We believe we need to revolutionise the education system to include more practical and vocational learning. In today's job market it's skills that count. Tell us how you would improve the way young people learn and what they learn.
Posted by: Iftikhar Ahmad | 16.07.2010 12:26pm
Free Our Schools
Almost all children now believe they go to school to pass exams. The idea that they may be there for an education is irrelevant. State schools have become exam factories, interested only in A to C Grades. They do not educate children. Exam results do not reflect a candidate’s innate ability. Employers have moaned for years that too many employees cannot read or write properly. According to a survey, school-leavers and even graduates lack basic literacy and numeracy skills. More and more companies are having to provide remedial training to new staff, who can’t write clear instructions, do simple maths, or solve problems. Both graduates and school-leavers were also criticised for their sloppy time-keeping, ignorance of basic customer service and lack of self-discipline.
Bilingual Muslims children have a right, as much as any other faith group, to be taught their culture, languages and faith alongside a mainstream curriculum. More faith schools will be opened under sweeping reforms of the education system in England. There is a dire need for the growth of state funded Muslim schools to meet the growing needs and demands of the Muslim parents and children. Now the time has come that parents and community should take over the running of their local schools. Parent-run schools will give the diversity, the choice and the competition that the wealthy have in the private sector. Parents can perform a better job than the Local Authority because parents have a genuine vested interest. The Local Authority simply cannot be trusted.
The British Government is planning to make it easier to schools to “opt out” from the Local Authorities. Muslim children in state schools feel isolated and confused about who they are. This can cause dissatisfaction and lead them into criminality, and the lack of a true understanding of Islam can ultimately make them more susceptible to the teachings of fundamentalists like Christians during the middle ages and Jews in recent times in Palestine. Fundamentalism is nothing to do with Islam and Muslim; you are either a Muslim or a non-Muslim.
There are hundreds of state primary and secondary schools where Muslim pupils are in majority. In my opinion all such schools may be opted out to become Muslim Academies. This mean the Muslim children will get a decent education. Muslim schools turned out balanced citizens, more tolerant of others and less likely to succumb to criminality or extremism. Muslim schools give young people confidence in who they are and an understanding of Islam’s teaching of tolerance and respect which prepares them for a positive and fulfilling role in society. Muslim schools are attractive to Muslim parents because they have better discipline and teaching Islamic values. Children like discipline, structure and boundaries. Bilingual Muslim children need Bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods, who understand their needs and demands.
None of the British Muslims convicted following the riots in Bradford and Oldham in 2001 or any of those linked to the London bombings had been to Islamic schools. An American Think Tank studied the educational back ground of 300 Jihadists; none of them were educated in Pakistani Madrasas. They were all Western educated by non-Muslim teachers. Bilingual Muslim children need bilingual Muslim teachers as role models. A Cambridge University study found that single-sex classes could make a big difference for boys. They perform better in single-sex classes. The research is promising because male students in the study saw noticeable gains in the grades. The study confirms the Islamic notion that academic achievement is better in single-sex classes.
Iftikhar Ahmad
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk
Posted by: Chris Bentley | 02.04.2010 12:08pm
The first thing I would do is to take Education out of the hands of politicians. To have rank amateurs constantly interfering, and chopping and changing things, for what are debatable motives is a DISASTER. The last 15 years have been a very bad time for children and schools.
Posted by: Iain beg Macandrew | 10.02.2010 07:55pm
The perennial problem with teachers is that as children they go to school. As young adults they leave and go to college (primary school teachers)or they go to university then to college then they go back to school to teach. They have absolutely no experience of life, industry, commerce, or business! How can that possibly prepare people to teach? Where do guidance teachers get their information with which to assist struggling young people trough and guide them towards a career? I am a retired Electrical Engineer; my son is a Computer Consultant; my daughter trained and worked briefly as a teacher, worked in the community then studied again retrained as an Educational Psychologist so I do have a little knowledge of the topic! Let's have a programme between college and teaching in schools where aspiring teachers are required to spend time outwith an academic environment (not just a few weeks but at least one and preferably two years) to equip them better for their chosen career.
Posted by: Jon Gibbs | 18.01.2010 12:33pm
Inequality is inbred into the system. Parity of funding is the root cause of the inequality (as it is in society).
Until such times as FE and HE are funded equally all the rest is simply blather.
Posted by: 21st Century Trivium Man | 06.12.2009 09:34pm
I am convinced that the Trivium, suitably refashioned, can be the basis of a useful transformation of education, in this country. I have started a blog where I will go about working out how to refashion the Trivium for the 21st century. If you want to join in, go to my blog page: http://21stcenturytriviumman.blogspot.com/
and perhaps we can work it out together...
Posted by: Edge | 21.07.2009 12:49pm
The report identifying young people’s opinions on the Government bill to raise the participation age has now been published by the Edge Learner Forum. One of the findings is that young people learn best outside of the classroom and that there needs to be more opportunity for them to get out of the classroom and gain hands-on experience. As a result, the report is recommending more work experience in schools over and above the typical two weeks and more work-based learning courses.
Do you think more work experience and work-based learning is a good idea? If so, how and why would it benefit you? Would it help to keep you engaged in education for longer? Let us know what you think.
Posted by: Edge | 30.06.2009 11:04am
The Edge Learner Forum is about to publish a report looking into young people's opinions on the Government bill to raise the participation age meaning all young people will have to stay in some form of learning until 18 (e.g. school, work-based learning).
It would be really great to know what ideas you think would make raising the participation age a success and what are the key motivations and changes that need to happen to keep young people engaged in education until 18.
Posted by: Hal Austin | 29.05.2009 01:42pm
We must make teachers take more responsibility for their charges. Although teachers spend more hours with young children than their parents, it has become almost a joke that everytime something goes wrong the teaching unions and heads compete with each other to blame parents.
And, of course, since parents are not organised in the same powerful lobby groups, the popular press take those claims for granted and go on to blame parents.
Now we have seen the emergence of a culture of blaming parents and the rise of a movement for the regulation of parents - from the criminalisation of parents for their children's truanting, to the introduction of so-called parenting classes, middle class authoritarianism given the blessing of the state.
It is just a matter of time before young people are told that unless they attend parenting classes they will not be allowed to have children. Think of beliefs driving the reports on Baby P.
We had this in New York in the 1960s, the battle for control of the class room, especially with black parents, and the same thing has emerged in this country, especially the perceived 'threat' of young black boys.
Schools in inner city areas now routinely invite police in to the class rooms, along with social workers and other official workers. From their race and ethnicity, to their social background and DNA, children are now marked out to be the underclass from the time they enter nursery.
Of course, this is not the discussion we want to hear.
Hal Austin
Posted by: Edge | 27.05.2009 12:36pm
Despite their differing stances, the last 3 posts all seem to agree that it is vital for education to be delivered sincerely and seriously. Most of us would agree with James Reeve's point that standards can't be jettisoned in favour of low expectations and half-baked practice.
And, as Stan Dibben points out, it clearly works both ways, with students needing to take their own learning as seriously as their teachers.
But do vocational qualifications really lack the rigour of their more academic counterparts? As ever, standards can be subjective. While this isn't to gloss over the kind of poor practice that James identifies, surely it has to come down to the perspective of individual learners as much as policy makers. Do they feel that they're learning in a way that empowers them to forge a successful future? Self-esteem can be half the battle, after all.
Many vocational institutions cater for their students in a way that matches the 'real skills' Charles Beamish writes about in his post, with an ardent commitment to giving students access to detailed, 'real life' scenarios as a means of learning.
A good example of this is in Lewisham College, where students doing the 'Preparation for Cabin Crew' Btec diploma are taught to operate in a lifelike model of a plane fuselage, to plant their learning in an accurate context.
This approach is very much about education imitating life rather than focusing on more abstract concepts, and it's a type of learning more and more young people demand.
Can this sort of practical application teach ideas with the same depth as traditional academia? Can't we approach the Big Issues of our day and find solutions through learning firmly grounded in day-to-day reality?
Posted by: stan dibben | 25.05.2009 01:25pm
I left school at 14.I'm now 84. I have a son who is an Associate professor. I'm an ex world Champion motorcycle and sidecar racer. I wrote my autobiography at 83.
An e mail I recently received from Australia flatteringly said"this book should be in every school and not judged by it's cover"
Starting 40 years ago,lack of imposed discipline in schools is the main cause of sociey's problems. Until acceptance of this is learnt without rancour, self discipline is non existent.
If a copy of my book would be of interest, I will gladly send a copy FOC.
Posted by: charles beamish | 25.05.2009 11:43am
The practical skills I learned at school I still use. The reason is simple. I was at school in the 1940-50s. A Secondary Modern at that time, which meant I was not allowed to take any kind of examination. However, I was fortunate in being taught metalwork by a fully qualified fitter and turner, who taught nothing else. So we learned practical skills and actually made useful objects: a screwdriver, cold chisel, tinplate tray, brass toasting fork, soldering iron, poker, mechanics square, bull-plane and eventually a drill brace (like the Stanley brace, with pinions). This followed on from technical drawing and producing blueprints that we would use. So I learned to forge, braze, solder, turn metal and wood on a lathe, cut screw threads, drill, saw, file etc. Later, as a radar fitter in the RAF I used those skills, and still use them in my DIY.
Boys especially cannot sit at a desk all day but need to use their hands. But they have to be taught by men with real skills, so there is a real need to recruit engineers, and also to not only make full use of workshops but have the students make real things. We must get away from the Blue Peter attitude of sticky-back plastic and bits of card and use real materials, getting young people to appreciate the feel and smell of metals and woods.
Charles
Posted by: Edge | 23.04.2009 10:33am
This being a thread about changing education, it seems fitting to introduce you to the YOUTH COMMISSION- a movement to put young people's voices at the very heart of education.
If you're reading this then it's more than likely you can get involved. What's more, the project dovetails nicely with Edge's practical learning Revolution, so we know it's right up your street :)
Over 2009 the Edge Learner Forum will be working closely with politicians from the Children, Schools and Families Committee, to gather the views of thousands of young people across the UK.
The topic: The government's decision to raise the age of compulsory education to 18.
The Edge Learner Forum is committed to representing young people's views in this huge transition. By instigating vibrant debate across the country, a chorus of nearly 2,000 young voices has already been heard.
This feedback will be reported back to the Committee, and will hopefully shape the new policy at a grass-roots level.
But more are needed, and here's where YOU come in.
There are two ways to be part of the Youth Commission:
1- ~If you're between 10 and 25, we want YOUR views on the new education age. By completing the survey you can join the Edge Learner Forum network and be part of future projects to change education.
Just get on www.edgelearnerforum.co.uk, and click 'Do the Youth Commission Survey' NOW!!!
2- If you're only that young at heart, you can still get involved with this groundbreaking project. The Edge Learner Fourum needs websites affiliated with young people to host the survey, with an aim to giving as many as possible a platform to have their say.
This project is going to have a real impact, so please email info@edgelearnerforum.co.uk if you can contribute!
Posted by: Astreb | 08.04.2009 08:22am
Surely the ultimate point of education is to provide individuals with the ability to participate usefully in society and to earn a good living. What use is education if it never results in practical application? One of the current educational resources is BTEC qualifications which have the potential to provide almost all employment skills. However this system is only as good as its practitioners and institutional delivery resources.
The pressure from Government for statistical success from educational institutions is overwhelming the ability of teachers to provide a sound experience to all levels and abilities of students. Not all students can achieve academically but can excel practically. This was surely proved by the old grammar, secondary modern and technical college style of education of the past. In my opinion what we need is honesty in education and to ask ourselves "are we really supplying our students with the practical resources and industrially experienced teachers they need to use their theoretical knowledge in a job"?
Why are we messing about with "New Diplomas" when we already have good systems which just need implementing properly? I suggest this is just to pacify those parents who think that the term vocational means a second class education! Schools are currently struggling to implement the New Diplomas in yet another round of mayhem where some students are the unlucky "Guinea Pigs".
Let's put right what we already have and use Ofsted inspections to take an unblinkered, in depth look at our vocational provisions and resources, not the paper statistics which can be easily manipulated to gain favour.
More real employer engagement is the way forward I think.
Phew that feels better.
Posted by: Edge | 30.03.2009 05:04pm
Both posts here touch on a much bigger issue, one which has always shaped the education of young people in the UK and arguably continues to do so today: class.
One of Edge's central goals is to eliminate the chasm between academic and vocational learning, and it's a frustrating truth that this divide has for a long time also been synonymous with the opposition between middle and working class values and expectations.
As Hugh Joslin points out, there are still significant barriers faced by people from working class backgrounds when it comes to gaining access to certain professions. Recent research showed that white working class boys comprised the lowest achieving group at school, with only 15% gaining 5 'good' GCSEs.
Does the solution to this worrying trend lie in strengthening the vocational component of existing qualifications, as The Tank suggests?
Or would the presence of International Baccalaureate style components alienate practical learners altogether?
Posted by: The Tank | 26.03.2009 05:41pm
I think learning at the moment is a bit narrow minded and too focused on the solely academic side. I think children need to be armed with the broadest set of skills possible. This provides scope for more vocational learning in the school curriculum but I also think that an education should allow you to understand yourself and others more clearly and develop you as a person.
Their is definitely room for more experience in the work place in our education system because almost everyone who goes to school will end up there however I think Edge's manifesto for education overdoes this. I think that spending 10% of the school year in a work placement is excessive for every child in the country. I think 5% should be a maximum and that learning should be more broad.
The I.B. is increasingly common in this country and around the world and for me, it is a qualification which provides a broad spectrum of valuable skills and knowledge. It has a global perspective and it includes your basic curriculum of Maths, English, Science but it goes beyond that by encouraging people to consider who they are and where the fit in the world around them.
I think that if this were combined with the more vocational curriculum proposed by Edge, we'd be on to a winner. It's obvious from the millions of people who get bored by, or just dislike the education system we have now, that we need an alternative and I think it should be as diverse, enjoyable and flexible as possible.
Posted by: Hugh Joslin | 25.03.2009 11:02am
The issues raised in the Skills Commission report on progression of apprentices into higher education point to, but do not clearly state that the key problem is the lack of clear and seamless work-based pathways across all apprenticeship frameworks.
With the exception of engineering and ICT, where in companies that are signed up to them, advanced apprentices can see clear routes into higher apprenticeships and beyond, the work-based higher skills terrain remains patchy at best. The job that now needs doing is to engage employers, sector skills councils, universities, colleges, training providers, professional bodies, the National Apprenticeships Service and HEFCE to develop higher skills apprenticeship provision that provides as good a route for work-based learners as their full-time equivalents.
This goes beyond ascibing UCAS points to advanced apprenticeships because this is not about applications for full-time degree courses, it is about development of appropriate flexible curricula to meet the needs of employers and individual learners.
Lifelong Learning Networks were set up to open progression pathways into higher education to increase the 40% progression rate for full-time vocational learners. What is now needed is concerted work on a national and regional basis to open flexible work-based progression pathways for the 50% or so of level three learners who are either already in the workplace as apprentices or joining the labour market at 18/19 with A levels or vocational qualifications.
When this work has been completed, when expectation has been established with both learners, families and teaching staff, when learners are tracked it will not be surprising that what has also been achieved will be the opening up access to the professions to people from working class backgrounds.