What should schools teach now?
You choose!
Here are the GCSE choices my children will shortly face.[1] ?They must study seven:
And then they must choose three extra from among:
What to make of this??I had two reactions.?First, delight.?These are very similar subjects to ones I studied for O-level in the 1980s.?I obtained brilliant results. Never mind humble-bragging – this is the real thing! This means I can fearlessly go toe-to-toe with my too-clever-by-half kids over the next couple of years, and who are you calling a competitive dad?
But second – despair.?Given all that has changed, and all that we now know, and quite how little use I have had from my 17 years’ education, and quite how much I didn’t know that I needed to, why are we still forcing children to study subjects that have barely changed over decades? Surely we can do better?
What’s the point?
A starting point for that ‘better’ is to consider what schools are actually for.?The answer may depend on who you ask: there is a complex ecology of actors.?Here’s what they say they want.
The state
In 1976 Prime Minister Callaghan said[2] :
“The goals of our education, from nursery school through to adult education, are clear enough. They are to equip children to the best of their ability for a lively, constructive, place in society, and also to fit them to do a job of work. Not one or the other but both. […] There is no virtue in producing socially well-adjusted members of society who are unemployed because they do not have the skills. Nor at the other extreme must they be technically efficient robots. Both of the basic purposes of education require the same essential tools. These are basic literacy, basic numeracy, the understanding of how to live and work together, respect for others, respect for the individual. This means requiring certain basic knowledge, and skills and reasoning ability. It means developing lively inquiring minds and an appetite for further knowledge that will last a lifetime. It means mitigating as far as possible the disadvantages that may be suffered through poor home conditions or physical or mental handicap.”
In 2016, Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:?
“Education is the engine of our economy, it is the foundation of our culture, and it’s an essential preparation for adult life. […] We all have a responsibility to educate the next generation of informed citizens, introducing them to the best that has been thought and said, and instilling in them a love of knowledge and culture for their own sake. But education is also about the practical business of ensuring that young people receive the preparation they need to secure a good job and a fulfilling career, and have the resilience and moral character to overcome challenges and succeed.” [3]
From my experience playing Risk and a brief addiction to Sim City, I can also see that national leaders wish their countries to be powerful, and educated workforces can deliver economic growth:?“Overwhelmingly, high-wage states are states with a well-educated workforce. There is a clear and strong correlation between the educational attainment of a state’s workforce and median wages in the state”.[4] ?
Further, young minds are seen as impressionable, and so schools can be a way of inculcating values in favour of the state or even the leader of the day.[5] ?The UK state has been relatively light on explicit indoctrination: we have no pledge of allegiance,[6] or other required expressions of patriotism or fealty. But debates continue on what history should be taught, for instance.[7]
The school
The principal institutions tasked with educating are schools. Their websites might be good source for what they think they are doing.?Here is one example (all girls, state, Earlsfield, London):
“Burntwood school develops enquiring, informed and resilient women who are able to meet the demands of a rapidly changing world.
Curriculum: To provide a relevant and challenging education which enables all members of our community to reach their full potential.
Creativity: To nurture creativity in students both in the classroom and beyond to help build cultural capital and instil an enjoyment of life-long learning
Character: To encourage students to be ambitious, bold and independent, with a strong sense of purpose and a commitment to their own academic and personal development.
Community: To build a community in which everyone is respected and valued and where students have pride in their school and play a positive role in society.
Convention: To empower all students to exercise their inalienable rights as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.”[8]
Here is another (all boys, private, Windsor):
“Eton is a full boarding school committed to:
These were the two most different standard schools I could readily picture, but there doesn’t seem much between them in terms of purpose. I looked at a few others – they basically all say the same.?
The teacher
An ATL survey found that young teachers chose that profession because they wanted to work with young people, the variety, it’s fun, they were inspired by their own teachers, and they loved their subject.[10] I’ve not met a teacher that went into education to get rich, so I think there must, at least initially, be a substantial dose of philanthropy there, alongside the usual interests in paying the rent and putting food on the table.
The parent
Parents must make sure their child gets a full-time education.[11] Children must get an education between the school term after their 5th birthday and the last Friday in June in the school year they turn 16. Parents can be prosecuted if they do not give their child an education.
However, within that, according to a Bristol University study, “the school characteristics that parents most care about are: distance rank, negatively valued; academic achievement, positively valued; and school socioeconomic composition (the fraction of children from poor families), negatively valued. […] The results show that families do not value a school by its proportion of pupils with English as an additional language, or the proportion of pupils with special needs. The ethnic composition is also insignificant.”[12] ?The distribution of preferences does not vary greatly between different socio-economic groups; in fact, the distribution of preferences of the rich and poor almost completely overlap.[13]
The student
This is what the Department for Education says about the benefits of attending school: “Going to school should be interesting. Not only will you learn subjects but you will also learn new skills, including social skills. The skills and knowledge that you learn at school will help you now and in later life as you start work. Good attendance shows potential employers that you are reliable.”[15] ?
Anecdotally, (very) domestically, I encounter little enthusiasm for school, and I think all children prefer holidays to term time. Elsewhere, the position seems different, with young people more eager to learn.?In 2012, gunmen shot the 15 year-old Malala Yousafzai in the head for advocating that girls should be allowed to go to school.[16] ?The Taliban in Afghanistan are criticized here for not allowing girls into school, which indicates that they otherwise want to go.
UK children have no choice about attendance until the age of 16.?They have little or no choice of what they study until maybe 13. Even after that, the choice is prescribed by the relevant school’s offer.?While both the object and subject of the education, they have little or no say.?I couldn’t find any systematic study of pupil preferences, beyond a collection of vox pops.[14] This seems bizarre... Have I missed something?
What’s achieved?
The UK state spent ￡73 billion on schools in 2020-2021,[17] and OECD analysis put UK public spending on education at 3.9% of GDP in 2018. If private expenditure is included, then the UK’s total spending on education in 2018 was 6.1% of GDP.[18] ?
Across the UK, 83% of adults aged 19-64 have a National Qualifications Framework (NQF) level of 2 (which equates to GCSE) or above. This decreases to 66% with NQF level 3 (A level) or above and 47% at level 4 (first degree) or above.[19] ?What does this mean in practical terms??Regarding numeracy, UK levels of poor numeracy skills were recently described as “tragic” – by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.[20] ?In England in 2011, 22% of working age adults had a numeracy levels equivalent to GCSE grade C or above.[21] More than half have the ability expected of a primary school child.[22] ?How about you: are you feeling numerate, punk?[23]
In terms of literacy, a 2011 government survey of adult literacy skills found that 14.9% of adults in England have literacy levels at or below Entry Level 3, which is equivalent to the literacy skills expected of a nine to 11-year-old.[24] ?In England in 2011, 57% of working age adults had a literacy levels equivalent to GCSE grade C or above.[25]
If the modest goal is, for starters, to enable UK citizens to read, write and ‘rithmetic, we don’t seem to be doing very well…
Personally, in terms of practical use, ability with the English language, written and oral is something I use every day. Likewise, identifying, assessing, marshalling and presenting information: though now I tend to review rather than start from scratch. I need enough maths for household finances and some economic analysis. I haven't needed many of the other skills I formally learnt.?I have never since encountered a quadratic equation. ?In terms of pleasure, I read literature and history for fun.?I’m pleased that I can explain evaporation and tell you how Scipio Africanus defeated Hannibal at Zama (handy when confronted by charging war-elephants).?But is that really the point?
What’s really the point?
While Robinson and Abraham say education has no clear purpose,[26] I think it better to say there are several. I can think of seven. First is the usually unstated childcare element: many societies outsource childcare while their parents work. ?The state gains from parental taxes, while the parents gain time off. But it’s hard for the (typically female) primary carer to generate much income during the initial 6 hours or so of school time, unless they can afford to extend the provision via wrap-around care or other help.?However, whatever else, schooling transfers responsibility to the school for a few hours each day. Phew!
Second, social skills.?Corralling children with their peers for prolonged periods compels them to interact, and learn to do so in relatively peaceable ways. More optimistically, we make friends there independently, and can learn to cooperate in shared tasks.?Managing relationships is a vital human attribute, and school is where it first starts to happen with people who may have conflicting interests.?(Not that I bear a grudge, but I have not forgotten nor forgiven the individual who pushed me off the best playschool tricycle in 1972.)
Third, giving children skills that will make them more economically productive as adult workers – this was item one of the Minister’s speech.?But it looks as though we are not succeeding very well for most. See above.?
Fourth, qualification for more education or specific jobs. Let’s face it – that’s the real reason we students slaved over our books, trying to hit specific grades, to open specific opportunities.?
Fifth, social status.?More education and higher grades are seen as better than less and lower.?Some schools and universities are seen as more prestigious than others.?In a world of depleted aristocracy, education remains a key social differentiator (though there is more to it than brute grades).?Getting to the 'right' university may also be an effective way of finding a future high-earning partner, which could be one career path (a truth now universally not acknowledged).
Sixth, just maybe, broadening horizons and fostering curiosity.?This makes the liberal heart beat (and the bullshit detector twitch): “to make the best that has been known and thought in the world current everywhere; to make all men live in an atmosphere of sweetness and light, where they may use ideas, as it uses them itself, freely, nourished, and not bound by them”.[27] ?I love the sound of that, but looking back, the only thing I really was introduced to and carried on from school was Phillip Larkins’ poetry. It didn’t cheer me up.
Finally, preparation for independence and hopefully ability to contribute as citizens.?But the main thing that studying and sitting exams prepared me for was studying and sitting exams.?I could list any number of life skills that school taught me little or nothing about.?When I emerged blinking from 17 years of study to my first real job, I was confused to find that they really wanted me to be good at proof-reading and photocopying.?Sadly, I wasn’t.?In terms of citizenship, I would like to say educated, sophisticated electorates are harder to dupe, but I’m not sure I can back that up just now?(though I did like Burntwood School’s reference to the UN Child Rights Convention).
The education-industrial complex
If those seven purposes are right, why have we ended up with such an expensive, ineffective and misdirected system??I think the answer lies in incentives and agent-principal problems. In summary, schools compete for parents on their visible outputs, while relatively inexpert and inexperienced parents compete for places based on those same outputs. There is no necessary correlation between the visible outputs and an education achieving all of those purposes, and there are only weak pressures directing visible output towards useful skills.?
Competition between schools. Regardless of their mission statements, I think a better summation of school objectives is provided by Eton’s informal motto (not to be found on its website): ‘Floreat Etona’ or ‘May Eton Flourish’. Like states, like schools, like any institution, they have the imperative to compete, thrive and expand. ?Each school will make claims and deploy its resources to this end. But education is an ‘experience good’, ie one whose value can only be determined after the event – and the student who experiences it does not choose it. It may be that a school supplies a brilliant education, with cheerful, inquisitive, sociable and knowledgeable ex students – but unless it can prove it, it will not attract parents and their offspring.
Accordingly competitive parameters must be visible to be effective.??A school’s visible outputs are mainly exam results and infrastructure – so that must be where their efforts are directed.?In terms of exam results, it is more efficient for a school to concentrate on a limited range of subjects, become expert in their tuition (and most particularly on the exams by which the subject will be tested) and so generate good results.?The subject does not really matter: it may be directed or influenced by the government via the national curriculum, or by appealing to parents via familiar subjects.?But if a school can teach a subject well and get good results, it has few incentives to switch or innovate, and incur the associated cost and uncertainty of outcome.?
In terms of infrastructure, pretty, old buildings and impressive facilities attract.?State schools have more limited resources, so may not be able to buy the swimming pools, theatres, telescopes etc to act as parent bait.?As noted, while an excellent maths teacher only needs a blackboard[28] and a piece of chalk, the lesson itself is quite invisible to the anxious parent.
Schools also advertise: smart websites, open days and introductions.?Charming and impressing parents is an important skill for the public face of any school.
Parents compete for schools they perceive as better. As found by Bristol University, that that principally means more academic schools, ie ones getting better exam results.?The competition may manifest in competition for houses in ‘good’ catchment areas (producing associated house-price bubbles), tutors for children put forward for places in selective schools, practising religion to help gain admission to religious schools (‘pay or pray’), or by simply buying the education, if they can afford it.?
Since everyone has only one childhood, with limited and costly school switching opportunities, fretful parents are not price sensitive. ?In the private sector, this has led to above inflation fee increases over decades.?The 2019 ISC annual report shows that school fees have effectively risen by 5.3 per cent on average since 2000, or 166 per cent in total. In comparison, the consumer price index went up 65 per cent over the same period.[29] ?This shows that private schools have successfully (and occasionally illegally[30] ) avoided competing on price.?If anything, ‘cheap’ might be perceived as indicating low quality.
Some suggestions for ‘better’
It doesn’t have to be this way: the subjects that might once have been relevant no longer are. ?While schools can only ever compete on visible parameters, and eager/ concerned/ pushy/ wealthy parents will find ways of gaming any system,[31] we could try and focus competition onto subjects that might now benefit pupils. ?The world has changed since my school days. As I was growing up, my information technology comprised one telephone in the living room and a 3-channel black and white television: Channel 4’s launch was a major event.?
We are currently in a golden age of information: it is almost universally and instantly available and free.?With the right device (if you could only drag yourself off social media for a couple of moments, please) you can obtain a working knowledge of any subject in, say, 20 minutes.?From Lagrange points to Bob Marley’s toe, photosynthesis to the Taiping rebellion (well, what have you been discussing this week?) – it’s all available to anyone on-line, right now. Even real books now cost a fraction of what they used to via the pressures of the internet and greater availability of second-hand books.
The description of education as what remains when you have forgotten all that you learnt in school is funny.[32] But I think we need a better consideration of what we (tax payers, parents, schools, students) should be spending so much time and money trying to achieve, throw off at least some of the traditions of all dead generations that weigh like a nightmare on the brains of the living students,[33] and consider what our children could really benefit from learning.
So here is my suggestion for what a 21st century curriculum for 15/16 year olds could look like.?There is lots of stuff that I needed to know that I had to learn for myself, that might more efficiently have been learnt in school.?While some of this is implicit in current subjects, I suggest we focus on the things that matter, and be clearer why subjects are taught and learnt.?I set out some things I think necessary for all careers, and then make some suggestions about further optional subjects.
Necessary
Communication.?Everyone needs to communicate effectively. Apart for a handful of preternatural geniuses (and solitary authors),[34] all endeavour is collaborative. This topic could cover current English language and extend to different registers of communication (essay, email, text, slides…). There is a clear connection to foreign languages. IT skills are now as or more valuable than good handwriting. Oral comprehension and presentation matter.?Understanding, evaluating and presenting a verbal argument are key skills even if you are not a barrister (or living with one). See also ‘Judgement and Analysis’ below. Such communication must be tailored to the audience to be effective. See ‘Sociality’ below.
Sociality. ?No, I didn’t know that was a word either, but the subject is about how to operate in and with organisations (I don’t think ‘networking’ quite captures it). Almost all of us start off in one (the family), and progress through schools, and then learn how to operate in more complex organisations such as commercial entities or public bodies, with their distinct hierarchies, power relationships, and stake holdings.?Navigating and influencing is a distinct skill, and I think should be studied and taught.?Between this and communication, we could address diversity and inclusion.?It could extend to the institutions and frameworks we need to interact with to run our lives, such as renting a flat, buying a car, registering to vote.
Numeracy is necessary for any kind of economic life, to avoid a mugging at every checkout.[35] ?So basic maths still rules, and should cover the skills needed to navigate an economic life, from running a bank account and overdraft facility, to operating a credit card, or choosing a mortgage.?But I recognise that everyone has been saying this for ever,[36] and accept that numeracy for most is just hard[37] (and/or that financing for most schools most of the time is inadequate to achieve good numeracy levels – but that is a different point to the one this note is about).
Judgement and Analysis.?Crystallised knowledge (ie memorised information) now matters less than ever.?So much of my syllabus amounted to a memory test. But knowing how to find something out is now vital in an era of ubiquitous information, wrong information and disinformation. While inherent in many disciplines (I think history in particular), how to judge and evaluate conflicting sources is a skill key to any analysis.?This could usefully cover some basic philosophy – what is truth anyway?
Health (mental and physical).?Properly maintained, with some genetic luck, a UK life should extend to the high 80s and early 90s.?Knowing how to look after the human body should be an essential part of any education. This could cover diet, cookery, eating disorders, exercise, sex, pornography, reproduction, common diseases and conditions, first aid. It must extend to mental health, covering at least stress and depression.?Personal relationships may overlap with Sociality. Health is the most basic requirement for any human life, so should be central to the curriculum.?
Optional
A central human attribute is to learn from others and our ability to benefit from their work.[38] ?Education can open all our eyes, to who we are, what we have achieved, how we got here – and what we need to do.?Once students have mastered the essentials, they can develop in line with their interests and possible career goals.?All the subjects my kids must study are fascinating and challenging and have their place. ?Some are vital for certain professions and what those professions or the economy more generally demand evolves... The syllabus need to keep up.
I was planning to have more fun with this section, suggesting a broader GCSE range such as engineering, film studies, astronomy, politics, or ethics.?But it turns out that many of these are already available – just almost no one chooses them.[39] ?I think here those institutional (and private) incentives cut in, restricting space for delight, curiosity and innovation.?(Yeah, whatever – just get me the grades!)
Can we fix it? Yes, we can!
After all that, it turns out that I agree with James Callaghan that we should aim for “basic literacy, basic numeracy, the understanding of how to live and work together, respect for others, respect for the individual”.?But what that means must change over time – more than it appears to have done - and we need to confront the inertia that keeps students studying subjects past their relevance dates. In particular, we should adapt learning to our information-rich environment.?I appreciate that that “we” is lazy.?As a parent I have little influence on any one school, and policy and flocking behaviour means schools follow similar curricula.?As a voter, my influence is even less. Finally, this all depends on civilisation continuing as I know it: radically different skills may soon be necessary.?Now, where did I leave my bug-out bag?[40]
Acknowledgement: my thanks to Tim Brady, telecoms executive and cult author,?for inspiration and discussing an earlier draft. https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/tim-brady-868b966/
Disclaimer: as ever, all views are personal.
Footnotes:
[1] They derive from the national curriculum:?https://www.gov.uk/national-curriculum/key-stage-3-and-4 ??Recent candidate numbers are here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/results-tables-for-gcse-as-and-a-level-results-in-england-2020
[5] Fill in the usual totalitarian examples here.?
[7] https://inews.co.uk/news/education/gavin-williamson-british-history-decolonise-blm-reject-empire-451290
[10] https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2015/jan/27/five-top-reasons-teachers-join-and-quit
[12] What Parents Want: School preferences and school choice?https://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/cmpo/migrated/documents/wp222.pdf ??Page 22.?My maths isn’t good enough to understand much of this, but the conclusions were clear enough.
[13] Ibid p. 32
[14] https://medium.com/xqamerica/highlighting-youth-and-student-voice-high-school-b49e1058ba4d ;?https://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/jan/25/the-school-i-would-like-suggestions
[15] https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/articles/why-do-i-need-attend-school ?That is the full quote. Most of the web page is taken up with the consequences of non-attendance.
[17] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-budget-and-spending-review-2021-documents/autumn-budget-and-spending-review-2021-html#departmental-settlements ?See Table 4.2.?‘DEL’ means Departmental Expenditure Limit.
[18] https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN01078/SN01078.pdf ?According to the IFS only approximately 7% of pupils attend private schools: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/15672 ?See fig 3.?Fig 2 suggests spending per pupil is about double at private compared to state schools.?
[19] https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-and-training-statistics-for-the-uk
[20] Budget speech 2021:?https://www.facebook.com/GBNewsOnline/videos/budget-2021-numeracy-programme-to-help-improve-basic-maths-skills-among-millions/963638410858903/?__so__=permalink&__rv__=related_videos
[23] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38mE6ba3qj8 If you can successfully count to six, check your numeracy level here: https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/challenge/?partner_code=levels&utm_source=nnsite&utm_medium=levels&_ga=2.4972019.1339955153.1637917190-877155368.1637772692
[24] https://literacytrust.org.uk/parents-and-families/adult-literacy/what-do-adult-literacy-levels-mean/
[26] https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/08/what-is-education-for ?Great article.
[27] Matthew Arnold, Culture and Anarchy, Third edition, 1882, quoted by Minister Nick Gibb in his speech, above.
[28] I shall leave any younger readers to discover what that is for yourself.?Yes, it really did happen.
[29] https://www.ft.com/content/5e7e1704-1e5a-3fb8-b952-2716b4f4aff2 ?; refers to ISC report (see its fig 25) https://www.isc.co.uk/media/5479/isc_census_2019_report.pdf
[30] At times, via anticompetitive agreements/ concerted practices:?https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/independent-schools-exchange-of-information-on-future-fees ??The OFT found that 50 schools exchanged future fee information with the object of hindering competition. It made no finding regarding effects.
[31] There is plenty of good analysis available on the private vs state school debate, and the pros and cons of charitable status and abolition.?I spare you my views.
[33] https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1852/18th-brumaire/ch01.htm ?Everyone should know some Marx!
[34] See Wittgenstein at Skjolden https://thinkingplace.org/wittgenstein/ ?, but even he had visitors.?Or Newton at Woolsthorpe??https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/woolsthorpe-manor/features/year-of-wonders
[36] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/417613/Tackling_the_challenge_of_low_numeracy_skills_in_young_people_and_adults.pdf
[37] I found maths easy, then nearly impossible, then I gave up.?But explaining why maths is hard is itself hard.?The materials I found mainly talk about culture, attitude and teaching, and that maths cumulates in a way that other subjects don’t, but I don’t think that’s the full story.?https://senmagazine.co.uk/comment/295/why-are-some-people-so-poor-at-maths/
[38] I could never have imagined or derived Newton’s laws of motion, but I could understand and apply them successfully as a teenager.
[39] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/gcse-subject-content#subject-content-for-teaching-from-2017-onwards ??Have a look – I was quite tempted by a few.
Competition Enforcement Manager at Financial Conduct Authority
2 年Thanks for the positive comments! Hugh - I thought that one didn't need a fn. Brent - sign up - I think they can give you more challenging tests! Chris - right. I think we have reached a grim equilibrium in which students loathe the learning and teachers detest teaching the test - but the various incentives will stop that changing absent a major policy intervention. And those that set the curriculum likely succeeded at it - so probably think it's fine. Catch 22. Peter - a professional economist is going to need heavy duty maths (and hopefully you can get more out of the Bristol study than I could). I think the challenge is to ensure a sufficiently broad exposure so that kids get to try many things to see where their talents lie. Simon - you're welcome. Is the CMA looking for possible market studies? Why has entry and expansion not constrained fees? Private education is a major industry and there appear to be several features that adversely affect competition...
Enjoyed this- thanks, Mark. It is such a golden age of info that new thinking definitely required. Also, as a 'competition geek' at a regulator l personally appreciated the shout out to an OFT CA98 case at [30]. ????
MD & Co-Founder at Specialist Language Courses (SLC), providing outstanding English language, OET preparation, and communication services to healthcare educators, employers and professionals worldwide.
2 年Great article Mark - as ever. I also note that my teenage children sit at desks in rows in classes of 30+ facing their teachers who, for the most part, lecture them, primarily to give them the information and formats they need to get decent GCSE grades. Sound familiar to anyone attending school ever? Both my children and I - and many others I talk with - strongly feel we should move on from the standardised teach-to-the-test curricula and allow (and enable) students to take advantage of the vast amount of media-rich information, analysis, and comment available, so creating more varied, more personalised learning pathways which can be valued and assessed using the type of criteria you outline.
Expert Competition Economist
2 年Interesting though piece Mark. Just to note that, contrary to your experience, some of us comprehensive school kids have found quadratic equations and much beyond jolly useful in our jobs!
Leadership Development Innovator | Human Resources Executive | Career & Leadership Development | Coach
2 年Excellent suggestions for revising the national curriculum. Loved note 23, although the National Numeracy challenge was not terribly robust.