Memorandum submitted by The Edge Foundation
SUMMARY
The Edge Foundation is a charity and company
limited by guarantee. Our aim is to make the case for practical
learning, by which we mean learning by doing, for real. The Foundation
funds projects which develop or demonstrate good practice in practical
learning, and seeks to improve perceptions of practical learning
in the eyes of young people, teachers, parents and the general
public.
In this submission, we make the following points,
principally about the structure and content of the secondary curriculum—
— Edge supports the principle of the
National Curriculum but believes that it is not currently fit
for purpose.
— We need an education system that
enables all young people to discover what they are good at, what
interests them and who they want to be in life.
— According to the Qualifications and
Curriculum Authority, the high-level aims of the National Curriculum
include helping young people become successful learners, confident
individuals and responsible citizens.
— Many young people do not achieve
these aims.
— We believe this is because the Curriculum
is structured around a limited number of mainly knowledge-based
subjects, particularly at Key Stages 3 and 4.
— Young people who are good at exams
tend to be pushed down the traditional academic route of GCSEs,
A levels and direct entry to higher education. They are denied
the opportunity to make a fully informed choice because they have
rarely experienced other forms of learning.
— For young people who are not good
at exams and do not see the relevance of traditional academic
study, the Curriculum is demoralising and irrelevant. They may
see themselves as "thick" or as "failures",
simply because they have not been given the chance to discover
what they are good at. They are at risk of dropping out or (at
best) failing to achieve their potential.
— There is strong evidence that young
people want to experience more practical, hands-on learning, and
that it succeeds in motivating them.
— The curriculum should be built around
a set of aims. These should include the CBI's definition of "employability"
(self-management, teamwork, business and customer awareness, problem-solving,
communication and literacy, application of numeracy and application
of IT), plus creativity, enterprise, self-awareness, adaptability
and an appreciation of how to take and measure risks.
— Whilst "academic" learning
will remain an appropriate choice for some young people, all young
people should experience a substantial amount of learning by doing,
for real, with the support of experts from outside school. This
should include cross-curricular exploration of themes and topics,
and should form a key part of the entire 5-18 National Curriculum.
THE PRINCIPLE
OF THE
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
1. Edge supports the principle of a national
curriculum. We could not support a situation in which schools
were entirely responsible for their own curriculum: this would
create an unmanageable postcode lottery in terms of the nature
and content of the curriculum in different parts of the country.
However, we have major reservations about the curriculum as presently
designed: we believe it is no longer fit for purpose, particularly
for young people in secondary education.
THE NATIONAL
CURRICULUM TODAY
2. The QCA says that the National Curriculum
develops young people's attitudes, attributes, skills, knowledge
and understanding, and that it helps them become—
— Successful learners who enjoy learning,
make progress and achieve.
— Confident individuals who are able
to lead safe, healthy and fulfilling lives.
— Responsible citizens who make a positive
contribution to society.
3. In other words, the QCA would accept
that the aim of the National Curriculum is not solely—or
even principally—to make sure a student in Hull studies
the same subjects, to the same level of detail, as a student in
Havant.
4. Unfortunately, this is exactly how it
is understood by the majority of students, teachers, parents and
the public at large. The reason for this is simple. At Key Stage
3, there is a statutory requirement to teach—
— Modern Foreign Languages;
— Physical education; and
5. There is also a strong expectation that
young people will be taught religious education and Personal,
Social, Health and Economic Education.
6. In other words, the curriculum is, in
practice, built around discrete subjects, not a set of aims and
outcomes.
7. Writing in 2005,[7]
Professor John White said—
We have come to take for granted a certain way
of thinking about school education. We take it as read that this
should be based around a traditional range of school subjects
... The traditional curriculum may have had a plausible rationale
in the past, given certain religious assumptions, but it is an
odd starting-point for the 21st century. We need to ask fundamental
questions [such as] what is school education for?
We share Professor White's concern that the
National Curriculum is based on an outdated concept of education
as a set of academic subjects.
8. Teaching in this way places an inevitable
focus on subject knowledge at the expense of less measurable skills
such as teamwork and problem-solving. The curriculum requires
young people to be taught facts and concepts which many see as
irrelevant to their present and future lives. Practical skills
are seen as less important than academic knowledge, except perhaps
in art, design and physical education.
9. Young people who show an aptitude for
knowledge-based subjects tend to be pushed down the traditional
academic route of GCSEs, A levels and direct entry to higher education.
They are denied the opportunity to make a fully informed choice
because they have rarely experienced other forms of learning,
and their teachers and parents consciously guide them in a particular
direction.
10. In a report for the DfES,[8]
Nick Foskett, Martin Dyke and Felix Maringe say that their research—
... suggests that there [is] a greater tendency
for pupils in schools with a sixth form to choose academic subjects
in the post-16 phase. The subject choices showed that 50% more
pupils in schools with sixth forms chose science and mathematics
as A level subjects. This compared to students in schools without
a sixth form who had a 50% greater chance of choosing vocationally
oriented subjects in their post-16 phase.
This is clear evidence that teachers in schools
with a sixth form promote "academic" options over practical
and vocational routes. We believe that this goes against the best
interests of some young people.
11. Ofsted has also found evidence that
schools limit the options open to academically-able young people.
Reporting on "increased flexibility pilots", Ofsted[9]
noted that—
Providing distinct curriculum pathways in Key
Stage 4 limited the opportunities for able students to undertake
courses leading to vocational qualifications, and for those following
vocational courses often ruled out options open to other students.
... [Furthermore,] curriculum development in a small minority
of the schools visited was constrained by a perception that change
would not maximise success in public examinations. They offered
a narrow curriculum with little or no access to vocational qualifications.
12. In principle, young people of all abilities
should experience work-related learning as part of the personal,
social and health education (PHSE) curriculum. In practice, this
part of the curriculum is often given a low priority. In 2005,
Ofsted[10]
reported that—
— Despite the benefits to the pupils
of providing a PSHE programme ... some schools do not provide
the subject in any form.
— In many schools PSHE is taught by
form tutors [even though] the quality of teaching by specialist
teachers is considerably better than that of non-specialist form
tutors.
— Too few schools see achievement in
PSHE as related to their pupils' attitudes, values and personal
development.
13. Academically-able young people are being
denied opportunities to experience practical and vocational learning.
Meanwhile, young people who are less interested in academic subjects
are still largely constrained by the subject-based Curriculum.
14. For those not destined to be academic
high-flyers, dissatisfaction with the curriculum often starts
early. Some young people are unhappy even at primary school. Others
find the transition to secondary education difficult. And as Professor
Andy Furlong reported in 2004:[11]
Among those who did make a good start in the
secondary school, some began to lose interest as a result of poor
performance in exams and tests. They lost confidence in their
ability and lost the motivation to learn. More frequently there
was a gradual loss of motivation which could be linked to patterns
of attainment as well as the development of outside interests
which began to take up more of their time and energy. Among the
middle and low attainment groups, attitudes to school were often
ambivalent. They appreciated a need for qualifications in order
to get decent jobs, but were never stimulated academically and
tended to regard school as a chore. These young people often felt
that teachers focused on the academic high-flyers and saw themselves
on the periphery of a system centred on the needs of the academic
elite.
15. The same point is made in a report by
EdComs for the Department for Education and Skills, 90% Participation
Project: Desk Research,[12]
as these extracts show:
A considerable body of research demonstrates
that for a significant proportion of young people of moderate
or low ability, the curriculum, qualifications system and associated
teaching styles are unsuited to their ability, leading to a gradual
build up of disaffection.
Clearly the young people that work their way
down this spiral manifest a wide range of disaffection. They can
range from the persistent truants who hate school and want to
get out of the system as soon as possible, to the mildly disaffected
who quietly struggle on, but with diminished self-esteem and expectations.
Some moderate achievers may also be unaware of
other pathways that they can take at 16 if they fail to achieve
the GCSE results they hoped for.
[Moderate and low achievers] are more motivated
by [vocational or work-based] courses ... for a number of reasons.
The learning is hands-on rather than conceptual; the qualifications
are relevant to the world of work that they will ultimately enter;
the students can be put on a course at an appropriate level (eg
Entry level or Level 1) where they are more likely to get a pass,
as opposed to a Grade D GCSE; and assessment is based more on
what you can "do" than what you can "write".
Young people also value one-off experiences that
allow them to better understand the college-based or work-based
options that they may decide to enter after 16.
Although schools increasingly offer vocational
GCSEs now, their staffing is still more geared towards more traditional
academic subjects, and the range of vocational qualifications
they can currently offer is limited by expertise and in some cases
equipment.
Even in subjects such as Design & Technology
once seen as "practical" and "hands-on", there
has been a shift in emphasis from rewarding what you can make,
to explaining and evaluating the design process which requires
greater amounts of reading and writing.
16. Edcoms go on to describe the "mind-set"
of 14-16 year olds who are contemplating leaving education and
training at 16:
Self-esteem: They lack confidence in their
own ability based on low achievement in tests and exams. This
may have been reinforced by being put in lower streams.
Lessons: They do not enjoy school. They
see the curriculum and thus lessons as irrelevant and/or boring.
They may have dropped into an anti-learning culture as a way of
coping with the low self-esteem created by repeated low achievement.
They may be truanting to various degrees and deliberately misbehaving
in class.
Learning: They would prefer to do more
"hands-on" learning, and less conceptual learning.
Teachers: They feel they are not treated
like adults in schools. They feel that teachers are more concerned
with "academic" pupils. Importance of qualifications:
They recognise that qualifications are important for getting a
job, but since they do not expect to do well, this is actually
de-motivating for them.
Future plans: Many are anxious to leave
the school environment in which they have failed, but most are
keen to continue in some education or training ... They are also
very unlikely to have specific career goals, or to have an awareness
of the features of other pathways, such as FE colleges or apprenticeships.
Money and the adult world: Many express
a wish to enter a more adult world and start earning money. This
may be rationalisation based on their dislike of learning and/or
school, rather than a positive choice. Employment may be the better
of two bad options. Some, however, do feel that they can get on
in employment without qualifications, either because of contacts
or because of a belief in their own abilities.
17. As EdComs noted, there is a clear appetite
among young people for more experiential learning (what we would
call learning by doing for real). Foskett, Dyke and Maringe[13]
make this point, too:
Pupils wanted more direct experiential learning
to inform post-16 choices, rather than information. Young people
placed a great premium on visits to post-16 providers and on concrete
experience gained from interacting with outside visitors ... This
does not have to be lengthy exposure, often short tasters are
all that is required. Information does not confer the same degree
of realism for young people [as direct experience].
18. Many adults would support a move in
this direction. In 2004, Edge commissioned YouGov[14]
to survey 4,468 adults throughout Great Britain on their experience
of and attitudes towards education. By a margin of four-to-one,
respondents agreed that "our education system places too
much emphasis on academic achievement, and not enough emphasis
on children and young adults gaining practical experience of learning-by-doing".
More than half said that if they had their time again, they would
like the balance shifted, with less traditional classroom teaching
and more learning by doing.
19. Furthermore, there is evidence that
practical learning works. In a glowing report on Young Apprenticeships,
Ofsted[15]
said—
The students were highly motivated, well behaved,
enthusiastic and enjoyed the programme. Students in one partnership,
which provided retail as a vocational area, could not stop saying
how good their experience was and how different it was from school.
Students said they enjoyed the programme because they were treated
more like adults, took pride in their work and went on work placements.
Their positive attitudes impressed employers who saw clear benefits
from the programme, for themselves and for students.
Different features of the programme helped students
to develop a good picture of the vocational sector, including:
— visits to local companies and public
sector organisations;
— presentations and talks by local employers;
— students' own research for assignments
on aspects of the vocational sector;
— teaching programmes which focused on
different aspects of the vocational area;
— careers information and interviews with
the Connexions service;
— tutors and teachers with recent experience
of the vocational sector; and
— work placements.
20. Despite concerns that the testing regime
has led to a narrower experience for many children in Key Stages
1 and 2, some primary schools have shown that the curriculum can
include a considerable amount of learning by doing. Some of the
most successful approaches focus on developing each child's creativity
and thirst for knowledge. Teaching based on themes and topics
enables teachers to cover different aspects of the curriculum
without having to place each subject in its own separate silo.
Whole days, weeks or terms can be given over to cross-curricular
projects, often supported by experts from outside the school.
21. The value of experiential learning has
been given partial recognition by the Government, most recently
in its response to the eleventh report from the Education and
Skills Committee, Creative Partnerships and the Curriculum.[16]
This includes a commitment to work towards a new entitlement to
five hours' cultural activity per week, with an emphasis on young
people working with "the very best of the professional cultural
sector". Elsewhere in the same report, the Government refers
to a "drive to make the teaching of science and maths in
schools more engaging and interactive; and the programme of work
to encourage young enterprise". The phased introduction of
Diplomas is also intended to put learning into a new, more engaging
context.
22. Edge strongly supports personalised
learning, Young Apprenticeships and the introduction of Diplomas.
Our main reservation about Diplomas is that as presently designed,
they may favour young people who can write about practical tasks,
rather than young people who can actually perform practical tasks.
Young Apprenticeships include far more practical learning, but
they will be available to a much smaller number of young people.
23. Overall, we believe the Government's
current reforms are too timid. We believe practical learning has
to be a thread running through the whole curriculum, not just
selected parts of it. We see the Key Stage 3 curriculum as a particular
barrier, because it delivers education as a series of subject
silos. A failure to provide practical learning at Key Stage 3
reinforces the negativity many experience at this age and limits
the options open to young people when they choose their Key Stage
4 options. Reforms of the 14-19 curriculum go a small way towards
practical learning, but Diplomas still risk being seen as essentially
knowledge-based qualifications.
OUR PROPOSALS
24. The National Curriculum should be built
around a set of aims and hoped-for outcomes. The CBI argues[17]
that education should develop the seven competencies needed for
"employability":
— Business and customer awareness.
— Communication and literacy.
— Application of numeracy.
We would add creativity and enterprise to this
list, alongside personal attributes such as self-awareness, resilience,
adaptability and an appreciation of how to take and measure risks.
25. The National Curriculum should take
these skills and attributes as both a starting point and an end
point, so that we can see—
— How every young person will be helped
to develop these skills and attributes.
— How well the Curriculum has succeeded
in developing these skills and attributes.
26. In this model, the vital questions are
not "what subjects should we teach at school?" and "how
intelligent are our young people?, but "what do we hope to
achieve by teaching young people?" and "how are young
people intelligent"?
27. We also need to find new ways to teach
young people—or more accurately, new or better ways to help
them learn. We are not against knowledge-based education—far
from it—but as we have said already, we believe practical
learning should be a key part of the whole curriculum, for all
young people. Young people should be given the opportunity to
find out for themselves where their talents and interests lie,
so that they can make well-informed choices about future learning
and careers. Many will still choose an academic path to success.
Others will discover that their talents lie elsewhere.
28. Further, the responsibility for helping
young people find and develop their talents should be shared not
just by teachers and parents, but by employers and other experts
from outside education who can help bring learning to life by
putting it into a real-world context. Many people who are not
teachers have skills and abilities which can add richness, context
and variety to the National Curriculum. In terms of "learning
by doing", employers represent the single greatest resource.
29. A move to more practical learning in
and beyond the classroom has profound implications for assessing
progress and achievement. Traditional written exams will not capture
progress in developing skills such as leadership, teamwork and
creativity, nor the readiness of a young person to move on to
further or higher education or the world of work at the end of
their time at school. We will not develop this point further,
as the Committee is already conducting an inquiry into testing
and assessment.
30. There are also significant implications
for teacher training and development. All initial teacher training
should enable newly-qualified teachers to value and embed practical
learning in the classroom. It should also explain the role which
employers and other experts can play in enriching education. Similarly,
practical learning and employer engagement should be a key aspect
of continuous professional development programmes for teachers
and school leaders.
31. As we have already said, we believe
the structure of the National Curriculum limits young people's
options. This is particularly true in the transition between Key
Stage 3 and Key Stage 4, where many young people opt for subjects
they already know. A greater breadth of experience, more visits
to other providers (particularly FE colleges) and the workplace
would help young people develop a better understanding of the
options open to them. This needs to be reinforced by excellent,
objective information, advice and guidance for all young people.
Again, this is not central to the Committee's current inquiry
and we will not develop the point further here.
CONCLUSION
32. There is compelling evidence that we
are doing many young people a massive disservice. They are required
to follow a largely knowledge-based curriculum which many find
dull, difficult and largely irrelevant. Furthermore, the testing
regime demoralises many: they start to see themselves as "thick"
because they don't achieve high marks. This triggers a vicious
circle—why try to do your best if your best is always judged
mediocre? Among young people who achieve average or better marks,
there is a strong tendency to guide them towards further academic
study even if they might be happier, or achieve even better results,
by pursuing practical or vocational learning.
33. We should not be asking "how intelligent
are our young people?", but "how are they intelligent?".
Their intelligence may lie in practical skills, in sport, in enterprise
or in creativity. They may have a latent ability to lead others.
Far too often, these talents lie hidden and undiscovered because
our present approach to education fails to bring them to the fore.
34. Edge believes the current system is
out-dated because it focuses largely on traditional, knowledge-based
subjects and the ability to do well in written exams. If we stick
with what we've got, we will never break the cycle of underachievement
and disaffection which leads so many young people to drop out
of education at the first opportunity, and we will continue to
deny real choice to many academically-able young people who do
not realise they have a choice.
35. We need an education system that enables
all young people to discover what they are good at, what interests
them and who they want to be in life; and we have to give them
the skills and confidence to succeed. In particular, we believe
there is a huge unmet need for practical, hands-on learning, working
with experts from outside school, and combining theory with practice.
We believe a new curriculum is needed: an aims-based curriculum
that will enable young people to find answers to two vital questions:
— What do I want to be in life?
The reward will be a massive improvement in
young people's—
— motivation—because they
will have a better understanding of the relevance of what they
learn;
— aspiration—because they
will have seen and heard about learning and career options at
first hand, not second or third hand; and
— skills and confidence—because
they will develop skills which are vital in the workplace, in
further and higher education, and in life.
March 2008
7 Professor John White: "The Aims of School Education",
IPPR 2005. Back
8
Nick Foskett, Martin Dyke and Felix Maringe, School of Education,
University of Southampton: "The Influence of the School in
the Decision to Participate in Learning Post-16", DfES research
report 538, 2004. Back
9
Ofsted: "The Key Stage 4 curriculum: increased flexibility
and work-related learning", 2007. Back
10
Ofsted: "Personal, social and health education in secondary
schools", 2005. Back
11
Professor Andy Furlong, University of Glasgow: "Cultural
Dimensions of Decisions about Participation among 14-19 year-olds",
Nuffield Review of 14-19 Education and Training Working Paper
26. Back
12
Edcoms: "90% Participation Project: Desk Research",
DfES research report RW102, March 2007. Back
13
Nick Foskett, Martin Dyke and Felix Maringe, 2004, ibid. Back
14
Survey conducted for Edge by YouGov, 2004; summarised in the report
"Practical Learning: Challenging the Education System". Back
15
Ofsted: "The Young Apprenticeships programme 2004-07: an
evaluation", 2007. Back
16
House of Commons Children, Schools and Families Committee: "Creative
Partnerships and the Curriculum: Government Response to the Eleventh
Report from the Education and Skills Committee", Session
2006-07, First Special Report of Session 2007-08, HC266. Back
17
CBI: "Time well spent: embedding employability in work experience",
2007. Back
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