MORI poll shows pupils identify parents as greatest influencers on their learning

A MORI poll carried out by the Campaign for Learning and education recruitment specialists Select Ed

MORI poll shows pupils identify parents as greatest influencers on their learning

Pupils want to get active in the classroom according to Select Education sponsored poll

London, UK, 21st May 2007 A MORI poll carried out by the Campaign for Learning and education recruitment specialists Select Education, reveals that secondary school pupils think they are influenced more by their parents than by their teachers when it comes to learning.

The poll was conducted as part of Ipsos MORI's School Omnibus series of surveys and asked 2,417 secondary age pupils their preferred ways to learn, the most common teaching methods used in classes and who children learn most from, both in and out of school.

62% of respondents believed their mothers helped them learn the most, followed by 50% who cited their fathers as key influencers. Teachers only came third on the list with 44% of pupils mentioning their teachers. Interestingly, this trend can be seen from previous polls in the series back in 2000, 57% of pupils still identified their teachers as key to learning for them.

John Dunn, Director at Select Education says: 'The results of this survey reinforce both the need for the work by the Campaign for Learning and the government to bring parents closer into the education system, as key influencers. Parent power should not be underestimated and by working more closely with teachers, pupils can benefit from a more integrated approach to how they learn, both in and out of school.'

When asked how pupils prefer to learn, a collaborative environment, where pupils work in groups (55%), do practical things (39%), learn with friends (35%) came out top of the list. Learning by using computers came fourth on the list (31%), and interestingly this figure remains relatively unchanged since 1998, despite the enormous ICT investment in schools in the past years.

The research showed that more solitary activity such as learning in silence (9%), reading books (8%), going to a museum or library (5%) or thinking for yourself (6%) was less favourable, with pupils needing more stimulus to encourage participation in learning.

Despite the interest in more collaborative ways of working, when asked what pupils actually do most often in class, many of the more traditional methods are still in place with copying from the board or a book top with 52% of pupils and listening to a teacher talking for a long time second at 33%. The good news is that these figures are dropping, albeit slowly, and have done so steadily since the first poll in 2000, where 56% copied from books and 37% listened to teacher talking for a long time.

Linda Siegle, Joint Chief Executive of the Campaign for Learning says: 'These findings have come out just as we are publishing the latest results from our own Learning to Learn in Schools action research programme and they support our belief that children often learn best by working collaboratively and in interactive situations. Copying from the board, black or white, should be more a thing of the past than it appears to be from our survey. Pupils clearly prefer learning in groups and pairs and by doing practical things. These things are not new or the only way to learn, but schools need the encouragement to give them more emphasis, as well as to introduce more initiatives that encourage family support for learning.'