The Matthew Effect
I am delighted to say, three weeks in, I have not yet been asked by a pupil, “Is this on the syllabus? Will this be in the test?” I do have a tendency to wander off on a tangent in my lessons, particularly if I see there is time left and I’ve already achieved what I had hoped for. But to ask whether you need to know something betrays a lack of curiosity I would hope we can dispel.
Teaching Physics allows the opportunity to make huge leaps from the essential lesson content to the interesting stories that illustrate or enhance their understanding. That might mean going from the simple study of gravity on Earth – Newton’s falling apple – to the way a black hole’s gravity would affect astronauts as they plunged across the event horizon. It might take us from Archimedes’ principle on floating bodies to a discussion about Archimedes himself and his development of devastating megaweapons to combat the enemy ships off the coast of 3rd century BC Sicily.
Last week, Mrs Skilton spoke to our Year 10 parents about the Matthew Effect at their Pastoral Information Evening. This tells us that in essence, the more we already know, the easier it is to learn more. So often our appreciation of new things relies on a wider context – the kind of cultural capital that is so enriching to all of us. In the week since her talk I have had this in mind. Do our pupils regularly see or hear the news? The Nine O’Clock News was on our TV each evening when I was younger and that helped me to appreciate domestic politics and world affairs. Do our pupils have a mental map of the world, the UK, the United States in their heads. Would they know the likely context of a news story about Aberdeen or Mississippi or Yemen. Do they understand why Coventry developed such a strong tradition of engineering; or why the depletion of the bee population will affect us all?
In my own subject, I often stress the need to know the key formula, rather than rely on looking at a formula sheet which may be supplied. That knowledge leads to both understanding of the underlying concepts and the facility to tackle problems swiftly. Historians would say a broad knowledge of the sweep of British history over the past millennium is helpful even though their syllabus may focus on a narrower time period. Art students will be the stronger if they know their Monets from their Mondrians, even if their own tastes and influences are in a very different style. Certainly by the time our Upper Sixth are applying to the most selective universities, they need to have that kind of wider knowledge so support their application and their eventual studies.
The Matthew Effect is very powerful and there is so much we can do to expose children to the world of wider knowledge (and counter the worst of Tik-Tok). Parents might try compulsory TV – an Attenborough documentary or a film adaptation of a classic novel. We might subscribe to one of the excellent periodicals aimed at teenagers. We might put on Radio 4 or the TV news. Anything we can do to broaden their horizons will surely help them on their academic journey.
(Bulletin No 3 - 24th September 2021)
