Smartphones have become a focus of the debate about young people’s engagement with learning, but Jenny Anderson, author of The Disengaged Teen, argues that schools must also look at how they teach. Photograph: Peter Lopeman/Alamy View image in fullscreen Smartphones have become a focus of the debate about young people’s engagement with learning, but Jenny Anderson, author of The Disengaged Teen, argues that schools must also look at how they teach. Photograph: Peter Lopeman/Alamy First Edition newsletter Education Monday briefing: What will it take to turn around our struggling education system? In today’s newsletter: With attendance and engagement declining and growing pressure on pastoral care, helping young people rediscover their love for learning requires a new lesson plan
Prefer the Guardian on Google Good morning. I’m back, but don’t get too excited. I’ll just be making guest appearances here and there.
Now, onto children, who – if the steady stream of warnings is anything to go by – are in serious trouble. There’s the pull of addictive screens, a sharp drop in children reading for pleasure, a global decline in academic performance, and a notable rise in youth mental health struggles. Together, these trends point to a wider crisis in learning.
Much of the focus has been on phones and social media. A global study published last week found an association between increased screen exposure and lower academic achievement and poorer language development in children. In the UK, phones are already banned during the school day, and from spring of next year, under-16s will not be able to access major social media platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.
But are we focusing on the wrong thing? Today, I speak to Jenny Anderson, award-winning journalist and author of The Disengaged Teen, about why so many young people are disengaging from learning, and what it might take to turn that around. That’s after the headlines.
Ukraine | Donald Trump has announced an energy ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, apparently without consulting Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said the deal to stop long-range attacks was “news to me”.
Middle East | A projectile hit a passenger terminal at the airport in Riyadh on Sunday, the day after a deadly missile attack on the facility carried out by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebel group killed 13 people.
UK politics | Andy Burnham is facing questions over plans to speed up sweeping changes to Britain’s electoral system amid speculation that some of his closest advisers are pressing for an early general election.
Djibouti | At least 139 people, including 15 children, have died after a boat carrying 305 migrants capsized off the coast of Djibouti , the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.
Brexit | Andy Burnham has said it is clear Russia interfered in the Brexit referendum, after seeking answers on the Kremlin’s involvement in the 2016 vote when he entered Downing Street.
View image in fullscreen Restricting phone use is only part of the answer to the growing problem of disengagement in schools, says Jenny Anderson. Photograph: JohnnyGreig/Getty Images There is a real and growing crisis in young people’s engagement with learning.
According to recent research , fewer pupils now say they find school engaging. In 2020-21, 42% of students said they found what they learned interesting either “always/very often” or “quite often”. By 2023, that figure had fallen to just 28%. Nearly half of pupils…