Recent comments by staff at Oxford University on the (perceived) shortcomings of candidates for higher education courses cannot be dismissed as solely the port-sodden ruminations of bewhiskered professors!
The heart of the matter is as follows: schooling in the United Kingdom seems to have become solely a pursuit of 'good' grades intended to provide entrance to a top university and thus lead to a degree and a 'good job'. What is missing here is the crucial element of the fostering of intellectual curiosity leading to further exploration of the cultural heritage of mankind.
We can all provide anecdotal evidence of so-called good schools which provide revision classes outwith hours where teachers are expected to attend and offer tuition with past papers etc. There are also many ‘access initiatives’ which offer similar services to children from other types of schools. All of these schools are playing by the rules of a system which has a narrow focus on results and accountability.
A similar issue arises in the classroom and perhaps it is time to address deeper issues regarding the planning of lessons. For example, are we prepared to question the validity of schemes of work - both in schools and in HE institutions - which are driven by complex ladders of intended learning outcomes and associated success criteria? Do these criteria serve as signposts to wider learning or do they confine teaching and learning to narrow and measurable objectives?
It might be time to return to the brief essay /exam question - without layers of success criteria - such as:
'Explore the value of education today.'
'Schooling can provide opportunities for education. Discuss.'
The debate continues.
25 January 2012
2 January 2012
Pope Benedict XVI and Education
First of all, I wish you a very happy and fruitful 2012.
The first posting of 2012 concerns Pope Benedict XVI's annual message for the World Day of Peace (January 1) which, this year, takes education as its theme. Since his election in 2005, Pope Benedict has made a number of references to education in various speeches: his speech to the Diocese of Rome in 2007 is probably the best known of these. The recently published message for 2012 has developed his key thoughts on education and placed them in the public domain as a vital reference point for all involved in education today. (It would be a mistake to see these thoughts on education simply as guidelines for Catholic education. His field of reference is far wider.)
Pope Benedict addresses first the role of educators before dealing in turn with the following topics: educating in truth and freedom; education in justice; educating in peace. He concludes with an appeal to all, and especially to young people, to raise one's eyes to God. Running through the text are themes which are common to Benedict's wider writings on faith and culture: the need for integral education and the noxious effects of utilitarianism, rationalism and individualism on economics and culture. For Benedict, the key 'outcome' of education (if I may be permitted to use this difficult and problematic term to refer to the work of a nuanced intellectual) is freedom. The following passage is a neat summary of his broader vision:
This text asks deep questions about the purpose of education in a world in which innovation tends to be confused with progress and traditional sources of authority are, it seems, no more than reminders of unenlightened times. Pope Benedict has, once again, challenged these new 'orthodoxies'. What will our response be?
The first posting of 2012 concerns Pope Benedict XVI's annual message for the World Day of Peace (January 1) which, this year, takes education as its theme. Since his election in 2005, Pope Benedict has made a number of references to education in various speeches: his speech to the Diocese of Rome in 2007 is probably the best known of these. The recently published message for 2012 has developed his key thoughts on education and placed them in the public domain as a vital reference point for all involved in education today. (It would be a mistake to see these thoughts on education simply as guidelines for Catholic education. His field of reference is far wider.)
Pope Benedict addresses first the role of educators before dealing in turn with the following topics: educating in truth and freedom; education in justice; educating in peace. He concludes with an appeal to all, and especially to young people, to raise one's eyes to God. Running through the text are themes which are common to Benedict's wider writings on faith and culture: the need for integral education and the noxious effects of utilitarianism, rationalism and individualism on economics and culture. For Benedict, the key 'outcome' of education (if I may be permitted to use this difficult and problematic term to refer to the work of a nuanced intellectual) is freedom. The following passage is a neat summary of his broader vision:
It is the task of education to form people in authentic freedom. This is not the absence of constraint or the supremacy of free will, it is not the absolutism of the self. When man believes himself to be absolute, to depend on nothing and no one, to be able to do anything he wants, he ends up contradicting the truth of his own being and forfeiting his freedom. On the contrary, man is a relational being, who lives in relationship with others and especially with God. Authentic freedom can never be attained independently of God (section 3).
This text asks deep questions about the purpose of education in a world in which innovation tends to be confused with progress and traditional sources of authority are, it seems, no more than reminders of unenlightened times. Pope Benedict has, once again, challenged these new 'orthodoxies'. What will our response be?
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