Envisaging a new era of education

Celebrating all learning and actually leaving no child behind

Coauthored by Kathryn Pratt and Caroline Palmer

Scores of teachers have been beating the drum of education reform for decades. Sadly, government inaction has driven many of our best and most passionate educators out of teaching. Trust and morale are low. But as the COVID-19 pandemic rocks the steadfast foundation of the British education system, now is the ideal time to instigate and embrace positive, forward-thinking change.

“If we do not change the way we teach, 30 years from now, we’re going to be in trouble” Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group, China’s e-commerce giant. WEF 2018.

Optimistically, back in 2015 at the Education Reform Summit, the then schools minister The Rt Hon Nick Gibb MP noted that “education is the engine of our economy, it is the foundation of our culture, and it’s an essential preparation for adult life”. It is perplexing, therefore, that the education system remains unchanged.

Fantastically, the skills needed to thrive in the 21st Century are inherently gained through curiosity-led, project-based learning (see Part 2: An education system fit for purpose). Such authentic need-driven learning education research tells us is best and urgently needed and can be readily implemented in schools and at home. Creating the fertile soil from which our young humans can blossom could be quite simple. It begins with a cooperative effort to let go of standardised testing and trust children’s authentic desire to learn.

To find and pursue their authentic needs, at a basic level kids need snacks, space, safety and mentorship. Exposure to knowledge, languages, books, drama and music, and access to tools, technology, art materials, nature, stages and an audience, will ensure they flourish. In his book Humankind (2020), Rutger Bregman recognises that school needs to be a place of happiness and amazement and support. To provide unfettered access to knowledge like a Harvard library, a comfortable space for reflection, a “creative laboratory” to imagine, explore and create, a place of wonder and fizzy imagination like Disneyland and a community to discuss, debate and share discoveries with.

Adopting a viable method for children to showcase their skills, development and passions is the final key to stepping away from test-based, peer-ranking education.

It’s all about empowering young people to write their own story. Enable them to have that authentic need to do really extraordinary things and shout from the rooftops about them. In a fast-paced era of innovation, forward-focussed companies, like Google, are already at least one step ahead, no longer reliant on academic test scores to determine candidacy, but instead ask for “a more textured portrait of your abilities’’.

By creating a digital portfolio showcasing the flowing, flowering project cycles, parents, teachers, peers, employers, higher education establishments and investors could dive in and explore each young person’s learning journey through videos, evaluations, reports and photos of successes and failures. Each could show off their progress, grit, creativity, passions and talents as a surface level snapshot ideal for an application, or a deep dive to accompany an interview.

Schools are already well-equipped with the resources, infrastructure and teachers for curiosity-led learning. With open minds and a following wind, buildings can be repurposed. Teachers can be supported in their roles as mentors and guides, on hand to insert nuggets of maths and literacy, science and art, and spot next steps, nudging children along as they learn by chasing their authentic needs and actualising their dreams.

Achievements of all shapes and forms would be celebrated and no child would be left behind.

There would be no learning ‘gaps’ to fill

Kathryn Pratt is an educator, parent and founder of Soweni (Soweni.com), a social enterprise project which reimagines education.
Caroline Palmer is a freelance writer, editor (www.flourishlife.co.uk), scientist and parent.

Join the education revolution

The education revolution is gaining momentum. We need your voice to make positive change. Here are some things that you can do:

1. Tell your children they are incredible and not falling behind.
2. Start documenting your child’s learning and project cycles with photos and videos
3. Write to your MP and ask for change. A draft letter you can use is below.
4. Join the Rethinking Education community and dive deeper into the current thinking on education reform www.rethinking-education.mn.co
5. Add your voice to rethinking assessment https://rethinkingassessment.com/help-us-rethink-assessment/
6. Write to your children’s school and ask them to support education reform and help your child to develop 21st century skills.

Reference

Bregman, R. (2020) Humankind: A Hopeful History. Bloomsbury

Example Letter to MP

Dear xxxx,

RE: Urgent education system reform; scrapping exams and supporting children in 21st Century learning

I am writing to request that you raise the issue of our outdated, exam-based National Curriculum with the Minister for Education, and propose a reform towards 21st Century learning.

We are a fifth of the way through the 21st Century, but our education system is built to prepare children for the 20th, and so is no longer fit for purpose. The pandemic has highlighted serious, systemic failings in the education system, underscoring the need for the radial overhaul that educators have been asking for for decades.

Now is the time.

Telling our children, as young as 6 (NFER), that they have lost life chances, and potential earnings (IFS), and must ‘catch-up’ on ‘lost learning’, is deplorable. Such damning narrative by politicians and the media is compounding the national mental health crisis, demotivating young people and instilling a sense of failure in children and parents alike.

We are at a point in time when change and uncertainty are the norm. When we need resilient, quick thinkers, problem solvers and innovators so that we may navigate the global challenges that lay ahead. We need knowledge-hungry, compassionate young people able to manage their mental and physical health and contribute positively as global citizens.

What we don’t need are children memorising facts merely to pass government-set standardised tests that have no relevance to the real world or their ability to thrive in it.

I call for the government to rethink exam-based curricula, and take tangible steps towards curiosity-led learning. Releasing teachers and children from the intense pressure to meet targets and instead offer support and mentorship through inspiring projects. We ask that exams and test scores are abolished and children are instead assessed, compared and valued based on a digital portfolio showcasing their passions, skills and achievements.

I also call for the government to send a message of support, hope and optimism to our children.

I strongly urge you to raise the education reform with the minister for education and actively support progressive policies to enable our education system to become ‘world leading’.

If we don’t act now, the country will be left behind, not only our children.

Thank you for your time.

Yours sincerely,