Recent scandals at examination boards begs the question; what are schools for? | Ben Gibbs
In response to the Telegraph’s investigation into the result of competition between examination boards in the UK, someone I follow tweeted the following question: “OK, so my son finishes his A-Levels and gets an A but a kid who had a teacher at an exam board event gets an A*. What happens?”
I looked for a smiley, but there was none.
How terribly sad, I thought, that we have a system in which a parent could so readily have swallowed the idea that a narrowly educated A*-grade student, taught to the test by a teacher who knew what was coming up in the exam and who therefore ignored everything else, might leave school with an advantage over an A-grade student, taught a more broad and rich curriculum, from which they were evidently able to draw down appropriate knowledge when required.
This raises the question about what schools are for, of course. I answered, somewhat flippantly perhaps, that the other child might win the in the exam, but his child would win in life. I’m not altogether sure he was convinced.
But what does it mean for children when parents, as well as teachers, politicians and chief examiners, are complicit in this highly restricted notion of what schools are for? What does it mean for children when the only measures that matter to everyone around them are the floor targets for A*-C grades and the EBacc?
Well, it means that they come to view their education through the very same reductive lens. Walk into any classroom full of 15 year olds, ask them what they are studying, and they will tell you the subject field (“history, sir”) rather than the object (“the relationship between the working class and the officer class in pre-war Britain, sir”). Ask why they are studying, and they will answer in relation to their exams (“it’s for my GCSE, miss”) rather than for the sheer delight of knowing stuff (“’cos I want to better myself and understand the roots of the society I find myself living in today, miss”).
Okay, so maybe that’s stretching it a bit, but more worryingly, the current paradigm also means that children are feeling the psychological, physiological and emotional stresses and strains that naturally accompany such consistently reinforced and high-stakes expectations.
As a parent of a three year old boy and a seven year old girl, these two outcomes of the current education system – a narrow, goal-oriented curriculum and stress – are things I wish to protect my children against, not prime them for. This is why they know I am most proud when his childminder or her teacher comments on their empathy, confidence, or happiness, or reports back that they’ve been caring, reliable, or helpful. I will strive to focus on these characteristics and other meta-cognitive skills as they grow older, hopefully strengthening their arm against the onslaught of public examinations and the inevitable years of preparation towards them.
Happily, through my involvement with Whole Education, I am seeing the beginnings of a real grassroots movement for change in an increasing number of our schools. By looking out, not up for guidance, a great many teachers and leaders in schools around the UK are beginning to re-focus on providing the sort of rounded, broad and whole education they came into the profession for in the first place. Indeed, only this week, I have been discussing the design of a ‘work readiness’ skills programme with colleagues at Ely College in Cambridgeshire, which has at its core the development of independent enquirers, team workers, creative thinkers, self managers, reflective learners and effective participators.
Of course, this isn’t to replace of the sort of rigorous academic grounding our young people need, but to support it. Whole Education wants to help young people get the very best qualifications they can, but to have earned them through being fully engaged in their subject study as part of a much wider and more engaging whole curriculum, and through being resilient, adaptable, motivated and happy independent learners.
This whole education approach is remarkably empowering for the schools, and will be invaluable to the young people themselves as they then go on to navigate their way through further education, employment and life. But I am also keen to ensure that it’s equally empowering to parents, all of whom know in their hearts that these skills and attributes are far more important to their children’s wellbeing than an A* in anything, and that critically, they actually give their child a far better chance of achieving great academic outcomes at school and through life, without the need for their teachers or exam boards to have loaded the dice in their favour.
Ben Gibbs
Member of Whole Education advisory board; Director, Restart-Ed Ltd; Governor, Ely College; dad!
