The first Sunday of Lent (February 26, 2012) is an opportunity for Christians to prepare for Easter by the traditional means of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. This valuable tripartite approach keeps the 'whole person' focussed on the approaching celebration in a spirit of recollection and concern for the good of others. Christian schools will play their part in this mission by making special efforts to engage their pupils in the riches of the liturgical season and assist them to be ever more aware of the demands which Lent places on the Christian. It is right that this should be so. Children are fully part of the life of the Church and benefit from the challenges of a 'big project' like Lent.
While schools which are not rooted in the Christian tradition are less likely to highlight the importance of Lent as a liturgical season outwith any Religious Education lesson, I would suggest that all schools need a reflective space in which to re-evaluate their mission as a community of educators. While the term 'secular Lent' is an oxymoron, there remains a need for some form of retreat from the front line of teaching and the burden imposed by often pointless paperwork. While the Christian teachers return to their Scriptures and the wisdom of Tradition for inspiration, all teachers can return to the history and philosophy of education in order to evaluate contemporary policies and practices in the light of the shared intellectual streams of the past.
26 February 2012
25 January 2012
A Good Education?
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.
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.
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?
23 December 2011
Reading: the key to education
Education is the key to a good society. Educators have a great responsibility to preserve and develop our shared cultural inheritance. This inheritance is more than simply an accumulation of 'knowledge' but includes this 'knowledge' in the wider context of what it is to be a good human person.
In this light, this blog has striven to promote the virtue of reading as a sine qua non of the professional teacher. Recent posts have identified a range of texts which will assist educators in their crucial cultural mission: The Lost Tools of Learning (May 14); Understanding Teaching and Learning - Classic Texts on Education by Augustine, Aquinas, Newman and Mill (October 9); Communicating Faith (November 6). All of the above have a major contribution to make to understanding the complex yet rich field of education.
A new text for those interested in Catholic Education is now available: A Companion to Catholic Education (Gracewing) offers a series of essays on key themes arising in Catholic Religious Education. While this volume does not claim to be a complete textbook or manual of instruction on the Catholic faith, it serves as a gateway to the further study of theology - the discipline once known as the 'queen of the sciences'. More broadly, this volume is another reminder that all education and schooling is rooted in the study of a cultural inheritance - in this case religious - which demands a considered response.
I wish all the readers of this blog a happy Christmas and a fruitful 2012.
In this light, this blog has striven to promote the virtue of reading as a sine qua non of the professional teacher. Recent posts have identified a range of texts which will assist educators in their crucial cultural mission: The Lost Tools of Learning (May 14); Understanding Teaching and Learning - Classic Texts on Education by Augustine, Aquinas, Newman and Mill (October 9); Communicating Faith (November 6). All of the above have a major contribution to make to understanding the complex yet rich field of education.
A new text for those interested in Catholic Education is now available: A Companion to Catholic Education (Gracewing) offers a series of essays on key themes arising in Catholic Religious Education. While this volume does not claim to be a complete textbook or manual of instruction on the Catholic faith, it serves as a gateway to the further study of theology - the discipline once known as the 'queen of the sciences'. More broadly, this volume is another reminder that all education and schooling is rooted in the study of a cultural inheritance - in this case religious - which demands a considered response.
I wish all the readers of this blog a happy Christmas and a fruitful 2012.
10 December 2011
Exams and Results
Recent stories in England over the conduct of certain exam boards should not come as a surprise. The results-driven agenda of modern education is the real story here. While a 'good education' aims to develop people of faith, culture, wisdom and discernment, it sits alongside and within a broader attainment culture which seems to idolise exam results. Understandably, parents and schools often pull out all the stops in this drive for results: parents, because they wish their children to get the grades which lead to a good university degree and the prospects of well-paid employment; schools, because it suggests that they are doing their job well and avoids awkward questions from prospective parents and government inspection regimes.
It would be unwise to call for the end of exams. What is needed is a broader educational reform which allows those with genuine academic ability to shine. Rigorous exams will always be part of this system. What needs examining, however, is not the candidate's 'recall of facts' but the ability to move beyond the narrow confines of learning outcomes (intended or otherwise) and pre-determined success criteria in order to discuss and explore ideas from an informed position.
It will be interesting to see how the English exam system moves on from here.
It would be unwise to call for the end of exams. What is needed is a broader educational reform which allows those with genuine academic ability to shine. Rigorous exams will always be part of this system. What needs examining, however, is not the candidate's 'recall of facts' but the ability to move beyond the narrow confines of learning outcomes (intended or otherwise) and pre-determined success criteria in order to discuss and explore ideas from an informed position.
It will be interesting to see how the English exam system moves on from here.
27 November 2011
Gove's vision of a traditional education
Michael Gove's recent speech on the need to promote high standards in education is a notable example of how to state the obvious. (Michael Gove is the Secretary of State for Education in England.) Let him speak for himself:
I want to proclaim the importance of education as a good in itself. I want to argue that introducing the young minds of the future to the great minds of the past is our duty. I want to argue that we should be more demanding of our education system, demanding of academics, headteachers, professionals in school and students of all ages. We should recover something of that Victorian earnestness which believed that an audience would be gripped more profoundly by a passionate hour long lecture from a gifted thinker which ranged over poetry and politics than by cheap sensation and easy pleasures.
The idea that a school or university should promote a body of knowledge as worthy to learn for its own sake is a radical idea. This is an age when a university can promote itself as a place of 'useful learning' (and miss the irony) and other Higher Education institutions jump through hoops in order to promote the employability and the transferable skills which 'employers' allegedly seek.
One wonders, however, if the agenda outlined in Gove's speech is no more than a fantasy. Some who agree broadly with Gove's analysis would suggest that things have gone too far and cannot now be remedied. I would beg to differ. We cannot let the heavy rain-laden clouds allow us to forget that one day the sun's rays will again offer us warmth, nurture and comfort.
I want to proclaim the importance of education as a good in itself. I want to argue that introducing the young minds of the future to the great minds of the past is our duty. I want to argue that we should be more demanding of our education system, demanding of academics, headteachers, professionals in school and students of all ages. We should recover something of that Victorian earnestness which believed that an audience would be gripped more profoundly by a passionate hour long lecture from a gifted thinker which ranged over poetry and politics than by cheap sensation and easy pleasures.
The idea that a school or university should promote a body of knowledge as worthy to learn for its own sake is a radical idea. This is an age when a university can promote itself as a place of 'useful learning' (and miss the irony) and other Higher Education institutions jump through hoops in order to promote the employability and the transferable skills which 'employers' allegedly seek.
One wonders, however, if the agenda outlined in Gove's speech is no more than a fantasy. Some who agree broadly with Gove's analysis would suggest that things have gone too far and cannot now be remedied. I would beg to differ. We cannot let the heavy rain-laden clouds allow us to forget that one day the sun's rays will again offer us warmth, nurture and comfort.
20 November 2011
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