UK EDUCATION

Over recent years there have been some fundamental changes to the education system in England: a new National Curriculum, the removal of levels in national curriculum assessments and revisions to general qualifications. New, more demanding tests were introduced for Key Stage 1 and 2 in 2016. At GCSE level, revised examinations in English and Mathematics were introduced during that year, with all other subjects coming on-stream over the next couple of years. The more demanding standards, the revised grading system and what constitutes an acceptable ‘pass’ will continue to challenge society over the next couple of years.

What changes are needed in the UK education sector? We posed this question to 10 of today’s leading gurus - here’s what they said.

When there's a push to disrupt the status quo, those that feel most comfortable within it become defensive; questioning the change and downplaying it, or perhaps even claiming there is no problem. They may go one step further and warn of dire consequences, claiming the privileged will become the disenfranchised, which they’ll argue is no better than the current system. People are resistant to change, especially if they benefit from the current norm.

Perhaps this has now become a cliché, but it’s worth reiterating that the jobs that today’s children will be doing when they’re adults haven’t even been invented yet. Meanwhile, successive governments making decisions about the direction and priorities in education seem to obstinately bury their heads in the sand and pretend that we can keep educating children like we did in the 19th century. As we can’t predict the future in a rapidly-changing world, wouldn’t it be more helpful if we ensured children are resilient, mentally-agile and able to navigate life and all its complexities, no matter what the future holds?

Leadership – an interesting word with many connotations. Throughout my teaching career, I have experienced a range of leadership styles. Holistic. Volatile. Aggressive. Manipulative. The one thing they all had in common was the fact they were not role models. They didn’t inspire any interest for me to become, or in fact, believe I could be a leader. I didn’t fit the mould:

Here at Nesta, we’re gearing up for our flagship education and skills event, and we need you to get involved. 'Acting Now for Future Skills' will explore how educators and policymakers can respond to growing demand for the future skills highlighted by our recent report, 'The Future of Skills: Employment in 2030'. We know that we don’t have all the answers, so we want as many educators as possible to take an active role in preparing for the future.

GCSEPod is now used in one in every four UK secondary schools and has quickly become the digital education content of choice for hundreds of thousands of teenagers in the UK and beyond. However, what might come as somewhat more of a surprise is that thousands of teachers are now also using the digital content and learning platform as a valuable teaching and assessment tool. ASCL general secretary Geoff Barton believes that the resource could go a long way to declutter their busy workloads this school year.

Six tech-savvy Primary school teachers will be inspiring their pupils this term after spending part of the summer break at a celebrated teaching event in California. The Discovery Education Summer Institute is held annually in the US, and attracts educators from all over the world. The British teachers - from schools in Birmingham, London and Hertfordshire - were chosen for their enthusiasm in using new technology in the classroom. They were flown to San Diego where they joined over 100 educators for a week of professional development at the University of California. 


The Edtech Podcast is soon to reach its 100th episode. The mission statement of the programme is to improve the dialogue between ‘ed’ and ‘tech’ through storytelling, so that better innovation can be achieved in education. So, what have we got coming up to help give you that confidence boost for the year ahead?

There is no denying that digital technology is transforming the way we live our lives. From financial services, to hailing a taxi, to how we interact socially, tech seems to have infiltrated most aspects of our day to day lives. Why then, have we not seen the same level of transformation in education?

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