pdf of professor alexander's presentation
TRANSCRIPT
STANDARDS, ENTITLEMENT AND QUALITY
IN PRIMARY EDUCATION
Perspectives from the Cambridge Primary Review
Robin Alexander University of Cambridge
CHILDREN, THEIR LIVES, THEIR LEARNING National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and Coláiste Mhuire Marino
Dublin, 4 May 2011
IN YOUR FOLDERS …
CPR Briefing: The Final Report
CPR Briefing: Towards a New Primary Curriculum
CPR Briefing: The Network
ALSO AVAILABLE TODAY …
Children, their World, their Education: final report and recommendations of the Cambridge Primary Review
FIND OUT MORE …
www.primaryreview.org.uk
THE CAMBRIDGE PRIMARY REVIEW: MINIMAL BACKGROUND
PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND
Student age-range: 4/5 – 11
Structure: Reception (ages 4-5), Key Stage1 (Years 1-2, ages 5-7) Key Stage 2 (Years 3-7, ages 7-11)
Schools: 17,205
Students: 4,087,890
Teachers: 198,200
Support staff: 172,600
Class size (average): 26.2 (OECD average 21.5)
The Cambridge Primary Review:
o is the most comprehensive enquiry into English primary education since the Plowden Report of 1967;
o is financially and politically independent;
o has sought views across a wide range of constituencies, and evidence from both official and independent sources;
o combines assessment of current provision with a vision for the future;
o has produced 31 interim reports and 41 briefings leading to a final report containing findings, conclusions and recommendations for both policy and practice, plus a companion research volume;
o has invested heavily in communication, dissemination, networking and policy engagement;
o has been strongly supported by teachers, educational organisations, politicians of all parties and eminent public figures.
CAMBRIDGE PRIMARY REVIEW: PHASES
1. Consultation and planning January 2004 - October 2006
2. Implementation and interim reporting October 2006 - May 2009
3. Final report dissemination October 2009 - September 2010
4. Building the professional network September 2010 – October 2012
CAMBRIDGE PRIMARY REVIEW INFRASTRUCTURE:
IMPLEMENTATION PHASE, 2006-9
ADVISORY COMMITTEE Chair: Gillian Pugh
MANAGEMENT GROUP Chair: Hilary Hodgson
CAMBRIDGE TEAM Director of the Cambridge Primary Review:
Robin Alexander
RESEARCH CONSULTANTS (66 in 20 universiOes)
COMMUNICATIONS CommunicaOons Director: Richard Margrave
THE SCOPE OF THE CAMBRIDGE PRIMARY REVIEW: THEMES AND EVIDENCE
EVIDENTIAL STRANDS Submissions Soundings Surveys Searches
PERSPECTIVES: " Children " Society " Education THEMES: " Purposes & values " Learning & teaching " Curriculum & assessment " Quality & standards " Diversity & inclusion " Settings & professionals " Parenting, caring & educating " Beyond the school " Structures & phases " Funding & governance
THE CAMBRIDGE PRIMARY REVIEW: REPORTS
October 2007: FROM THE GRASS ROOTS The regional community soundings (1)
November 2007 – May 2008: THE 28 RESEARCH SURVEYS
How well are we doing? Standards, quality and assessment (3) Children’s lives and voices: home and school (4) Children’s development, learning and needs (4) Aims and values (4) Structures and curriculum (3) Governance, funding, reform & quality assurance (4) Teachers: training, development, leadership, workforce reform (3) Learning and teaching (3)
February 2009: AIMS, PRINCIPLES AND CURRICULUM
Towards a new primary curriculum (2) October 2009: THE FINAL REPORT
The final report The booklet The companion research volume
THE FINAL REPORT: 78 CONCLUSIONS, 75 RECOMMENDATIONS
The overall picture (1-3) Children and childhood (4-21) Narrowing the equity and attainment gaps (6-8) Children with special needs (18, 21) Home and school (7-8, 14) Ages and stages: early years and primary education (22-31) What is primary education for? Aims, values and principles (32-37) What should children learn? The curriculum (38-53) How should children learn and be taught? Pedagogy (54-61) Assessment and testing (62-74) Quality, standards and accountability (40, 47, 53, 75–85, 150) Teachers: education, training and development (119–23, 128–31) Teachers: professional roles, expertise and deployment (118–9, 124–8, 132-3)
Teachers: leadership for learning (134-42) Schools for the community, schools and other agencies, schools for the future (86-117) Funding, governance and policy (143-153)
AFTER THE CPR FINAL REPORT: POST-ELECTION PRIORITIES FOR PRIMARY EDUCATION
1. Accelerate the drive to narrow England’s overlapping gaps in wealth, wellbeing and attainment.
2. Make children’s agency and voice a reality.
3. Consolidate the Early Years Foundation Stage and extend it to age 6.
4. Clarify what primary education is for and make aims drive rather than embellish the curriculum.
5. Replace curriculum tinkering by genuine curriculum reform; secure all children’s entitlement to a rich and balanced foundation for lifelong learning.
6. Reform assessment, redefine standards: ditch the dogma that there is no alternative to national tests.
7. Replace pedagogy of official recipe by a pedagogy of repertoire, evidence and principle.
8. Replace the government’s professional standards for teachers.
9. Review primary school staffing: ensure that schools have the necessary curriculum expertise to guarantee an entitlement curriculum, consistently well taught across all subjects.
10. Help schools to work in partnership, as communities, in communities.
11. Reverse tide of centralisation; re-think relationship between government, LAs and schools
CAMBRIDGE PRIMARY REVIEW INFRASTRUCTURE:
DISSEMINATION AND NETWORKING PHASE, 2009-12
LIAISON GROUPS DfE (government) Local AuthoriOes Subject AssociaOons Professional AssociaOons
STEERING COMMITTEE Chair: Hilary Hodgson
CAMBRIDGE TEAM Director of the Cambridge Primary Review:
Robin Alexander
CPR NETWORK NaOonal Leader: Alison Peacock Regional Centres (9)
COMMUNICATIONS CommunicaOons Director: Richard Margrave
RAISING STANDARDS IN PRIMARY EDUCATION: A CAUTIONARY TALE
THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT’S STANDARDS DRIVE 1997 – 2010 (ENGLAND)
o The premise: standards in literacy and numeracy have plateaued, with too many children leaving primary school barely able to read and write. So –
o National literacy and numeracy strategies o National tests at ages 7 and 11 o Targets for % of 11 year olds reaching specified levels in literacy and
numeracy o School league tables o National school inspection system: checking for compliance o National standards and requirements for initial teacher training o National professional development standards for serving teachers o Ring-fenced PD funding focusing on literacy and numeracy o School improvement partners checking schools’ test results and advising on
how to improve them o Extension of powers of / political control over national bodies
STANDARDS IN ENGLISH PRIMARY EDUCATION AFTER THE STANDARDS DRIVE, 1997-2010:
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT SAID
‘Today’s newly qualified teachers are the best trained ever.’
‘Standards stayed the same before rising sharply in the late 1990s.’
‘Primary standards are at their highest ever levels. This is not opinion: it is fact.’
‘Primary standards are at their highest ever levels … This huge rise in standards follows 50 years of little or no investment in literacy and represents a very good return on our investment in the literacy strategy.’
‘Independent inspections show there have never been so many outstanding and good primary schools.’
STANDARDS IN ENGLISH PRIMARY EDUCATION: WHAT THE PAPERS SAID
THAT THE CAMBRIDGE PRIMARY REVIEW SAID
PRIMARY TESTS BLASTED BY EXPERTS�LITERACY DRIVE HAS ALMOST NO IMPACT�
LITERACY DRIVE IS FLOP, SAY EXPERTS�MILLIONS WASTED ON TEACHING READING �PRIMARY PUPILS LET DOWN BY LABOUR�PRIMARY SCHOOLS HAVE GOT WORSE �
FAILED!!! �POLITICAL INTERFERENCE IS DAMAGING OUR CHILDREN’S EDUCATION �
AN OPPRESSIVE SYSTEM THAT IS FAILING OUR CHILDREN �SCHOOL SYSTEM TEST-OBSESSED�
ENGLAND’S CHILDREN AMONG THE MOST TESTED�OUR CHILDREN ARE TESTED TO DESTRUCTION �A SHATTERING FAILURE FOR OUR MASTERS�
STANDARDS IN ENGLISH PRIMARY EDUCATION WHAT THE CAMBRIDGE PRIMARY REVIEW
ACTUALLY SAID (2009)
FIRST THE GOOD NEWS
Standards of tested attainment have been fairly stable over time.
Pupil’s attitudes to learning in the tested areas are generally positive, but …
National data: modest improvements in maths, especially since 1995, but …
International data: substantial improvements in maths from 1995-2003
International data: high standards in reading from 2001, but …
International data: considerable improvements in primary science, but …
STANDARDS IN ENGLISH PRIMARY EDUCATION: NOW THE NOT SO GOOD NEWS
National literacy strategy: ill-researched and limited impact? Numeracy strategy better regarded
Test score gains in reading at the expense of pupils’ enjoyment.
Increase in test-induced stress.
The rest of the curriculum – and children’s statutory curriculum entitlement – have suffered.
Widespread teaching to the tests.
The wide gap between high and low attainers has persisted, and is wider than in most other developed countries.
The attainment gap maps onto the equity gap - income, health, wellbeing and social mobility – also wider in Britain than most other developed countries.
STANDARDS IN ENGLISH PRIMARY EDUCATION: METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS
National assessment system: low level of dependability up to 2000.
Little reliable evidence on trends over time until the last few years.
School inspection procedures and criteria change too often to allow year-on-year comparison.
International achievement survey evidence is encouraging, but thin and methodologically problematic.
The overarching concept of ‘standards’ is highly questionable.
THE MYTHOLOGY OF STANDARDS IN ENGLISH PRIMARY EDUCATION
Testing drives up standards.
Parents support testing.
Tests are the only way to hold schools to account and monitor the performance of the education system.
The pursuit of standards in the ‘basics’ is incompatible with a broad and balanced curriculum.
Literacy and numeracy are valid proxies for the curriculum as a whole.
England has the highest standards of primary education ever.
RAISING STANDARDS: LEARNING FROM COMPARING?
TESTING, TESTING … A FEAST OF ACRONYMS
FIMS SIMS FISS SISS
TIMSS TIMSS-R
PIRLS ICCS SITES
TEDS-M PISA
MCKINSEY’S TOP TEN
AUSTRALIA BELGIUM CANADA FINLAND
HONG KONG JAPAN
NETHERLANDS NEW ZEALAND
SINGAPORE SOUTH KOREA
HOW TO BE TOP: CONCLUSIONS WHICH IMPRESS GOVERNMENTS
Bring back whole class teaching and standardised textbooks. High quantities of whole-class interactive instruction, in which the teacher attempts to ensure the entire class have grasped the information being given … the use of the same textbooks by all children … mechanisms to ensure that the range of achievement is kept small.
Reynolds and Farrell (1996) Worlds Apart?
Make school leaders ‘drivers of instruction’. Three things matter most: (1) getting the right people to become teachers, (2) developing them into effective instructors, (3) ensuring that the system is able to deliver the best possible instruction for every child. Top-performing school systems leverage a substantial and growing knowledge about what constitutes effective leadership to develop their principals into drivers of instruction.
Barber and Mourshed (2007) How the World’s Best-Performing Systems Come Out On Top (McKInsey Report)
Cut back the curriculum to ‘essential knowledge’. In all high-performing systems, the fundamentals of subjects are strongly emphasised, have substantial time allocation and are the focus of considerable attention ... The curriculum should be cut back to the knowledge which is essential.
Oates (2010) Could Do Better
THE SECRETS OF FINLAND’S SUCCESS?
o Relative cultural and linguistic homogeneity o Demographic stability, with low rates of immigration o Well motivated and highly qualified teachers o High levels of student engagement with reading outside school and a
widespread popular commitment to literacy and literature o Universal high quality pre-school education, concentrating on preparing
children for formal schooling o Late start to formal schooling o Decentralised decision-making o School and teacher autonomy
o Paramount commitment to social and educational equity, with common schooling as the default and a minimal private sector
o NO national tests, NO league tables, NO national school inspection system, NO national teaching strategies
Ranking of countries participating in international student achievement surveys,
grade 8 and above, 1995-2003 (Ruzzi 2006)
Top in reading Top in mathematics Top in science
1 Finland Singapore Taiwan 2 Canada Hong Kong Singapore 3 Australia Korea Japan 4 Korea Taiwan Korea 5 New Zealand Japan Hong Kong 6 Ireland Flemish Belgium Finland 7 Hong Kong Netherlands Hungary 8 Sweden Finland Czech Republic 9 Japan Canada Netherlands 10 Netherlands Switzerland England 11 Liechtenstein Slovak Republic Australia 12 Belgium Australia Canada
RAISING STANDARDS: WHAT REALLY MATTERS?
AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL ….
‘The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers.’ (McKinsey report, 2007, How the World’s Best-Performing Systems Com Out on Top)
‘A report card on public education is a report card on the nation. Schools can rise no higher than the communities that support them.’
(Boyer, 1983, High School: a report on secondary education in America)
‘Greater equality, as well as improving the wellbeing of the whole population, is also the key to national standards of achievement and how countries perform in many different fields … If a country wants higher average levels of educational achievement among its school children, it must address the underlying inequality which creates a steeper social gradient in educational achievement.’
(Wilkinson and Pickett, 2009, The Sprit Level)
‘Small, rich or equal? … There is a constellation of factors in
which wealth, demography, equity and relative equality all play a
part alongside the school and system factors on which
McKinsey concentrates, though in the end it is culture which
determines how wealth is disposed, how education is conceived
and how much or how little equality matters.’ (Alexander, BAICE Presidential Address, Oxford 2009, published in Compare (2010) 40:6)
‘In the end it is culture which determines how education is conceived and how much or little equality matters …’
RAISING STANDARDS: WHAT REALLY MATTERS?
AT SYSTEM AND SCHOOL LEVELS …
WHAT REALLY MATTERS?
1 – An entitlement curriculum which while not giving an inch on standards in literacy and numeracy
is broad, balanced and rich; which engages, excites and empowers;
which attends to children’s present as well as their future needs; which addresses the condition of society and the wider world;
and is taught to the highest possible standard.
And to secure this, what else really matters?
WHAT REALLY MATTERS?
2 – A CURRICULUM PLANNING PROCESS WHICH EXEMPLIFIES RATHER THAN CONTRADICTS WHAT EDUCATION SHOULD BE
ABOUT
o Examine, respect and apply the lessons of history. Remedy past errors, don’t repeat them. Understand the imperative of cumulation.
o Use evidence discriminatingly but not selectively.
o Be knowledgeable about knowledge, skill, subjects, themes and other curriculum building blocks.
o Engage with the complexities of the culture in which curriculum is embedded.
o Understand the connectedness of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment.
o Do things in the right order, starting with aims.
RESPECTING THE LESSONS OF HISTORY?
The primary school should not be regarded merely as a preparatory department for the subsequent stage, and the courses should be planned and conditioned … not by the supposed requirements of the secondary stage, nor by the exigencies of an examination at the age of eleven, but by the needs of the child at that particular stage in his physical and mental development. The primary school should … arouse in the pupil a keen interest in the things of the mind and in general culture, fix certain habits, and develop self-confidence.
Hadow Report, The Primary School, 1931
The mistaken belief, once widely held, that a concentration on basic skills is by itself enough to improve literacy and numeracy has left its mark. Many children are still given too little opportunity for work in the practical, scientific and aesthetic areas of the curriculum which increases not only their understanding in these areas but also their literacy and numeracy … Over-concentration on the practice of basic skills in literacy and numeracy unrelated to a context in which they are needed means that those skills are insufficiently extended and applied.
White Paper, Better Schools, 1985
WHAT REALLY MATTERS?
3 – A CLEAR AND DEFENSIBLE FRAMEWORK OF AIMS
Address the perennially neglected question of what primary education is for.
The curriculum is in a very real sense pointless until we ask what education is for. Aims must be grounded in a clear framework of values - for education is at heart a moral matter - and in properly argued positions on childhood, society, the wider world and the nature and advancement of knowledge and understanding. And aims should shape curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and the wider life of the school, not be added as mere decoration.
The Mrs Beeton approach - first catch your curriculum, then liberally garnish with aims - is not the way to proceed.
(CPR final report)
AIMS OFF THE SHELF?
England (QCDA/Rose) Successful learners Confident individuals Responsible citizens
Scotland (Curriculum for Excellence) Successful learners Confident individuals Responsible citizens Effective contributors
Singapore (National curriculum) Self-directed learners Confident persons Concerned citizens Active contributors
Australia (National curriculum) Successful learners Confident and creative individuals Active and informed citizens
AIMS: CPR WITNESSES’ CONCERNS
o Literacy and numeracy are essential, but primary education is about more than the 3Rs, and in any case the received view of literacy remains far too narrow.
o We must move beyond the rhetoric of child-centredness and children’s voice to meaningful commitment to the UNCRC.
o Children aren’t just adults in the making, and primary education isn’t just a preparation for secondary: early/middle childhood and primary education have their own imperatives.
o We must balance individual and societal needs; but also understand that societal need is about more than ‘the world of work’, the ‘information society’ or the ‘knowledge economy’.
o Disadvantage and discrimination are corrosive; we must strive for equity across educational, social and economic policy.
o Individualism and materialism should be replaced by a commitment to human interdependence, mutual respect and global sustainability.
o Schools are vital both in communities and as communities: the advancement of community is a necessary educational goal, in its way as important as individual fulfilment.
o Citizenship should be conceived and enacted locally and globally as well as nationally.
o Faith and belief are deeply embedded in our history and culture, but they demand an educational response different from RE as traditionally defined.
AIMS: CPR WITNESSES’ WIDER ANXIETIES
o Family life and community breaking down.
o Loss of respect and empathy between persons and generations.
o Children at increasing risk outside home and school.
o Rapid and worrying change in society and the wider world. Fear of the future.
o Children under stress from both society and the education system: from the ‘scholarisation of early childhood’ and wider commercial and social pressures.
o Curriculum too rigidly prescribed and, because of tests at age 11, too narrow, especially in Years 5 and 6.
o Government childhood initiatives are welcomed, but curriculum/assessment/pedagogy requirements constrain and disempower, and the standards drive has been only partly successful.
o Task for teachers and other professionals working with children much more difficult than a generation ago.
CPR WITNESSES’ CONCERNS: HOW THE MEDIA GOT IT WRONG (AGAIN)
OUR CHILDREN ARE ANXIOUS, BADLY BEHAVED, STRESSED AND DEPRESSED! �
�BLEAK VISION OF OUR WORLD! �
�PRESSURE OF TESTS MEANS PUPILS LOSE THEIR CHILDHOOD! �
�THE PAIN OF A GENERATION FORCED TO GROW UP BEFORE THEIR TIME! �
�CHILDREN BEING ROBBED OF GTHEIR INNOCENCE BY GUNS, GANGS AND
CELEBRITIES! ��
WHY ARE OUR CHILDREN SO UNHAPPY? �‘�
BUT –
It is true that adults are worried about children, and about the world in which they are growing up, and that children themselves have expressed anxieties to us on the latter score, as they have to other enquiries. But the children were also noticeably more upbeat about their lives than were the adults. It was the adults - especially parents and teachers - who were most worried. So perhaps the question should be not ‘Why are British children so unhappy?’ but ‘Why are adults so unhappy about Britain’s children?’ What we may well be witnessing at the moment, therefore, is in part a justified concern about the condition of childhood today - especially in relation to those children and families who are vulnerable and suffer poverty, disadvantage, inequality and marginalisation - and in part a projection onto children of adult fears and anxieties, not least about the kind of society and world which adults have created.
AND -
‘Pessimism turned to hope when witnesses felt they had the power to act. The children who were most confident that climate change would not overwhelm them were those whose schools had replaced unfocussed fear by factual information and practical strategies for sustainability. The teachers who were least worried by national initiatives were those who responded to them with robust criticism rather than resentful compliance, and asserted their professional right to go their own way.’
ALSO –
Primary schools may be the one point of stability and positive values in a world where everything else is changing and uncertain. For many, schools are the centre that holds when things fall apart.’
AIMS AND PEDAGOGY: CHILDREN TALKING
What we don’t like - Teachers who don’t recognise you. Teachers who moan at you. Bullying and fights. Punishments. Gangs of older children. Attention seekers. Being inside when it’s sunny.
Good teachers – Are firm but fair Are trustworthy Are available when you need them Understand how you feel, but don’t intrude. Listen to all of us – don’t just choose the same children. Make learning fun. Explain things clearly in advance so that you know what a lesson is about. Turn teaching into problem-solving rather than just give information. Make sure learning isn’t in too big steps. Know a lot about their subject. Give us records of what we learn
A CLEAR AND DEFENSIBLE STATEMENT OF AIMS? AN ALTERNATIVE FRAMEWORK FROM
THE CAMBRIDGE PRIMARY REVIEW CPR final report, pp 197-199
LEARNING, KNOWING AND DOING " Exploring, knowing, understanding, making sense " Fostering skill " Exciting the imagination " Enacting dialogue
THE INDIVIDUAL " Well-being " Engagement " Empowerment " Autonomy
SELF, OTHERS AND THE WIDER WORLD " Encouraging respect & reciprocity " Promoting interdependence & sustainability " Empowering local, national & global citizenship " Celebrating culture & community
WHAT REALLY MATTERS? 4. A BROAD AND BALANCED
ENTITLEMENT CURRICULUM, DRIVEN BY AIMS (Cambridge Primary Review final report, chapter 14)
THE COMMUNITY CURRICULUM 30% of teaching time Overall framework and Programmes of study Locally proposed NON-STATUTORY
DOMAINS • Arts and creativity • Citizenship and ethics • Faith and belief • Language, oracy and literacy
• Mathematics • Physical and emotional health • Place and time • Science and technology
AIMS • Wellbeing • Engagement • Empowerment • Autonomy
• Encouraging respect and reciprocity • Promoting interdependence and sustainability • Empowering local, national and global citizenship • Celebrating culture and community • Exploring, knowing, understanding and making sense • Fostering skill • Exciting the imagination • Enacting dialogue
A new primary curriculum
THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM 70% of teaching time Overall framework Nationally determined STATUTORY
Programmes of study Nationally proposed NON-STATUTORY
WHAT REALLY MATTERS?
5 – A NEW CONCEPT OF ‘STANDARDS’
It is no longer acceptable to define ‘standards’ by reference to test scores in English and mathematics alone … Current notions of ‘standards’ and ‘quality’ should be replaced by a more comprehensive framework which relates to the entirety of what a school does and how it performs, judged against broad educational aims as well as specific criteria for children’s progress and performance … Adopt the CPR’s definition of standards as excellence in all domains of the curriculum to which children are statutorily entitled, not just the 3Rs.
(CPR final report)
The issue is not whether children should be assessed or schools should be accountable – they should – but how and in relation to what.
(CPR Policy Priorities, 2010)
WHAT REALLY MATTERS?
6 – KNOWLEDGEABLE, SKILFUL AND PRINCIPLED PEDAGOGY
Pedagogy is the act of teaching together with its attendant discourse of educational theories, values, evidence and justifications. It is what one needs to know, and the skills one needs to command, in order to make and justify the many kinds of decision of which teaching is constituted..
Pedagogy is the heart of the enterprise. It gives life to educational aims and values, lifts the curriculum from the printed page, mediates knowing and learning, engages, inspires and empowers learners – or sadly, fails to do so … Good teaching makes a difference. Excellent teaching can transform lives.
We need to move to a position where research-grounded repertoires and principles are introduced through initial training and refined and extended through experience and CPD, and teachers – like doctors - acquire as much command of the evidence and principles which underpin their practice as they do of the skills needed in their use. The test of this alternative view of professionalism is that teachers should be able to give a coherent justification for their plans and decisions citing (i) evidence, (ii) pedagogical principle, (iii) educational aims, rather than offering the unsafe defence of compliance with what others expect. Anything less is educationally unsound.
(CPR final report)
WHAT REALLY MATTERS?
7 – PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY TO REALISE THE VISION
We must work to strengthen what, according to international research, separates the best teachers from the rest: their depth of knowledge and engagement with what is to be taught, the quality and cognitive power of the classroom interaction they orchestrate, and their skill in assessing and providing feedback on pupils’ learning – all day, every day, not just in Year 6 and not just in literacy and numeracy ...
The long-standing failure to resolve the mismatch between the curriculum to be taught, the focus of teacher training and the staffing of primary schools must be resolved without delay. The principle to be applied is the one of entitlement adopted throughout this report: children have a right to a curriculum which is consistently well taught regardless of the perceived significance of its various elements or the amount of time devoted to them. Primary schools should be staffed with sufficient flexibility to allow this principle to be applied … The urgency of this task requires a full national primary staffing review.
STANDARDS, ENTITLEMENT AND QUALITY: FOUR PROPOSITIONS
o Standards in ‘the basics’ are of vital importance, but they are not all that matters at the primary stage; in any case, to pursue ‘the basics’ at the expense of the wider curriculum is counter-productive.
o We need a more generous concept of standards which embraces all aspects of education that we regard as essential, so that ‘standards’ and ‘quality’ at last become synonymous. We also need to redefine ‘the basics’ for the 21st century. Literacy is clearly pivotal, but literacy without oracy is – again – counter-productive for it is through cognitively-challenging talk that young children most effectively learn.
o Early years and primary education lay the foundation for everything that follows, including key choices in later phases of education. Breadth and balance in the primary curriculum, allied to high quality teaching, must therefore be regarded as an absolute entitlement for all our children.
o It is essential to learn from other countries, but culture-blind cherry picking of specific policies or practices in pursuit of a higher place on a dubious league table of student performance is not the way to do it. What works there may not work here. In the end, it’s culture that makes the difference, and it’s the principles that underpin the admired practice which we should seek to understand and perhaps emulate, rather than merely copy the external features of the practices.
Postscript
PERCEPTIONS OF CURRICULUM OVERLOAD: TWO QUESTIONS, TWO OPTIONS
Is the curriculum really overloaded (i.e. are there no schools which successfully teach it in its current form), or is the problem also to do with schools’ curriculum capacity, teachers’ training and support, school leadership, even the quality of teaching?
Are we making the curriculum, and hence children’s primary education, the scapegoat for the education system’s inadequacies?
Curriculum minimalism 1: abandon breadth, initiate relentless drive to raise standards in literacy and numeracy, and reduce the specified curriculum to two or three core subjects in the hope that this will focus teachers’ efforts. Leave the rest of the curriculum, and children’s education, to chance.
Curriculum minimalism 2: retain curriculum breadth as a statutory entitlement, but reduce what is specified to those core learnings across all subjects which are essential to a proper foundation for education and for life.
AGAIN, WHAT REALLY MATTERS?
An entitlement curriculum which while not giving an inch on standards in literacy and numeracy
is broad, balanced and rich; which engages, excites and empowers;
which attends to children’s present as well as their future needs; which addresses the condition of society and the wider world;
and is taught to the highest possible standard.
www.primaryreview.org.uk
www.routledge.com/education
The Cambridge Primary Review is for the longer term, not the next election… and it is not just for the transient architects and agents of policy. It is for all who invest daily, deeply and for life in this vital phase of education, especially children, parents and teachers.’