Could A Pan European Syllabus Save The UK National Curriculum?
Education has been evolving over thousands of years. But if we can educate scholars such as Aristotle in ancient Greece and Copernicus in medieval Poland why do we struggle to achieve an educational programme that is fully fit for purpose in 2010?
Whilst we learn of medical advances that push the boundaries in health care, education seem to have stagnated. Disease control, organ transplants, keyhole and robotic surgery have emerged but teaching appears moribund, struggling to meet required literacy and numeracy standards in primary schools. The possible reasons for this situation are legion. The effect of the national curriculum, SAT’s, 11 plus, GCSE and special government schemes costing billions of pounds have failed to achieve the intended breakthrough.
The dilemma for parents wanting the best for their children starts when their child is four years old epitomised by the frantic activity needed to get their child into the ideal school. Although five years is the formal schooling starting point for the UK greater academic success has been achieved in countries where children start school aged six or seven, such as in Finland and South Africa. In fact they are critical of the early years controlled schooling in the UK claiming children should be involved in structured and unstructured play activities during this period.
The type of school in the UK creates further anxiety. The choice of Montessori, Steiner, Kumon, and faith schools in the independent or state school system complicates the decision, as does that old chestnut of class size. Some techniques appear more successful than others but no single technique emerges as the outright winner. Is it the skill of the teacher or the teaching format that is the common denominator?
Technology in the schooling process has moved on. Kids are taught keyboard skills and teaching resources are awash with interactive white boards. Soon many schools could be linked through the web to allow a strong teacher to simultaneously broadcast to several schools. So what is not working? There appears no simple answer. Various influences are cited as inducing a negative effect, notably teaching to test, where lessons are geared to passing exams rather than providing a broad educational strategy.
Strangely the combined forces of the European Union have failed to influence the UK educational programme. This seems odd. Whilst we have the specification for the shape of bananas, the one area we could benefit from a European standard is in education. A federal approach could remove the duplication in each member state and pull in the best practice from the members. The potential benefits are demonstrated in the International Baccalaureate and International GCSE both of which offer benefits welcomed by trend setting schools, but predominately rejected by schools overwhelmed by the current inefficiencies and reluctant to adopt yet another change. Yet these schemes have proven effective in other European countries whilst the UK has little to show despite the effort and determination of it’s teachers and pupils.
The clock ticks on. Educational development must be the primary focus of any government. Technology, improved communications and the paradigm shift in the commercial centre of gravity towards the far east has changed the emphasis. Our children will need to thrive in a global market. They need the career flexibility of a broad based education to take advantage of emerging opportunities.
It been proven beyond reasonable doubt that we need help. The average tenure of the Secretary of State for Education is around 18 months yet they are charged with the strategic policies for a schooling journey lasting a minimum of 10 years. Perhaps we should leave teaching to teachers and establish a team tasked with the definition and implementation of a new curriculum and procedures drawn from the very best in Europe. It must be better than the current situation which if maintained could leave us the poor relation justly receiving the condemnation of generations of children to come.
