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: 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?