#flipthesystem

[timmelebibblan]

New Public Management (NPM), på svenska ungefär Ny offentlig verksamhetsledning, avser den samling av styrnings- och ledningsmetoder som gradvis introducerats inom offentlig sektor sedan 1980-talet. (Wikipedia)

[understandingbehaviour]

Is raising achievement making children less intelligent?

The drive to raise achievement in schools has been a runaway train for many years. Successive governments have made much capital about the need to improve standards at all levels which has resulted in a free for all scramble. From teachers; to education emporiums; to whole countries, the situation has become competitive and at times personal. Good news for the consumer and a win-win situation for all concerned? As in any free market not everyone plays by the rules and if you can steal a march on your competitors then all well and good.

 Cheating used to be the prerogative of pupils but now some will go to great lengths to massage their examination results. From sanitising classrooms, to selecting which pupils actually take examinations. No stone is left unturned. Almost half the students are left on the shelf whilst the focus is put on the ‘gifted and talented’. Even the teachers are streamed. You cannot risk placing a dodgy teacher with a top set.

 The desperate are taken in by ‘Quack Science’. Healthy eating of course but omega-3 is no cure-all! It does not eradicate A.D.H.D, dyslexia and dyspraxia and a host of other cognitive and behavioural issues. I bet they have even considered ‘intelligence’ pills.  Students are increasing using ‘nootropics’ or ‘smart drugs’ to get ahead. If you are worried about the efficacy of pupils popping pills then just ply the little rascals with coffee, the caffeine will keep them alert.

 The kids are worked to within an inch of their lives. Teacher training is dumped with the focus placed only on what is important, passing exams. The easiest way is to use the Far-Eastern method: starter, main and plenary.  They copy notes and answer questions. Corrections are repeated, and repeated and repeated until they get it right. Then they are test incessantly until they can answer by rote. This is how they achieve. The results of the class are made public. Those at the bottom are shamed into making sure they are not there next time round. If they don’t like it, they can always find some other school. They are pressured, pushed and bullied to succeed. A fear of failure culture is established. And so many parents buy into this. How will they get a good job if they don’t pass? They don’t want to be seen as failures. They have to raise their aspirations. They all want to get university.....don’t they?

 A study carried out in 2015 by Professor Danny Dorling, of Oxford University, has shown that the US and the UK are the worst at teaching to examinations. With 16-24 year olds performing well below the average achieved by their 15 year old counterparts.

 The school is at the top of the league; the headteacher gets a knighthood; job done. Never mind if the teachers are burnt out and most of the pupils have anxiety issues they are no longer the school’s concern.

 What is the point?

Whatever happened to ‘nurture’?

 The political talk is of raising achievement but there is a world of difference between improving examination performance and raising educational standards. Be under no illusion, what is taking place in schools across many countries has more to do with political expediency than it has about trying to raise a child’s career opportunities. Politicians stand for nothing but re-election. There is a global, political, imperative to be seen at the top of international ‘performance’ leagues. It is akin to a country topping the medals table at the Olympics. Internationally, politicians believe that being the top, reflects the superior nature of their ideology. Nationally, the pursuit of ever improving performance targets seduces voters into believing that the government is actually raising attainment.

 Headteachers, post knighthood, stand at the helm and pontificate about raising aspirations of the underclass. These ‘first generation academics’ should have the opportunity to go to university like their betters from across the tracks but then they cannot just go to any university, certainly not the Russell Group collective. Most ex pupils would prefer to become skilled trades folk but then the funding has been cut for FE and apprenticeships are like gold. Better to send them to ‘Uni’ as this will bring in more capital into government coffers. It also means that those families that cannot afford the debt won’t let their children go to anyway. Is that a glass ceiling I can see? Even if they risk all and go and get that degree is there a job waiting for them? One commensurate with their proven level of academic achievement? Nope. I thought as much. So it’s back to stacking supermarket shelves whilst something better comes along.

 In their desire to ‘raise achievement’ schools have lost sight of what it is they are pursuing, and now just chase grades, deluding themselves and the general  public that educational standards are improving. To ensure accountability a whole circus of advisors and assessors have been drafted in, sucking out vital capital from the classroom. Along with this cancerous growth comes a mountain of paperwork and spreadsheets that chew up an in-ordinate amount of teacher preparation time.  

 The present educational model is unsustainable. You cannot expect a year on year improvement because capability in the population is not exponential. In any school, you will have a range of abilities and there will be those who will not be able to pass at the required level no matter how much time, effort and money you throw at them. Using a ‘learning by rote approach’, intelligence is one of a number limiting factors that will cause improvement to plateau at some point in time.  Making examinations harder just creates more failures.

 Long term it will cause more worrying issues and so we have to ask ourselves what it is we actually want from our education system? Focussing purely on ‘performance’ is a false economy, it does not provide a workforce that is skilled enough to meet the demands of a fast changing workplace this, in turn, will affect economic growth. In terms of social and emotional development this narrow approach to education is creating adults with significant mental health issues, people who do not have the resilience to cope with modern day life. Finally, far from being removing social barriers, focussing on performance alone is, in fact, re-enforcing social division.

 Intelligence, like many other human traits is a combination of genetic and environmental influence. We can, improve a child’s basic intelligence over time but to do so they must get the right kind of stimulus and motivation. Learning by rote does little except create disaffection.

 The mantra in education used to be ‘broad and balanced’. Although more content has been added to the curriculum at all levels it cannot be said that it is either broad or balanced. Training children to pass examinations does not teach them to problem solve, apply knowledge, analyse, synthesise or evaluate. Students emerge lacking the capability to think independently! Our education system is actually deskilling the future workforce.

 Maybe this is a political ploy, to under educate the masses whilst raising the academic ceiling so that the majority can never really aspire to anything. To improve intelligence would be to create a wide ranging public with the capacity to reason and to question what is happening around them, and that might not be advantageous at election time.

 But the politicians need not worry, the signs are that our children are becoming less intelligent. Danny Dorling’s 2015 study is just the latest research to highlight this issue. In 2006 Professor Michael Shayer carried out an extensive study of primary school children which drew this exact conclusion with teaching to examinations as the main culprit. The Flynn effect, an adjustment that is made to standardise the IQ test every generation, is starting to level out.  End of school examinations show that still just under half the population cannot pass them and so many leave still unable to do the basics, not just in terms of literacy and numeracy but also unable to cook or change a plug.

 If there really is a desire to raise educational standards then educational policy should be looking at how it can improve the intelligence of all children. This can be done. The likes of Piaget, Vigotsky and Feuerstein have demonstrated how. It requires a change in how children are taught, the volume of information they are expected to work with, the quality of teaching and learning available and a broad and balanced curriculum with an emphasis on the development of thinking skills.

 The irony is that if we were to move in this direction performance in examinations would improve as a consequence. Pie in the sky? Just take a look at the Finnish education system, the proof is there for all to see.

 All governments know what the Finns can offer but they are dismissed on cultural grounds. If this is the case then how come countries are trying to shoehorn in the Far-Eastern model? Yes the Finnish education system is different. It’s based on egalitarianism and is altruistic. The teachers are well paid and empowered to do their job without interference, saving millions in administration. Theirs is not a culture that indulges in rampant consumerism, self-interest, competition and a free market economy within education. Theirs is one that puts the wellbeing of their children first.

This piece has been adapted from Colin Lever’s latest book ‘Children in Need: Education, Wellbeing & the Pursuit of GDP’ which is available online. http://goo.gl/DfQB6E