What is wrong with Education in Britain today?

Posted on by Opher

Under the Tories education has gone into reverse. That reverse is masked by narrow results tables and narrow comparisons with international PISA tables.

The PISA tables are no indication at all of a good education system and any attempt to use them for comparisons are extremely flawed. The government has used them as a cosh to batter teachers with and con the public.

There is much wrong with what they have done. Gove was probably the worst Education Minister we have ever had. He started the retreat to the fifties and politicised Ofsted.

This is the result:

  1. A narrowed curriculum with the loss of Arts subjects (The restrictive baccalaureate and the downgrading of AS Levels)
  2. A loss of creativity in lessons for students
  3. Teaching by numbers – enforced by inspections
  4. The straitjacketing of teachers so that their personality and creativity is stifled
  5. Massive threats from tyrannical Ofsted inspections creating fear and panic
  6. Big cuts in funding
  7. A seven year pay freeze demoralising teachers further
  8. A workload that is so great that it wears the best teachers into the ground
  9. A marking regime that is draconian for teacher workload and work/life balance
  10. An uninspiring set of syllabi.
  11. A loss of child centred learning
  12. A devaluing of all skills and qualities
  13. An over-emphasise on rote learning and knowledge
  14. A set of exams that are restricted to memorising information and regurgitating knowledge in a most uninspiring manner
  15. The return to winners and losers and discarding of failures.

It is back to the fifties in a big way. Except that the world has moved on. We do not need to memorise huge amounts of information. We need skills and qualities, creativity and flexibility – all the things that our education system now fails to deliver.

What a mess. No wonder teachers are leaving in droves and recruitment has gone through the floor!!

Check out how I think education should be organised in my book – A Passion for Education – The Story of a Headteacher.

8 thoughts on “What is wrong with Education in Britain today?”

  2. The best way to educate children is on their terms, make learning fun and challenging while allowing children to use their imagination and everyone benefits. The current system of rote learning only provides success for those children with good or great memories. We should develop a structured approach to education that awards children opportunities for learning and teachers who want to provide an atmosphere for learning conducive to push the boundaries. Unfortunately government doesn’t want to follow that approach.

    1. Dave – that is the great sadness. They have reduced the parameters of education to a few measurable outcomes. Downgraded the other laudable aims and created a sterile culture of winners and losers.
      That is not the school or society I want for my children. They deserve better – a joyous, creative environment where everyone can flourish.
      Thanks for your contribution Dave.

      1. There should be no places for winners and losers except in sports. Education of our children is the most important job we have, it should be fun and teach them that if the other person has a win then it is better all round. Too many selfish people around want the world and don’t care who they step on or push out of their way to get it. Society is better when we all work together.

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