I will be old enough and you won't find any excellent traits of character in me?

• Nothing of the kind! For me you'll always be my dearest friend! Of course, everyone should learn how to control his or her emotions. It's good to express good emotions and it's bad to split your bad emotions to people around you.

• Anger, irritation, being disappointed, fear, crying are bad emotions as I understand. But they show your inner estate, your feelings. Am I right?

• Absolutely. And, vice versa, laugh, smile, joyful intonation, shining eyes show your happy moments.

• And you should share your good emotions with people around you because doing so, you get even happier, you multiply your joy many times and it will become greater.

• But there are some nuances, my darling. People around us are so different. Some of them may be irritated with the expressing of your feelings. There are people who can be jealous, envying, mad, angry. It's better to share your joy and your pain only with your friends and your relatives.

• I'm really very happy to have such a clever friend as you are. Today you've given me a full lecture about feelings and emotions. I know now that both feelings and emotions can be good and bad, that emotions serve to express feelings, that…

• And the essential, my darling, good feelings should be educated, enriched, bad feelings should be annihilated. As for the emotions, they can be controlled. But sometimes it's necessary to express also bad emotions such as crying and shouting because they may defend you from the bad consequence of stress and shock. But we are here, my darling. Good night to you !

Schools in Great Britain

• Have you heard, Ann, our neighbor Susan is going to send her son Arthur to the private school in Britain.

• It can be true. I know she has been working in a very rich and solid company producing ecologically friendly products for the world market. By the way, do you know the name of the school? Isn't it a school for boys called Harvard?

• I don't know for sure, it can be. I know that many rich people from many countries send their children to study in Great Britain because the educational system is internationally recognized the best in the world.

• Are there so many private schools in Britain? Are they quite expensive? What about the state schools?

• Most of the schools are state schools because not everyone can afford educating his child in a private school. But I should admit that private schools give better education and the discipline is much more strict than in state schools. Students are required to wear school uniforms.

• Really? I thought that this fact could be frightening for some of the students.

• Nothing of the kind. What to wear it doesn't matter. The essential is strong and knowledgeable teachers and assurance that time isn't wasted.

• Frankly speaking, I'd like to have rich parents and study in Britain. May be, in the future I'll be able to realize my dream sending my own child to a private school. At what age do children begin studying in Great Britain?

• A bit earlier than in Russia. At the age of 3 they begin attending nursery schools or kindergartens. They come to primary schools when they are 6.

• So early. How long do they attend primary classes?

• For 4 years. After children come to secondary schools where they stay for 6 years. Some of them continue their education in higher schools to go to the Universities, some go to the vocational colleges to start immediately their professional career and get some work experience.

• And one more question. Do they have the same list of obligatory school subjects?

• Almost the same. Only instead of English they learn French as a foreign language, German, Spanish, Italian and even Russian in some places.

• I've heard that there are some punishments for misbehavior in some schools. It's so strange in the 21^st century.

• You know, Great Britain always has been a country with very strict rules, customs and traditions. Kinds of punishment such as lines, detection, report or exclusion exist nowadays. And I must admit they are effective enough.

• Yes, may be sometimes it's worth remembering some of our great grandparents' measures of education. What do think about it?

• Agree completely.

Modern Art

- Hello, Ann! What are you doing here at this exhibition? I know you've never been keen on Modern Art? Your points of view have changed , haven't they?

- Nothing of the kind! But my points of view don't prevent me from visiting every place that can be interesting, new and unusual.

- I know you have been always admiring masterpieces of impressionism and classism. Last time when we were visiting the Tate gallery you told me that you didn't understand pictures of Modern Art and that's why you couldn't accept it.

- You are right. It's still difficult to me to understand it, but I try. I listen attentively the explanations of the guides, and I've recently bought a book about Modern Art. But I haven't read it yet.

- Oh, you are making a progress! If you consider that I can be helpful to you, I'm in your service.

- Thank you, Pete. It' so nice of you! Look, there are two pictures. I can totally accept this landscape in the first picture. It's so beautiful. It's autumn. Golden trees, yellow grass, few light clouds in the sky. I really love nature. But , unfortunately, I can't say anything about the second picture. Some bright red spots and it's called Modern Art.

- I do not agree with you here, my darling. First of all, this picture is evoking joyful emotions, good memories, light expectations and creating positive mood. Secondly, Modern Art is not common, it's individual for everybody because you have to visualize, to think and…

-In other words, I also should be a co-author of this work, may be even a painter. I should create this picture in a way I like it but only in my mind. Sounds interesting.

- Well done! I've always said that you are the cleverest of all the women I've ever known. And saying so, I'm completely sincere with you.

- Thank you for your kind words, Pete. And I guess it's a famous picture here called "The black square". If you want I can comment it now.

- How interesting! I'm all attention!

- It's like something unfamiliar to you, may be something frightening…

- And from my point of view it can be someone's future or someone's past, some kind of relations between people. Everything depends on how you interpret it.

-Thank to you I understand now that abstractionism is the Art of the future, it's very rational because it transforms so many thoughts and emotions by using only a few symbols.

- What about visiting a new exhibition next Sunday? I was said that some works of French and Italian painters belonging to the branch called "cubism " will be exhibited there?

- I'd love to!