1. Give young students experience of life skills and careers.
2. Replace all SATs with individual student profiles.
3. At 14 let students choose a pathway which matches their aspirations.
4. Ensure all vocational courses are taught in excellent facilities by teachers with relevant real world experience.
5. At 16 students can specialise further or change pathways.
6. Vocational degrees endorsed by employers.
Posted by: Life Learner | 18.03.2010 10:56am
I think that there is some practical sense here. But there are some important pitfalls:
Firstly, SATs need to go. However, personal profiles can only motivate if they are linked to a perception of their intrinsic value - this must be appreciated by parents and employers alike.
Secondly, the world of work is constantly changing. It is less secure, more cutthroat, more service oriented than in the past. How are students motivated by working if it is sometimes seen as soulless and unrewarding to have a job? Small business can hold a key here - because it tends to be more personal. Small businesses may need incentives to add another layer to their operations. However, a small business mentality could help students find the motivation for creative energy.
Thirdly, throwing money into facilities and to recruit teaching staff from the wider world may help but governments have often failed to solve problems in this way. More 'mileage' is to be gained by reducing class sizes and by inculcating entrepreneurship into schools' ethos and facilities. School spawned businesses will be very stimulating educationally and will provide on-site work experience for students without the nightmare of organising work placements.
A change is needed - across the board. From the attitude of parents and other stakeholders in schools to the working community, there must be belief that learning and working are partners in the creation of greater satisfaction in our communities.
Posted by: Vicky -Anticelebrity.net | 14.06.2009 10:53pm
Wow- I think Edge makes a lot of sense.
As a twentysomething that didn't do the done thing -college/uni despite getting 5 A's at GCSE, I'd say I turned out ok, but find myself and many twentysomethings debating where we are now, to uni or not to uni, the quarterlife crisis... anyone going into education with Edge on board has masses of opportunities to fulfil their potential... that can only be a good thing!
Read my full article: http://tinyurl.com/n6m47k
Posted by: Edge | 16.03.2009 11:25am
One of the major questions emerging from this discussion:
How do we make practical and vocational qualifications vibrant and appealing for young people?
If Edge's 6 steps were adopted in their current state, would they make this goal a reality?
Or do they need to be tweaked?
There's been some outstanding ideas coming out of this discussion, so let's keep things moving!
Posted by: Arcticfox | 06.03.2009 09:49pm
I think the Edge Manifesto is a good start towards (hopefully) altering the one-size-fits-all approach towards our education system. Having worked in both education and employment sectors, what concerns me is the difference in approach taken throughout a child's life. At nursery education stage, children are encouraged to learn at their own pace, be spontaneous and creative, and be individuals. Emphasis is placed on them becoming confident and positive - the outcomes of the Every Child Matters framework, and the Early Years Foundation Stage, show how this should be in effect.
But at some stage in their lives (usually the crucial pre-teen/teen years) the school emphasis switches from individual achievement to overall school performance. It's suddenly as though Every School League Table Matters, not every Child. Because of this, a lot of problems stem from target-focused teaching. Also, inconsistent teaching - changes to teachers every subject/year etc - means that pupils are likely to be seen as one of a number rather than known as individuals.
This exacerbates the reality that not all pupils have aspirations by age 14, let alone be in a position to choose a career path. Pupils would benefit from mentors who can stay with them throughout their secondary school years and be well-placed to help with often difficult career decisions, and create Individual Profiles (rather than overburdened teachers), especially for those from low-aspiration backgrounds. This would benefit not just those who are gifted in practical and creative areas, but those who are academically bright but have little support from home (as was the case with myself).
I agree that there is some snobbery attached to the term 'vocational' and see no reason why this can't be altered.
Additionally, I think that all schools, whatever their focus, should be staffed by excellent teachers and have the necessary facilities and equipment to help give children and young people the best start possible. This shouldn't be an ideal, this needs to be reality for all pupils. I've come across academically excellent individuals who've gone into teaching and given up in difficult circumstances - challenging schools, overwork etc. The best teachers are not necessarily the ones with the 1st class degrees. Schools/LAs as employers need to realise this also.
Posted by: John Allen | 02.03.2009 05:45pm
I object to the implication that school is not part of the real world. It is for most teachers and for most young people. The more we make schools a part of the real world the better educated our young people will be.
It would also help to spell 'pathways' correctly on the main newsletter
Posted by: Marianne Talbot | 18.02.2009 11:03am
I left school at 15 bored to tears with what was on offer. Although I later came back into education, and took a highly traditional academic path I sympathise wholeheartedly with those who will be forced to stay on at school until 18 studying subjects that have no interest for them. far better that they should be encouraged into a combination of further education and work.
Good luck to you.
Posted by: paula binns | 16.02.2009 10:53pm
I can understand that the cirriculum needs to be changed but having a 15yr old daughter and 14yr old neice and talking to them i feel that 14 is too young for the majority of young people to know what they want to do once they have left school,on speaking to my daughter and neice they have said thatthey are not sure the subjects that they have chosen are now the right choice. As a parent i feel that it is good to be able to get diplomas whilst still at school but i also feel that the age for students to choose their subjects should be raised.My daughter has changed her mind several times,do you not feel too much pressure is put on these young people to decide what career path they should choose?
Posted by: J Lewis | 12.02.2009 06:54pm
I have taught in a fair number of secondary schools in Merseyside and have been upset by the way in which pupils have been put off the practical subjects which they had been excited to begin.
At Key Stage 4 there is an over emphasis on writing around a practical subject.
For example in Design or Food Technology pupils have to make something, but the joy they feel is snuffed out by the production of A2 sized portfolios in which they have to write about the thing they are going to make, the materials,the techniques and tools they'll use, the consumers, what went wrong, how can they improve their product, and on and on . Writing, writing, diagrams, diagrams. All very worthy and desireable but absolutely guaranteed to make the pupils hate the subject they couldn't wait to do.
Can't they have a totally practical course with assessments based on work in progress, discussion, finished product and verbal pupil assessments, with no writing? Enthusiasm and confidence would grow and maybe in a year or two, writing can be included if needed.
Posted by: Doctor Doityourself | 11.02.2009 05:32pm
It's about time the country woke up the were still following 19th century education practices that are out of date, outmoded and increasingly have less to do with the real world - hence the boredom and irrelevance. Time to wake up and get rid of the past, have a system that caters for and listens to learners and allows thenm to have choice and sho off their interests and skills instead of patronising young people. So why not offer greater flexibility and choice prior to 14 years of age. Go for it - make a change, get involved!
Posted by: Jacqui Udy | 11.02.2009 05:12pm
For too long A levels have been not only the gold standard but also the only standard that has been around long enough for an entire generation to understand them and their relative value.
It's time to de-politicise education and restore its cultural vocabulary. Drop the vocational, bring back professional; bring back polytechnics; drop the skills agenda which is totally non aspirational and give young people pride in being able to do things that academics have to pay for! bring back skilled craftsmen and women and professional pride.
The things that give us most pleasure and fulfilment in life tend to be things that we do and things that we make - not the essays that we write.
Posted by: joy etheridge | 11.02.2009 04:39pm
Working as a youth worker now qualified I am aware of issues that affect young people. Yes they too often think that the National Curriculum and teaching is 'boring' by teachers who feel no real passion for their subject or are not allowed to express it and yes too many young people often leave and feel failures because they do not fit with the existing education system.Or they leave feeling that education has not provided them with the skills for life let alone employment.Youth workers see this disillusionment on so many young people's faces.
With "education,education,education" (Tony Blair) and pressure for 'skills for employment' what about all those young people which are excluded because they are individuals with potential that others do not recognise and do not fit into pigeon holes? As we to go into a recession we need our young people to bring forth creative and innovative ideas that are to grow from the scorched earth of global capitalism.
Young people need to be treated as individuals and not 'the problem', they needs have to be met. They are our future.Lets hear it for young people....let their voices be heard. Let them be a part of their communities, encouraged to get involved in lifelong learning skills. Education should be enjoyable....let us get real and not engage in further rhetoric
Posted by: Anonymous | 11.02.2009 04:10pm
It's time to dump the V Word. Replace with the P word:
Professional Qualifications
Posted by: Ray Baum | 11.02.2009 02:29pm
I am an architect and my wife manages a university student centre. Our three children went to university and have good jobs.
My wife's nephew Tony grew up in strained circumstances, with ill educated parents. He has very little education and is unemployed. So is his son. How do we stop another generation following in their footsteps?
I don't know, but I suspect it starts in eradicating poverty, identifying families at risk, tailoring individual help in lifetime skills and providing the very best education in the most deprived areas.
Your programs are excellent.
Posted by: Dave KAYLL | 11.02.2009 01:43pm
My schooling was a happy one.It had a bias towards academia and as I said,I was happy,but it did not provide me with the proper tools to accomodate the world I would be expected to enhabit and contribute to.
The banking system is a perfect example of this.Do you honestly think that bankers would of wanted all to have a broad understanding of what they were up to?.No.But now we have the chance to make something as important as your finances part of the cariculum.Find peoples strengths and focus on them and not bring people down by suggesting they are inferior if they do not develop or have no aptitude for a certain subject.Case in point,the extra maths lessons I had.I should of been given extra Art lessons instead.As I'm now a Portrait Painter not a Mathmatition and never likely to be either.
We only get one life and our education should be a first step towards a rewarding and fruitful existance.Not some boring,detention centre to keep children off the streets,that will set them back from their future as opposed to propelling them forward into it.Help make teaching easier for those who still do it too.Maybe school will be a desirable destination then for children and not a chore.
"Make it Relavent and the Children will Make it!"
Good Luck DAVE KAYLL
Posted by: anon | 11.02.2009 12:55pm
Why say 'vocational'? You plunge straight into the old 'parity of esteem' problem, and you can't win it. Why not 'career-related'? Many of the more modern universities offer highly career-related degree courses - such as Strategic Logistics - but you'd do their student numbers no favours if you labelled them as 'vocational degrees'. We need to offer pathways for career-minded young people (as well as learning styles and qualifications attractive to young people who find traditional classroom learning a bore).
Posted by: Anonymous | 11.02.2009 10:52am
In Bristol we run a progarmme for all year 5 (Theatre event with employers) and year 6 (employers volunteering into school)The programme is based on research showing lack of awareness being the cause of low aspiration/attainment. We have measured success but there is still a potential void of information and activity for these children to cross at KS3 before the potential of Diplomas at KS4. Is anyone else running a Local Authority wide programme from 9 to 13?