Schools and Society Workshop Dr Len Newton April 2011.

Schools and Society Workshop

Dr Len NewtonApril 2011

AimTo develop PGCE/GTP students’

understanding of 14-19 curriculum developments and the implications of these for us as teachers.

Indicative learning outcomesKnow the current structure of 14-19

education and its originsExplore links between 14-19 curriculum and

its underpinning aims and valuesConsider the likely future directions of 14-19

education in light of recent reforms and reviews

Reflect on teachers’ roles in implementing and shaping curriculum reforms

Warm up activity - 5 minutes!Qualifications

conundrumCan you name them? Have you studied any of

them?Are they still current?What’s on offer in your

schools?

There are one or two distracters!

Paired activity – 10-15 minutes

Your experience of 14-19Consider your own experience of 14-19

schooling:Was it ‘mainstream’?What were the range of options available to you

at age 14?How did you decide on your pathway?

What factors shaped your decisions?What agency did you exercise in making choices?As the world is now, would you make the same

decisions?Supplementary activity: ‘Put yourself first’ [5

minutes]

14-19 and ‘policy churn’Contested territory!

14-19 education has been the subject of a lot of debate.

Which qualifications appear relatively stable?

Academic/Vocational divide?Does it exist?What does it represent?What are its origins?How does any ‘divide’ appear in your subject?

Nuffield Review of 14-19 Education and Training : October 2003 to September 2009An independent review of 14-19Key question:What counts as an educated 19 year old

in this day and age?

What is your answer to this question?

Nuffield Review: 5 demandsThe re-assertion of a broader vision of

education.System performance indicators ‘fit for

purpose’.The re-distribution of power and decision-

making.The creation of strongly collaborative local

learning systems.The development of a more unified system of

qualifications.

Nuffield Review: - about 15 minutesSummary hand outRead sections:

‘The Key Question’ ‘Overall Conclusions’

What is the groups’ viewpoint on:

a ‘broader vision’ of education

‘measures of success’‘voice of the learner’‘unified qualifications

system’

p3

‘Values shape all that we do and decide, not least in education. The values we hold affect our opinions…’

Going deeper

What ideologies and values underpin your own approach to education?

Activity: ‘Exploring Educational Philsophies’Use the educational philosophies audit tool to

explore your educational beliefs and values.How might these have shifted during the PGCE

course so far?

What is the range of beliefs and values represented in the group?

Going deeper…The next few slides explore the main features of each

of the four educational codes and offer critiques.

Source: Bottery, M. (1990) The Morality of the School. London Continuum Books.

Cultural TransmissionThis ideology attaches great value to cultural heritage;

education is seen as a perfect vehicle for passing a cultural heritage on to the younger generation.

Teachers are seen as guardians and transmitters of cultural heritage and values; pupils ‘receive’ the cultural heritage passively.

BOTTERY’S KEY QUESTIONS: This is a conservative ideology. Shouldn’t we be more critical about our cultural heritage? To say “we did it in this way in the past so we should do it in the same way now” is not socially progressive.

Child-centredA child-centred approach puts the child’s interests and

experiences at the centre of educational provision.

Within this approach, the child is seen as active and involved. It is through the child’s activity that learning primarily takes place. The teacher is more a facilitator of learning than an instructor.

BOTTERY’S KEY QUESTIONS: In allowing children to develop naturally, are we limiting them to their own interests? Is the focus on individuals more or less an abdication of social responsibility? Could each child become a law unto herself or himself?

Social constructionistThe aim of the social reconstructionist is to reform society

through education.

As in the child centred view, the teacher is seen here as a facilitator rather than an instructor but also a critical guide, and in some sense, a guardian of values from the past. The child is again seen as active, developing a critical identity through social interaction.

BOTTERY’S KEY QUESTIONS: Isn’t it rather too much to ask the teacher to be a social reformer? Why should a teacher have a moral right to be a social reformer? Might not valuable aspects of your cultural heritage be neglected in the passion for social reconstruction?

GNP CodeThis is an economic educational ideology in which the

school’s primary purpose is to provide a well-trained workforce which can compete in the world economy.

The teacher is seen as a trainer and transmitter. The pupil is seen primarily as somebody who needs to fit into the economic machine. Initiative is only encouraged if it links into an occupational destination.

BOTTERY’S KEY QUESTIONS: Doesn’t a focus on work-related skills and issues narrow the curriculum? Shouldn’t education be preparing pupils for a life which involves more than just the economy? Shouldn’t education involve some criticism of an economy-driven model?

Comfort break!

14-19 Where are we now?In 2005, the government published the White

Paper 14-19 Education and Skills, which set out a 10-year programme of reforms to transform the education system for 14-19 year olds in England.

This included proposals to reform the qualifications offer, such as introducing Diplomas, a new suite of qualifications, and the expansion of Apprenticeships. Phased implementation of the Diplomas began during the academic year 2008/09.

/Where are we now?In March 2008, a consultation document on

14-19 qualifications, entitled Promoting Achievement, Valuing Success: A Strategy for 14-19 Qualifications, was published.

This emphasised the complexity of the existing qualification offer and set out proposals to reform 14-19 qualifications in England, with the intention of achieving a more rational and streamlined qualifications system by 2013.

The picture in April 2010

Diploma lines plannedFrom 2008Construction & Built

EnvironmentCreative &MediaEngineeringInformation

TechnologySociety Health &

Development

From 2009Business,

Administration & Finance

Environment & Land-based Studies

Hair & Beauty StudiesHospitalityManufacturing &

Product Design

Diploma lines plannedFrom 2010Public ServicesRetail BusinessSports and Active

LeisureTravel and Tourism

From 2011HumanitiesLanguagesScience

Since the General Election of May 2010Removal of Diploma entitlement – schools free to

chosePhase 4 Diploma development in Science; Languages

and Humanities stopped (earlier ones continue)Extended Diploma development (equivalent to 4.5 A

levels) stoppedState schools can now offer iGCSEs in English,

mathematics, science and ICTReview of Vocational Education –Wolf Review (now

published)Schools White Paper 2011Review of the National Curriculum

Wolf argues that for between a quarter and a third  of the

post-16 cohort there is 'a diet of low-level vocational qualifications, most of which have little to no labour market value‘

among 16-19 year olds, at least 350,000 get 'little to no benefit from the post-16 education system‘

There have been 'well-meaning attempts to pretend that everything is worth the same as everything else‘

Wolf Review – key recommendations the government should ensure league table measures  do not give schools

perverse incentives to divert low-attaining pupils onto courses and qualifications that are not recognised by employers or accepted by colleges.

16-19 students in full-time education should not follow a programme which is entirely 'occupational'.

Programmes for the lowest attainers should concentrate on the core academic skills of English and maths.

Students under 19 without a good GCSE pass in English and/or maths should be required  to follow a course leading either directly to these qualifications or towards future GCSE course entry. Key Skills should not be considered a suitable qualification in this context.

Funding for full-time students aged 16-18 should be on a programme basis, with a given level of funding per student.

Employers who take on 16-18 year old apprentices should be eligible for payments, as they are bearing some of the cost of students with a right to free education.

Teachers qualified to teach in FE colleges should automatically be qualified to teach in schools (which is not currently the case).

The government should introduce a league table measure which focuses on the whole distribution of performance within a school, including those at both the top and bottom ends of the distribution.

Gove immediately accepts 4 recommendationsTo allow qualified further education lecturers

to teach in school classrooms on the same basis as qualified school teachers.

To clarify the rules on allowing industry professionals to teach in schools.

To allow any vocational qualification offered by a regulated awarding body to be taken by 14 – 19 year-olds.

To allow established high-quality vocational qualifications that have not been accredited to be offered in schools and colleges in September 2011.

Your views…?On the range and purpose of qualifications in your

subject? What does you subject association (ASE, NATE,

ATM etc) say? On widening the teaching force in schools and

colleges to include FE and industry professionals?On the need for all young people to pursue

qualifications in Maths and English?To ‘skew’ what is valued in educational outcomes

by introducing the English BAC?Your role as a teacher?Your agency as a professional?

Indicative learning outcomesKnow the current structure of 14-19

education and its originsExplore links between 14-19 curriculum and

its underpinning aims and valuesConsider the likely future directions of 14-19

education in light of recent reforms and reviews

Reflect on teachers’ roles in implementing and shaping curriculum reforms