Ever thought of the lot of a teacher?
One of the issues of the National Curriculum could be its intransigence. Whilst it lays down what should be taught in schools, equally, it infers what should not. Teachers obviously develop an increasing knowledge base during their career, and express frustration at the lack of opportunity to impart this wider knowledge as a progression to Key Stage coursework. Adhering strictly to curriculum guidelines, avoiding any opportunity to expand the horizons results in a “teach to test†doctrine with the primary objective to pass tests.
The opportunity to develop learning into knowledge becomes stifled. The practical application say of maths and science, giving it reason and firing the imagination is being lost. The CBI and commercial leaders are concerned that core subjects in science and maths are being rejected by children to the long term detriment of the UK. Unless we find a way through this dilemma we could see an increase in the level of disinterested children as well as teachers.
No easy solution, as teachers would require greater freedom and time to engage in lateral teaching. With the controls in place this is impractical in the short term yet somehow we have to stimulate the interest in children and arrest the decline, a role that may have to fall to the parents in the short term.
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