London : With an aim to cutting down on technology use in classrooms, the British government has appointed government expert and former teacher Tom Bennett to review the impact of tablets and smartphones on school children.
“An investigation into how to train teachers to tackle poor pupil behaviour will be expanded to cover wider issues such as the use of mobile phones and other devices in schools,” announced Schools Minister Nick Gibb in a statement on Sunday.
“Since 2010, we have given teachers more power to ensure good behaviour in the classroom.
“But we need to make sure the advice we give to schools and the approaches being used across the country are fit for the 21st century when even primary school pupils may be bringing in phones or tablets,” Gibb said.
“That is why we have taken the decision to expand Tom Bennett’s review to look at how teachers can tackle bad behaviour,” he added according to IANS.
In June, Bennett led a review into how initial teacher training prepares teachers for tackling low-level disruption in class.
Now, his role will be expanded to look at all of the challenges of managing behaviour in 21st-century schools.
“Whether it is the use of mobile phones in schools or the attitudes of parents to their child’s behaviour in class, we will now probe deeper into behaviour more
generally to ensure that no child has to put up with having their education disrupted by misbehaviour,” Gibb noted.
Chief Inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw has already called for more schools to ban children from bringing phones into lessons — a major issue that Tom Bennett will now review, the statement read.
