Right now, this is where I belong.

Today was our first day of classes. For the next month, we will meet every weekday for three to four hours each day and have different guests join us to lecture. Today, we had Marianne Talbot, head of the Philosophy Department at Oxford, give us a lecture on the English education system, as well as proper methods for writing a successful tutorial essay.

The discussion on the English education system was fascinating. They have much of the same problems that we experience in the States with lack of school choice, over-testing, grade inflation, etc. England is having a hard time finding a balance between inspiring students to learn and holding schools accountable for their performance. In 1988, during Margaret Thatcher's second term, she and her Education Secretary, Kenneth Baker, developed the National Curriculum. The goal of the National Curriculum was to establish a standard minimum curriculum that told teachers what subjects they should teach, when they should teach them, and how they should be taught. The standardization allowed students to seamlessly transfer from one school to another without missing any lessons, or having to repeat lessons they may have already learned. Teachers were at first outraged that the new system robbed them of their autonomy; however, in 1994 the requirements were "slimmed down" to allow for more flexibility in instruction. One way the Office of Standards in Education monitors how well schools are performing is by sending out a team of ten inspectors once every four to six years. If a school falls below national standards, the inspectors can impose special measures, which may include mandating that all head faculty and teachers reapply for their jobs. If the school does not improve within two years, the school is likely to be shut down. While this seems to be a very harsh method of monitoring a school's performance, it allows for (good) teachers to inspire their students to learn, and be more creative in their teaching methods than do the implementation of standardized tests; a problem the English educational system knows as much (or more) about as we do in the U.S. From my understanding, by the time students graduate from secondary education, they have been inundated with at least 15 standardized exams. It's shocking to see that there is a correlation between an increase in the suicide rate among school-aged children and the implementation of these standardized tests. The drawback to the standardized exams is that teachers have again lost their freedom to teach and inspire, and are often left having to teach to the test. It was mentioned during the lecture that instead of reading Shakespeare teachers are handing out worksheets about what is important in individual plays. This seems like such a waste to rob students of this deeper education just to meet national standards. I wonder if any system will ever be able to find the balance.

After our discussion on the English education system, Professor Talbot gave a brief lecture on "How to Write a Tutorial Essay." This discussion left me amazed that more schools don't teach this way, as well as terrified for what I will endure while I'm at Oxford. It also left me feeling as though this is exactly where I belong.

The concept of tutorials is new to me. Basically, each student will have two different tutorial meetings("tutorial")once per week. During each tutorial, students meet one-on-one with their professor ("Don"), and will be given a reading list, along with a question. During the course of the next week, the student will be required to sort through the reading list and write a seven to ten-page paper answering the question. At the next meeting, the Don will basically tear the paper apart, having the student defend her research, ideas and conclusions. I can't think of a better way to learn a topic. Not only will I deepen my knowledge of my two subjects, I will be able to defend my research, writing, and opinions. I think I'm going to come out of this in December a more confident woman. It's not going to be easy, but I sure am excited for this ride.

Not only is today the first day of class, it's also St. Giles Fair! I'm not exactly sure the background of this fair, but I do know the main streets are closed and covered with carnival games and fair rides, so I'm out to see what it's all about. Happy Labor Day!