A Curriculum for Growth

Change evolving into growth

The promise of change dominated the summer general election campaigning. This has now evolved into growth as the concept for making everything better. Over the past 6 months change, certainly in terms of education and social care has become consultation. I know from my many colleagues in the education profession that we are desperate for change that is positive and leads to new systems and a curriculum that will give all those we educate the skills, knowledge and confidence to be a part of a positive and economically successful country.

I wrote an article for Teaching Times a few weeks ago as part of a contribution to the review or consultation process. My theme there was that it is to the systems we need to focus on to ensure that change leads to sustained and sequential learning that will mean all pupils succeed along their own preferred pathway. Reforming the curriculum – it’s the system that counts! The curriculum review must lead to positive outcomes for meaningful curriculum change that is linked to the vision for growth and prosperity outlined in the budget plans announced by Rachel Reeves. We will not grow without a motivated, skilled and highly educated workforce who can innovate, create, make and finish.

Radical reform was a feature of the previous Labour government. The Every Child Matters agenda, a new strategy for key stage 3, 14 – 19 reform especially Curriculum 2000 and the reform of A levels and the introduction of a raft of vocational qualifications in the quest for a more inclusive model of assessment so that all pupils could achieve their potential. The focus throughout was on skills linked to ensuring pupils could develop as independent learners, reflective and effective team players and creative thinkers.

Learning from the past – planning for the future

A great deal of funding was made available to drive the curriculum change and 14 vocational qualifications were introduced so that pupils who wanted a different model other than end of year 11 academic examinations could learn through practical application and a portfolio approach that allowed individual pupils to trace their own progress against a set of stringent and exacting standards.

I was very involved in the development of a CPD strategy to ensure the teaching profession understood the approaches and could plan and teach these new qualifications. I would argue that the prescription was too constrained and the mandatory nature of the need for CPD too demanding. However, the principles of a vocational programme for pupils who are not going to succeed having to conform to choices included in the English Baccalaureate are still relevant today.

A lot has changed since the early 2000s and this must be reflected in the decisions made about how we reform the curriculum. However, the current system denies a whole raft of pupils from achieving the level of pass grade that deems them to be successful learners. Creating qualification outcomes that are linked to vocational routes, provides pupils with opportunities to develop their practical skills in a chosen profession or trade which may ensure they are fulfilled, have self-belief because they are succeeding and are also learning and developing the skills we need to service the proposed strategy for growth.

The abandonment of the 14-19 agenda was total in 2010 and the new curriculum that then took three years to finalise was and remains academically biased. The exclusion of any arts or creative subjects within the E-Bac suite of qualifications, a clear message that education of our teenagers should be based on highly academic principles. A white paper published in 2016 by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, acknowledged that,

“Knowledge of great works of art, great music, great literature and great plays and other creators is an important part of every child’s education.”

A petition by a drama teacher from Essex which she called “Include expressive arts subjects in the EBac” attracted 102,000 signatures and triggered a debate in parliament in 2016. The debate focused on how important the arts are to our economy and how skills shortages where a feature of many creative businesses.

Creativity has a part to play across all disciplines and is critically evidence that the curriculum is indeed deep and rich.

“There should be clear pathways towards greater complexity, the development of deep knowledge and skills and pupils by the time they start a programme towards GCSE be able to work independently and collaboratively. They should have the opportunity to experience seeing artistic and design media in other contexts, learn to appreciate and be critical and share their own growing talents.” Glynis Frater Secondary Curriculum Design and Delivery

Education, education, Education

Tony Blair used the slogan education, education, education as part of his plan for the country back in 1997. I doubt anyone whichever side of the political divide they belong to would argue with the sentiments behind the sound bite. However, how we educate and what we include as part of a curriculum for the 21st century to ensure growth and prosperity is seen differently from the different parties. The stark contrast between what was there during the 2000s and what emerged in 2014 and continues now is obvious even to anyone not professing to have an interest in politics.

I feel strongly that we must look at the vocational agenda as a critical part of any reform. This is for several reasons,

• If we had continued with a vocational option at key stage 4 after 2010 we would have many individuals emerging over the last 15 years with a range of skills that would fill the shortages we have in all sorts of artisan professions, social care, engineering, construction and in many other areas that would help to service the vision for growth
• The opportunities for a more active and participative style of learning suited a whole cohort of learners before 2010 and led to them succeeding and feeling self-worth
• The portfolio approach provides learners with the opportunity to see their qualification grow over time. There is evidence of a growing acquisition of knowledge and a deepening of skills both in the vocational content and in the core skills of literacy and numeracy as well as the wider thinking and meta-cognitive skills
• There is scope to create sequential pathways through enterprise, the creative industries and practical work that starts in the primary school and that can be built on so that pupils have a range of powerful skills for life by the time they are ready to work towards formal end of school qualifications

The stakes are so high in relation to where we are now and where we need to be in the future. There are so many issues that only a deep focus on education and working with schools and their local communities that benefit from it can solve. The startling and frankly distressing statistic that half the prison population have poor literacy skills; the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training; the skills shortage that exist in many of our public and private enterprises and the fact that we continue with a system that only truly rewards about half of the school population at the end of each year 11.

The technology revolution

The pursuit of growth must never ignore the ongoing development of artificial intelligence, the societal changes brought about by social media and the use of the internet as a powerful source of knowledge and information. There is an existential threat from China and other emerging superpowers in the race of superiority over how we shape the future.

In order to ensure we are not left behind it is essential that pupils learn about how technology can enhance their learning potential and ensure they can develop a whole range of new skills that will allow them to participate in new futures not yet conceived. Whatever form change takes it must embrace the potential of existing and new technologies in shaping innovative approaches to pedagogy, blended learning and learner voice.

We also need teachers and their leaders and managers to have the skills and knowledge to support such far reaching changes. There is real potential in embracing technology in the pursuit of the systems change so that technology leads to deep learning, sequential pathways to future roles in society and is sustainable in terms of combating climate change.

Glynis Frater is the author of ‘Primary Curriculum Design and Delivery’ and ‘Secondary Curriculum Design and Delivery’. You can buy this book with a 25% discount UK25BOOKS.

She is a director of Learning Cultures Limited and writes and delivers CPD focusing on curriculum, coaching and quality in education.