Educators: turning the clock back

So there’s this company learndirect, and it says it’s “a truly national provider […] with 400 delivery locations”, which apparently gives it “the largest geographical footprint in the sector”. And it’s done some research which is a bit quirky, so that’s a bit of a different read. But as for the conclusion…

Well let’s not jump the gun. First things first. The research establishes that children in the Victorian era learned skillls at school which would suit the kind of jobs they were likely to take. Learn Direct says that in 1851 pupils were taught how to do housework, agriculture, knitting and shoemaking – which relected the kinds of occupations they were likely to go in to.

On the other hand, in 2011 London workers were active in wholesale and retail, health and social work and education – as well as financial, banking and insurance activities, which were common in 1851 too. And 2011’s pupils are learning… what, that will prepare them for these careers?

Dereth Wood, Director of Learning, Policy and Strategy at learndirect, explains the company’s thinking: “In today’s competitive and pressurised business world, employers are crying out for problem solving skills and people who can analyse information and make decisions. More time needs to be spent on learning these crucial workplace skills which will enable people to access the top jobs of tomorrow.”  That’s “top” jobs.

And that’s where quirky turns into bizarre.

Dereth Wood continues: “With the rise of academies and free schools which can set their own curriculums there are now more opportunities to ensure young people are leaving schools with the skills employers are looking for.” Hang on. If these skills are so important, why aren’t we concentrating on getting them into the national curriculum?

There’s no answer to that – but we can look at the five key recommendations which learndirect makes.

1.  Split the maths curriculum in England – Two separate but linked maths qualifications should be offered at 14-16, including a full and comprehensive maths GCSE for those who want to progress in the discipline and a second, more practical, maths qualification.
So the maths recommendation is clearly not about getting all pupils to learn more maths: it’s let the most mathematically minded and the best taught fly away with their maths GCSE, while the others are swept down into the practical qualification.

2.  Offer Functional Skills as an ‘equal’ alternative to GCSE for young people who continue to study maths and English post 16.  Where appropriate young people who do not achieve a GCSE grade C or better should have the option to study Functional Skills as a standalone qualification.
It’s not easy to work out what on earth this means, but “functional skills” doesn’t exactly sound like the kind of qualification that will get you into the top jobs.

3.  Greater focus on vocational pathways.  For those young people who want to pursue a vocational career, having an awareness and understanding at an early age of the priority and emerging sectors in a local area is key and education provision must reflect this local and often changing demand.
In other words, decide early if you’re going into a vocational job rather than one that needs academic qualifications.

4.  Work experience matters: Every young person should have the opportunity to undertake a period of work experience during their compulsory education.
Young people are generally getting two weeks of work experience already. The problem is not the lack of a temporary insight into the world of work: it’s making that work experience meaningful, rewarding and relevant and integrated into school education.

5.  Greater use of technology in teaching and learning:  Technology has a key role to play in increasing demand for numeracy (and literacy) and developing self motivated, confident learners – with the potential to enhance the delivery of teaching and learning in schools.
That sounds very attractive if you’re in the education IT business, or if you’re trying to make education cheaper by cutting down on or out teachers.  However, pupils are not baked beans tins who can all be treated the same. While IT can help pupils practise by rote, they cannot substitute for a qualified, human teacher who can engage pupils in the subject and pick up on pupils’ pastoral needs too.

That’s what happens when you put education in private hands. In other words, to get pupils into contemporary top jobs, you begin to separate out the pupils on their chosen pathways as early as possible: divide the class to teach them about the class divide, you might say.