legov Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 This piece of news was reported in our newspaper today. Comments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troglodyte Posted July 4, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted July 4, 2012 We don't know exactly what Gove has planned yet. A lot of what's in the press is conjecture. That said, these things shouldn't be coming out without anybody being aware of them other than Michael Gove! He shouldn't have been keeping these plans to himself. I despise the man, and he should not be in the job that he's in. In general, he hasn't got a bloody clue about most of the country's children and how they learn, or how teachers operate and feel. However, some of what's come out isn't bad. For example, I agree that there should only be one exam board supplying tests for each subject. The current system is ridiculous, where exam boards compete with each other: it leads to teachers who attend conferences being told a little more than they should be, and also an increased workload for some kids, who go to schools that enter them for exams across different boards, to see which they get the highest grade in. I can't see it changing too soon anyway, as I think there would be too much opposition. However, he has stated that it wouldn't necessarily be a 'two-tier' system, as previously suggested, which would ease some concerns, methinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Gove is a cnut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troglodyte Posted July 4, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted July 4, 2012 I was going to post an image actually, and reflect on how much he needs to be punched in the face. But I can't find one in particular: when you type his name into Google image search, every single picture makes him look like a total prick. Which, incidentally, he is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veloman Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Gove - planned Perfect example of oxymoron ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 all they need to do is make GCSE's a bit harder, and to make sure that ALL kids leave school being able to read, write, spell, & do basic maths. don't need complex reforms all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 An education change of thinking may not be a bad thing , is bringing back O' levels the answer ?, probably not , but but the current system of appearing to be coaching people to pass exams does seem a tad flawed ... to put it into a real world context I worked in the bank with dozens of techies who had passed their MCSE , they basically found the cheat sheets on the web memorised the answers and got the piece of paper ... and it got them a job .. reality was they were pretty much useless when it came to actually fixing anything as they lacked the skills and the knowledge to do it ... you could argue of course that experience comes from being in the job and an exam certificate shows they have a capacity to learn Having lived in Hungary and with family out there , our Education system in my view is behind theirs (literacy rates and so on) and when I've spoken to various (non UK) European friends their general feeling is that UK children start school much too early compared to mainland Europe (this is the parents view rather than any "experts" view ) .. My observation from my children's school would suggest they are right , whilst I don't doubt the children at my kids school are producing some amazing stuff , emotionally I don't think the children are ready and it may be affecting the children long term Of course like the NHS some people will get a little over protective and oppose any change and clear reason will go out the window to be replaced with opposition for opposition sake but it would be nice to see it discussed without the obvious slant of Gove= a word removed and Tory=bad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 It would be a better idea to get rid of Michael Gove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 it would be nice to see it discussed without the obvious slant of Gove= a word removed and Tory=bad But Gove is a word removed, and The Tories are rapers of women and children, and eat newborn babies for breakfast. But now we've got that out of the way .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 it would be nice to see it discussed without the obvious slant of Gove= a word removed and Tory=badYou can't ignore these important facts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommybringsgiants Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 This is my favorite video about Educational Reform, Sir Ken Robinson has everything spot on in my opinion! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eames Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 The problem with the education system in the UK is two fold and simple enough to sort out. 1) Schools are judged on how many kids (regardless of capaility) achieve a certain amount of exams. So schools teach kids to pass exams with little or no consideration to actually teaching skills/knowledge that would in the end prove useful. Solution? Scrap league tables all together. Kids achieve what they achieve - Ofsted inspect the quality of teaching, not the numbers of kids who reach a certain benchmark. Value added is the only indicator that matters. 2) Break the obsession with academic achievement. Not every child is academic - not every child needs to be. Solution - an education system that allows children at say 12/13 to either take an academic route leading to University etc etc. or a technical route with training/teaching in practical skills so that the "non-academic" pathway leads to children having real practical skills/trades at 18 and the ability to set themselves up in business or working for others. Neither route is better or worse than the other and there is no prejudice in looking for a more practical qualificiation. Education sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted July 4, 2012 Author Share Posted July 4, 2012 2) Break the obsession with academic achievement. Not every child is academic - not every child needs to be. Solution - an education system that allows children at say 12/13 to either take an academic route leading to University etc etc. or a technical route with training/teaching in practical skills so that the "non-academic" pathway leads to children having real practical skills/trades at 18 and the ability to set themselves up in business or working for others. Neither route is better or worse than the other and there is no prejudice in looking for a more practical qualificiation. That's what we have here in Singapore and IINM that's a big part of what Gove is suggesting. In theory it's a great idea. In reality (and I speak from personal observation) it creates inter-class divides and resentment. The only way for the school system to decide which students goes academic and which students go technical that has been found thus far is to get schoolchildren to sit for academic exams - after which good scorers would continue down the academic path while poor scorers would be left with no choice but to study in technical schools. Therefore, we would effectively get a relatively segregated section of the population who look down on other schoolgoers for being academically inferior, and vice versa. From my experience, a system like this would not break the obsession with academic achievement, but exacerbate it. It might be due to cultural differences between Asian and European societies, to be fair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted July 4, 2012 Moderator Share Posted July 4, 2012 Some of Gove's proposals actually weren't that bad but its a typical politicians attention seeking sticking plaster on a broken limb. Education in this country needs root and branch reform, from the very bottom pre-school to the very top of degree level. Calling an exam a different name is going to make bugger all difference, making the exam a trusted and recognisable qualification makes much more sense. Giving schools the ability to broadly educate our kids and not be little factories that teach kids to pass exams would also be a huge step forward. Turning all the FE colleges and Polytechnics back into NON-UNIVERSITIES would also be good. Under the current system its all pretty vague and most employers really don't have a clue what a good exam result is. When you have kids doing the Double Science award it sounds great until you realise its the course the less scientifically able kids do because it misses out the third sections of Chemistry, Physics and Biology. How many employers even know to look for a maths GCSE that is on the higher level? Gove is still an arse though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 ...However, some of what's come out isn't bad. For example, I agree that there should only be one exam board supplying tests for each subject. The current system is ridiculous, where exam boards compete with each other... Thought it was rather interesting that someone in the Tory party was arguing that competition (in a particular circumstance) had produced bad results (specifically had driven down standards) and needed to be replaced for the public good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veloman Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Well just when I didn't think this egregious bunch of rocket polishers of a Gov't couldn't get any worse, I read that they are going to remove the need for Academy teaches to have the formal teaching qualifications(BBC Teletext). I have no idea which moron thought this up or thought it was going to help raise standards in schools. However, would it be cynical to suggest that it will enable these Academies to pay less ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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