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13th December 202413th December 2024

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David Bowman on what the manifestos miss

“Although they touch on it, there is no debate about what we should teach in schools. And this is not a new phenomenon. Under [former education minister] Michael Gove there was a major shift towards a more knowledge-based curriculum and more rigorous exams. This had led to lower emphasis being given to skills and critical and creative thinking. The current system is designed to cram knowledge into children so that they can regurgitate it in exams. There is a long-standing debate between traditionalists, who are holding sway at the moment, and progressives, who argue that skills and producing well-rounded and confident learners are more important. It is of course a false dichotomy, and we need both knowledge and skills. The World Economic Forum’s most recent desired workplace skills include  analytical thinking and innovation, active learning and learning strategies, complex problem-solving, critical thinking and analysis,  creativity, originality and initiative, leadership and social influence, technology use, monitoring and control, technology design and programming, resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility, reasoning, problem-solving and ideation. Very few of these are taught explicitly in schools.”

Latest Issue

13th December 202413th December 2024

13th December 2024

Latest Issue

13th December 202413th December 2024

13th December 2024