What is the purpose of education? It’s a complicated question - after all, ask a group of educators to agree a definition and it would take a while to reach consensus. No wonder Sir Ken Robinson and Kate Robinson termed it a “contested concept”.
Speaking in 2015, though, then Schools Minister Nick Gibb made clear what he thought the answer was with a speech to the Education Reform Summit, where he stated, “education is the engine of our economy, it is the foundation of our culture, and it’s an essential preparation for adult life”.
Given his close involvement in education policy over the years it seems fair to ask now, do we do deliver on this in our schools?
A mixed bag
Well at primary, perhaps yes - our focus on phonics, reading, writing and maths make sense to meet our economic, cultural and social needs. This is complemented by a criteria-based approach to assessment that ensures everyone knows the proportion of students meeting the expected standard.
However, I’d argue we are achieving none of Gibb’s ambitions in secondary schools due to the assessment model and curriculum in place.
Currently, at key stage 4, we use norm referencing where students achieve a grade depending on where they fit into the rank order of results nationally.
From the outset, this means our system is labelling a percentage of students as failures - with around a third of students likely to fall short of Grade 4 - something the Association of School and College Leaders describes as being “baked in” to the system.
This approach fails both students and employers. For the former, it means there is no fair comparison of standards between years or targets of how to achieve a grade.
For the latter, without criteria for what a student getting each of these grades actually means, how can employers assess the skills of a potential employee? Without clear criteria, it’s also difficult for the needs of employers to be captured in curriculum content or grades.
We need to have consistent grade descriptors for reading, writing and maths for a student aged 16 - to demonstrate and celebrate if every child achieved that standard, and provide transparency for employers.
There is also an obsession with examinations as the only form of assessment. How many of us use the skills required to be successful in exams to be successful in our jobs? The discipline to study and revise is transferable, but that is it.
We must look at the skills necessary to be successful in the modern economy and use these to assess.
A narrow curriculum
A large part of this issue lies with the way the curriculum has narrowed over the past 25 years since Tony Blair announced 50 per cent of young people should go on to university and then the past government introduced the EBacc that asks schools to focus on a core set of subjects.
Yet, the idea all children - no matter their interests, aptitudes or attainment - should study English, maths, science, a humanity and a modern foreign language, with little or no scope for vocational qualifications, will provide a workforce that can support the economy is misconceived and leaves many young people disillusioned about education.
Furthermore, many students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, need support in developing soft skills - the ability to work as a team, hold a healthy debate, present confidently and communicate effectively.
All are essential for the workplace, yet there is little scope for this in school - of the 30-plus hours children spend at school each week, they are lucky to have two hours devoted to developing their knowledge of our ever-evolving culture and preparing for adult life.
What next?
It’s clear things need to change - and it seems many others agree, not least former education secretary Charles Clarke who is now leading a review for OCR, who stated exams and assessment at secondary school are “completely wrong” and the curriculum is “too backward-looking”.
More notably, the new Labour government seems well aware of this sentiment too with its announcement of a curriculum review, to be headed by Professor Becky Francis, meaning change is likely afoot in the future.
That will no doubt take time and lead to some contested conversations from those involved before any concise is reached and new ideas realised.
Yet, it seems clear to me they are debates we need to have to create an education system that is more clearly orientated to to be truly meaningful for all pupils at both primary and secondary schools.
Stuart Gardner, CEO of Thinking Schools Academy Trust
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