BBCNews – Reading tests for pupils part of Welsh school shake-up
Well, I think that’s another knee-jerk reaction to the apparent failing standards of education in Wales. The Welsh pupils tested in the latest PISA tests slid down the table, so now it’s all panic stations by politicians wanting to prove that they improve education.
So, annual reading tests, more training on literacy and numeracy, more stringent performance management policies …
Has anyone thought about looking at how the curriculum and how it is delivered is different in Wales (or the UK for that matter) to the better performing countries?
Has anyone thought about the social importance placed on education? What about the expectations of the area in which the pupils live, the familial expectations, the peer group expectations for education? What about the support given for education by the parents/carers of pupils? What about the changing attitudes and behaviour that are making it increasingly difficult to teach a whole lesson without disruption, except with a minority of very motivated, enthused pupils?
What about the status of teaching as a profession?
It is my experience that teachers are always blamed for falling standards, but few people will voice the fact that we are constrained by the curriculum which details what we are expected to teach and how we are expected to teach it!
I think looking at what is taught, when it is taught, and changing society’s view of eduction should be focused on. Stop gap knee jerk reactions won’t bring about the increase in standards that are needed.
What do you think?
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