Michelle Obama’s tribute to the transformational power of education has probably done more than any policy change to motivate the girls she met in London last week. It wasn’t just her message – that being smart was cool and the world needed capable girls to take the reins. It was her manner. Confident enough to ad lib. Bold enough to defy convention and embrace members of the schoolgirl audience on her knees. Smart – and attractive -- enough to have a man like Barack Obama in tow.
It was a hard act to follow. But the same day in Scotland, Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop unveiled details of the long awaited initiative that should help Scotland create a small army of Michelle Obamas -- the Curriculum for Excellence. But compared to the First Lady’s no-nonsense advice the changes envisaged in Scotland sounded nebulous and vague and prompted a plethora of newspaper explanations the following day.
The idea is to make school education more relevant to young people and modern life, said the Scotsman. Radical changes will attempt to move teaching away from rote learning, said the Herald. The proposals will place greater emphasis on independent learning, said BBC online. Scottish pupils are to learn traditional subjects by applying them to the study of broad topics - such as flight, the oceans, or France, said the Times.
What’s certain is that mistakes in reading, writing and spelling will henceforth be picked up in all lessons – not just English. Literacy work will study abbreviated forms of English like text speak and help children decide when they are acceptable. Maths will involve personal finance and science will focus on the environment to make subjects relevant. Above all there will be crossover between discrete subject areas -- either the slippery slope towards teaching generalised twaddle, or long overdue acknowledgement that teaching subjects in silos has nothing to do with reality. History classrooms, for example, have long been covered with maps. Without some knowledge of geography and economics, it’s hard to understand why countries have clashed over borders, space and resources. But are teachers currently the renaissance men and women needed to confidently cross subject boundaries? A truly broad education is an admirable aim, but it demands a lot more of teachers than sticking to what’s ae been and runs the risk of producing pupils who are jacks of all subjects but masters of none. To read more - click here.
Comments