Beyond knowledge to understanding

and skills

ELT3 October 2011

We are preparing youngpeople for jobs thatdon’t yet exist…

requiring technologiesthat haven’t yet beeninvented…

to solve problems ofwhich we are not yetaware.

‘Curriculum for Excellence’ is Scotland’s educational response to global change.

The ‘Instructionist’ model of schooling

The aim of schooling is to transfer knowledge

Knowledge consists of facts and simple procedures

Success can be assessed by testing pupils’ possession of knowledge

The Harvard Cognitive Revolution

The cognitive revolution was “an all-out effort to establish meaning as the central concept…. Its aim was to discover and to describe formally the meanings that human beings created out of their encounters with the world, and then to propose hypotheses about what meaning-making processes were implicated.”Jerome Bruner: Acts of meaning

“Education is what remains when we have forgotten all that we have been taught.”

George Savile, Marquis of Halifax (1633-1695)

The central concept is ‘deep

learning’

involving

1. Constructivist pedagogy

2. Focus on understanding

3. Capacity to apply learning

4. Development of skills5. Creativity

Exponential growth in useful knowledge

Changing skill requirements

Over time all skill levels are rising but the proportion of higher level skills within the distribution is also rising.

Primary school is where you are taught to read, write and count.

Skills in the post-elementary curriculum

Conjugating French verbsSolving quadratic equationsApplying Boyle’s LawBall controlReading music

Skills in the post-elementary curriculum -

key questionsTransferability?Relevance?Vocational utility?Progression?

Foresight– The World in 2020

The transition to the knowledge-based economy requires individuals to adopt new skills, knowledge and attitudes:

Innovative and creative thinking

The ability to cross boundariesAdaptability and flexibility

Sound analytical and critical thinking

Problem solving

Self-management and personal development

Core skills including technological literacy

Cognitive TaxonomyCreation

Systems Thinking

Evaluation

Synthesis

Analysis

Application

Understanding

Knowledge/Information

Higher Order Skills Excellence Group

Personal qualities -prerequisites for skills

developmentAttentionMotivationPersonal resourcesSelf-beliefReflection

Student inclusion

Curriculum, instruction and assessment

Teacher quality

Work organisation

Teacher evaluation and accountability

Teacher policiesTeacher policiesThe past The most effective systems

Transformational changeA transformed education service would be - Intellectually ambitious and culturally rich Capable of tackling socio-economic

disadvantage Able to relate knowledge, understanding

and skill Focused on intrinsic motivation Informed by a strong learner/customer

focus Organisationally and technologically

sophisticated Eclectic in its delivery methods