understanding

Four things…

 Ideas  No Responses »
Nov 132012
 

So what are the four curriculum ‘things’ we need government education departments to be clear on?

1 – The Functional stuff.  How to add up, communicate, operate a computer, calculate the size of a carpet and balance your cheque book… er.. online bank account.

2 – The Social Stuff. The stuff that defines the Englishness, Welshness, Scottishness, Britishness of our society.  This would be Citizenship, Civics, PSHE, Shakespeare, RE and the like.

3 – The Stuff employers want.  This is a little harder but it is the essential stuff that makes learners employable.  It’s more likely to be the likes of project management, customer satisfaction, creativity, attention to detail and problem solving, but might also include some subjects like English, Maths, Science, MFL and so on.  Maybe there are two routes here?

4 – The stuff learners want.  This might be the stuff to get them to FE or HE as well as the stuff that burns their interest and focusses their passion. It might be subjects, maths, physics, chemistry, music and art.  But it might also be engineering, robotics, computer gaming/programming/hacking, agriculture, plumbing or tap dancing.

So what proportion of each and in what school and when?

Art fears business fears art… Seth Godin

 Ideas  No Responses »
Jul 092012
 

Here’s an interesting thing.  I don’t know if you have heard of Seth Godin, he’s a marketeer/business guru based in the US who always has something interesting and challenging to say.  In this piece from his blog he makes a good point about personal perspective from an art and business point of view.  But is it stereotype or archetype?

In the UK at the moment we are seriously close to losing art and creativity from the school curriculum, but are we serving business?  From what Seth is saying here creativity might be the key to business success.  I think that’s what many people have been saying for a while.  What do you think?

Briefing – Episode 31, National curriculum r r r rethink

 Policy  2 Responses »
Dec 202011
 

The Framework for the National Curriculum was published on the first Monday of the Christmas Holidays and might not have the happy Christmas cheer teachers were hoping for.  You can find the document by clicking here. It does two things, firstly it sets out the work done so far and confirms our fears that Thomas Gradgrind has an office in the Department for Education.

“Now, what I want is, facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children. Stick to Facts, sir!” – Hard Times, Charles Dickens 1854

Steven Twigg has offered cross party support on the curriculum, which is deeply troubling.

On a plus side this is great news for Academies, who are in the best position to truly provide their learners with an education for the future by having nothing to do with the National Curriculum.  40% of schools are already academies, perhaps a few more will cross the floor if these suggestions become the basis of the next education act.

Let us know what you think and please do subscribe here or over on YouTube.

Briefing – Episode 28, The quality of teaching: Ofsted’s 11, part 1

 Inspection  No Responses »
Dec 072011
 

The draft inspection framework has been out  since September 2011 so you are probably aware of it by now.  It’s not a horrible document, but as ever it is all about interpretation and implementation.  Once inspections get under way we’ll be after feedback so do let us know your experiences at info@astartog.co.uk and do subscribe.

Briefing – Episode 11, Word processors

 Personal Productivity, Technology  1 Response »
Oct 052011
 

Free yourself from Microsoft Word! – by using Microsoft Notepad and Microsoft Wordpad.  I guess we’re not anti – Microsoft after all. The key is to try and use the best tool for the job you are trying to do at any particular time.  When you are taking notes in a meeting, notepad or Wordpad might be better for their ease of use that Word, with all its styling and layout sophistication.

See Briefing 26 for Microsoft Word top tips.  Let us know your top tips as well by emailing us at info@astartog.co.uk and do please subscribe.