International Consultant, former HMI, College/School Principal, Author ‘Secondary Curriculum Transformed’Hon Fellow Univ of Birmingham; FCCT Board Member;ESB Patron; passion for ALL young people to succeed in education.
Other countries have long since abandoned the ‘English Victorian Gradgrind model of education’. They have realised especially with the advent of AI that creative thinking problem solving digital and communication skills are the basis of education that equips young people for a fast changing future . England still carries on with its endless consultations and the writing of reports with recommendations that go absolutely nowhere ! Meanwhile children in the UK are deemed to be the unhappiest of twenty one economically advanced countries according to a UNICEF report. Certainly 1.8 million have decided to quit school and countless others are excluded- effectively kicked out of school. Why? As they spend much time out of lessons and miss learning- they are possibly not going to ‘pass their exams’ so risk messing up the school's position in the accountability league tables. The majority of these children have special educational needs - undiagnosed, unmet or both, or are from socio-economic backgrounds ( disadvantaged), so are unable to achieve as well as their peers. How is their achievement measured? Not through valuing the progress that children make from their starting points, or indeed, in subjects that they may excel at- creative technical or vocational, but through an academic suite of subjects that they may struggle in. The EBAcc curriculum is not taught as relevant or meaningful to their lives, or indeed contextualized in 'real world' learning. Some children cannot access the secondary curriculum because their reading age is below their chronological age. Attainment and progress measures are 'normative' and these children are measured against their peers. In truth, is that a fair or equitable education system? Will this normative assessment succeed in closing the gap between those that pass their GCSEs and the one third that do not? A 'pass or fail' education system presents a bleak picture - but then Thomas Gradgrind the notorious school board Superintendent in Dickens's 1854 novel Hard Times ended up with some very unhappy school children, while children in the UK today present as the unhappiest in Europe with a 'particularly British fear of failure partly to blame' according to the Annual Good Childhood Report ( 2023). Is that just a mere coincidence? I fear not. Building in failure into an education system will not result in happy children motivated to achieve their full potential. Its time for a radical change.
Well said Carrie Grant ❤️
It's time for a change in the education system to empower our future generation. Meena Wood MBA Ed Leadership, FRSA FCCT
Well said. Seeing the anxiety and pressure that children go through during examination times is appalling. I totally agree it is time for change and that changes should have happened many years ago.
My thoughts exactly..
Totally agree!!!
Collaborating on thoughts to promote children’s rights
8moChildren are enduring more at home and school than we talk about A character curriculum develops learning and meets emotional needs. If schools adopt this as part of their pastoral priorities children have emotional and intellectual needs met. The culture of a school includes supporting pupils holistically and I’ve seen how this is a priority for Church of England schools. What pressures are placed on school leaders to focus their prioritisation elsewhere?