John Hayward Posted: 8 December 2008
Keywords: Education,
"If children are to be well prepared for the challenges of life in a fast-changing world, the curriculum needs to be flexible, high quality and fit for purpose ... Space needs to be created in the curriculum for children to learn the basics while schools are given the flexibility to provide them with the full bedrock of skills they need to progress in life."
Commenting on today's Interim Report of The Independent Review of the Primary Curriculum, authored by Sir Jim Rose, Schools Minister Sarah McCarthy-Fry is surely right to identify the need for flexibility in the curriculum.
Our problem is, without first defining the purpose of education, we are in no position to assess whether Sir Jim's proposals to replace all traditional subject areas with six new areas of learning† represent an improvement on what our schools currently work with, or indeed how they compare with any other recent set of education reforms.
Although Government white papers on education occasionally refer to "nurturing the holistic development of the individual", aims and objectives are usually stated in economic terms, with "the link between education and the economy" often explicitly made. For instance, the government notes "the central role of education and training as one of the critical sources of economic and social well-being in modern society" and defines its aims as "well-motivated young people playing their full part in society and in the economy," or "promoting the social and economic welfare of society, including the provision and renewal of the skills and competencies necessary for the development of our economy and society."
Is our desire to "maximise the personal fulfilment of individuals" - indeed, "that every pupil reaches the limits of their capability" - simply motivated by a concern that "Breaking cycles of underachievement, low aspiration and educational underperformance is vital for our economic future"? Is schooling simply meant to equip our children to become cogs in the national economic machine?
Should it not rather prepare both children and adults for life in their communities - local, national and international? If this were in fact the case, then a truly "holistic" approach would need to focus on character and wisdom, not just on "how different young people acquire knowledge and skills." It would also beg the question as to whether such purposes could best be defined and developed by the state or by families working together in community.
Having first defined the purpose of education, only then will any of us be able effectively to evaluate what kind of curriculum best serves that purpose. If the Government were also to adopt such an approach, perhaps teachers wouldn't so regularly have to face such a tiresome and demoralising cycle of experimental radical reforms.
† The six proposed areas of learning are: Understanding English, communication and languages; Mathematical understanding; Scientific and technological understanding; Human, social and environmental understanding; Understanding physical health and well-being; Understanding the arts and design.
Thanks for the article John. To me, it doesn't seem to be just economic concerns that are behind these proposed changes. Isn't it part of a broader pragmatism? - we place value on engineering, medicine, economics, the environment, computers, "lessons on financial planning" etc..., all things that benefit out lives (or at least, make it easier for us to continue to subsist), but I guess they are not the things most people would say best express our humanity, or define our identity.
History, religious studies, and music do not have such obvious practical benefits, and perhaps this is why they are being sidelined. I say this as someone who studied maths and science at school, and has consistently failed to master any kind of art or creative activity - but I do appreciate it in those who have, and am grateful for what I learned at school about the humanities. I look back with fondness when I think about knights and serfs and villeins and their systems of crop rotation, or of Robert the Bruce and his mythical spider, and to me this is part of what it means to be British - a shared knowledge of the past. Such things resonate with me in a way that, say, nomadic cattle-herding in the Sahel does not, even though I have no experience of either way of life. I am glad to have learnt something about the latter outside of school, but I don't feel that this knowledge has as much relevance to who I am.
Am I unusual in this? Can lessons on "why we must not have coal-fired power stations" inspire in the same way?
Stuart McGill 9 December 2008
Following an enthusiastic talk last night about various forms of pedagogy, I said to my wife this morning that I wondered what a study of scripture would yield about teaching methods.
I may have answered my own question to some extent but I then suggested to her that the curriculum would be where we started. I see above no reference to what scripture contributes to teaching methods (which I acknowledge are not the same as the curriculum). However a relevant curriculum and appropriate teaching methods are both significant in providing a valuable education.
Has work been done on a scriptural view of teaching methods? I am sure it would differ enormously with context.
Richard Cecil 17 December 2008
As a Christian and a school teacher, i am glad that Jubilee are encouraging thought and comment on education. I work voluntary for the Association of Christian Teachers and come into contact with a number of people who do think a lot about how our Christian faith relates to our work in state education. There are conferences each year for Christians working in education organised in partnership by The Stapleford Centre, Association of Christian Teachers and Scripture Union. There is also an academic Journal of Education and Christian Belief.
As for curruculum, pedagogy, philosophy, theology of education - there not an awful lot about. A Google search under \'Theology AND Education\' or \'Biblical Theology AND Education\' will usually yield results from American \'programmes of education\' or curricula designed for teaching in private Christian schools.
I purchased a book recently which is very near to a biblical theology of education. It is called \'Making Disciples - The Significance of Jesus\' Educational Methods for Today\'s Church\' by Sylvia Wilkey Collinson (publ.Paternoster). I will shortly be going through this chapter by chapter with another Christian teacher friend. Join us if you want? Another recent publication
\'Supporting Christians in Education\' by Trevor Cooling and Mark Greene (LICC) is useful to both the school, college or church wanting to help Christians in Education.
Websites of the organisations organising the above mentioned conferences are listed below for you. Here is a list of other titles of interest when it comes to Christian faith and education:
Philosophy of Education - issues and options by Michael L Peterson (IVP)
A Christian Vision for State Education by Trevor Cooling (SPCK)
Agenda for Educational Change ed. John Shortt/Trevor Cooling (Apollos)
The Bible and the Task of Teaching by John Shortt/David I Smith (Stapleford)
Indoctrination, Education and God - the struggle for the mind by Terence Copley (SPCK)
No doubt the Church of England and Roman Catholic church schools societies will have their own publications and views on education.
Personally, as an evangelical, i would rather my children become Christians and not do well at school, than do really well at school but go on to live an (albeit) successful life in economic and material terms but be lost forever. So an economic bias in the curriculum does concern me. And it concerns me even more that Christians whom i know have no problem with it, probably because they have allowed education to become their new idol that will provide the comfortable life of ease they are really after. Not kingdom values. Its going to take the really brave and biblically minded amongst us to stand up against the tide of secularism that is threatening the spiritual state of our nation\'s children and young people.
Do get in touch if you would like to discuss these matters further with me. God bless.
www.christian-teachers.org.uk (Association of Christian Teachers)
www.stapleford-centre.org
www.scriptureunion.org.uk
www.jecb.org (Journal of Education and Christian Belief)
Andy Langton 29 December 2008
I have just come across this blog and I would like to commend you all. I am just commencing a PhD in which I intend to consider the delivery of training to Christian ministry professionals (Ministers & Missionaries) asking if we can do it better. I am very concerned that at that level of education more emphasis is placed on the academic, 'scientific' approach to the departments of theology rather than a spiritual, holistic and character based curriculum. Sylvia Collinson's book is also proving to be stimulating and provocative for me.
Campbell Hamilton
Campbell Hamilton 4 November 2009