While reformers (now even many Tories)  continue to emphasise education’s potential role in challenging inequalities  through expanding opportunities,   radical practitioners go further and argue an alternative curriculum is necessary.   Here they are have been joined by left wing academics , who influenced by the  writings of Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci or, in this country, by the work … Continue reading Reforming the Curriculum →

As the chart shows, recent years have seen an increase in the number of children being educated outside of the school system - 48,000 In 2016-17, up from about 34,000 in 2014-15. Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 provides that: “The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive … Continue reading What future for ‘home education’? →

Valerie Coultas takes issue with the view that teaching is improved  by extensive supervision and imposed lesson observations. Instead she argues for a return to and enhancement of collaborative teaching approaches to re-establish the principle that teachers and lecturers are able and willing to reflect on their practice without fear of sanctions. She  argues that … Continue reading How teaching can be different →

In a widely reported speech to  the think-tank Centre Forum,  Ofsted chief Michael Wilshaw has slammed the  ‘One-size-fits-all’ emphasis on traditional academic subjects by secondary schools, declaring that this ‘will never deliver the range of success that their youngsters need’ https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/ambitions-for-education-sir-michael-wilshaw   Wilshaw is not promoting a more student friendly type of learning though, far from it … Continue reading Academic education for some. Vocational courses for the others. Wilshaw’s answer to ‘One size fits all’ →

Martin Allen Michael Gove’s new National Curriculum requirements might have been finalised, but the debate about what young people should learn and how; must continue. If there is an area where Gove is both weak and wobbly, then it continues to be on the curriculum, where he has made a series of retreats, if not … Continue reading Curriculum campaigns must go on. →

Since becoming education minister, Gove has largely concentrated on  reforming  the academic curriculum, introducing an English Baccalaureate made up of five traditional curriculum areas, arguing that  A-levels have  to be made harder,  trying to reintroduce O-levels and so on. Though claiming  changes have to be made to bring the British education system more in line … Continue reading Gove, Lord Baker and vocational learning →

Valerie Coultas  examines another aspect of Gove's curriculum offensive Education Minister, Michael Gove, believes that educational policy has been in thrall to progressives and who believe that ‘children should be left to discover at their own pace to follow their own hearts'. Gove has a rigid rather than a rigorous approach and that he is opposed … Continue reading English questions →