There are times in life when your day just 'speaks' to you and I have had one of those times today. In one way or another I have been bound up in education issues almost all day so it is, perhaps, the most obvious thing to talk about.
It is true to say that I have very strong views about what makes a quality education and today I have been flung between excellent practice and very poor practice. At this time of year I am often found supporting young people with their UCAS applications for university. In the dozens I review I am still constantly amazed at the poor advice given to these young people. The personal statement on the application is critical, yet so many young people get it wrong. It is not their fault because this is all new to them but you would expect the teachers to be able to guide them. Far too many students fall into the trap of simply listing their achievements and that is not what the universities are asking for. They want the applicants to select their most meaningful achievements and experiences and make sense of them before mapping them into the courses they are applying for and beyond as they can. This shows a degree of reflective, joined up thinking that is necessary for university life. The UCAS statement is becoming symptomatic of our system of education as the students list every piece of achievement. Achievement is not about quantity; it is always about quality. The same mentality of listing achievements is applied to the number of GSCEs young people face. Anything over 7 is simply ridiculous and I will never be convinced otherwise. The pressure we are putting on our 15/16 year olds is shocking. That said, the pressure we are putting on our 17/18 year olds is close to criminal.
The obvious question is then how can this be happening. The answer is quite complex but a lot of it can be blamed on successive governments interfering with something they know little about. The autonomy of head teachers and teachers has been seriously eroded by ministers who do not have a clue. Their only concern is how well we do compared to other countries and if we fall behind they need to change things. The countries within the UK have seen more change in their educational systems over the past 30 years than any other country in Europe. That speaks volumes. Scotland is currently locked into debate about a divisive strategy on the introduction of the 'new' higher with some schools taking it on one year and others the following year. Perfect.
The interference of government is not the only problem though. Schools have played their part in providing poor education from time to time. Under no circumstances should a school send a letter home with a young child informing his parents that he is on an additional support scheme that started in August and the letter is only sent in November. I am completely lost for words and it shows incompetence of the highest order. It gets much worse than that though. The letter outlines the individual learning programme using language that only teachers could possibly understand. The obvious outcome is concerned parents who do not know what it means and how they might help their child.
I have been involved in education my entire adult life having originally trained as a primary teacher before working in one of the toughest environments in inner London. Eventually I moved on to teaching student teachers and then onto management in the university sector. I continue to act as an education consultant. This range and depth of experience is constantly called on from friends and family and I am always willing to help where I can. So today I had the chance to help a lovely couple understand what they had been sent by the school and prepare for an interview with the teachers. Let us just say that they left prepared for that interview and we shall take it from there. The relevance of this case, however, is a letter of that nature being sent home almost three months late.
You only have to watch Educating Yorkshire to see examples of first class teaching so we know it exists. But we do need to pause to look at the way training has changed. I did a four year degree to train as a primary teacher and now I could do it in two terms if I was on the 'fast track' route. Shocking. Our children deserve much better than that and in the next breath you will find politicians complaining we are behind countries like Norway and Sweden. In my view we will always be behind those countries because they really know how to invest in their young people and that includes free university education and higher paid teachers. They also don't start formal learning activities until a child is 7, in most cases, whereas we start when children are 4. It would appear that the educational research that proves children are not ready for formal education until they are 7 isn't relevant to British children.
My last rant is about lazy teachers. There are not that many but they do exist and they often like to hang out in secondary schools. The worksheet that is supposed to reinforce prior learning has replaced the need to teach for the lazy teacher. He/she can simply get one of the children to hand them around and then get their red pen ready for marking. The really lazy teacher even gets the children to mark their own worksheet. We use worksheets in home school and there is a place for them but we use them after we have engaged our children in stimulating learning activities and we feel the need for additional consolidation. I was sent this video today of a young American student standing up for 'good teaching.' He makes some excellent points but does suffer from being a little over aggressive. I can excuse that. What I can't excuse is that the teacher merely asks over and over again for him to leave the classroom. Even the tone of her voice is lazy. You really should watch the video if you have time.
At its best education is an engaging process of acquiring knowledge and skills that are understood to be relevant for life. This process is supported by motivated children and an open dialogue between teachers and parents. The outcome of this process is well motivated individuals with a real passion for learning as a life long endeavour. I can see how the children in the school in Yorkshire achieve that so we absolutely know it is possible. I am sad though that some of the problems are so big and deeply entrenched that an entire generation will be missing out on the very best education can offer them while they are chasing their 12th GCSE! And if they are not chasing their 12th GCSE there is something wrong with them. I don't think so.
Perhaps it is a time for a serious rethink where we create an education manifesto that teachers, children and parents can access and sign up to. A manifesto that puts the child back at the centre of the process and where we all get behind ALL our children ALL of the time. Where is it because I will sign it right now?
Until tomorrow......when I will be less cross. xx
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