The Observer | UK News | The Horse Whisperer is called in to tame children

The Observer | UK News | The Horse Whisperer is called in to tame children

It was immortalised on film by Robert Redford - the story of a Canadian who tamed wild horses with near-mystical sounds and signs. Now the techniques revealed in The Horse Whisperer are to be harnessed to improve discipline in school classrooms.
Sir Mike Tomlinson, the former chief inspector of schools who headed the government's review of A levels, is one convert, as is Dr Elisabeth Passmore, a former Ofsted director of inspection.

Monty Roberts, the original whisperer who inspired the film and has tamed more than 70,000 wild horses, flew to Britain last week to hold a three-day workshop for Global Education Management Systems (Gems), one of the biggest operators of independent schools in the UK. Gems hopes that its teachers will agree to adopt his ideas.

'Some people might think it's wacky to turn to an approach best known for horses, but this also has interesting things to say about children,' said Tomlinson. 'We think it's worthwhile listening to Roberts's opinions and to expose our headteachers to different and interesting people who have ideas that might be of use to them,

'We want to try everything that is innovative and interesting for headteachers; we want to encourage them to question current practice. We want to explore difficult and different areas [in education].'

In Roberts's programme, children are encouraged . . .