[Closed] What’s your education policy?

You had me at

all private education to be banned. All faith education banned.

but maybe free up the choices within music and/or art, add in some newer forms of music and art as well as the usual suspects.

Liking your start on this, but maybe needs to allow for student choice in what they focus on (creative or stem - type bias etc)

Also, needs some "life skills": financial management, critical thinking, etc etc...

You've missed out most of the contentious stuff......

Everyone to be in the system until yr13?
Everyone to learn all of the above until yr13 or are you allowing some level of specialism?
Are we foregoing PSHE, mindfulness etc?
Setting, streaming or neither?
Terminal exams, teacher assessment, course work, or IB style wholistic grade?
Opportunities for NVQ/BTec style learning too?

And....are you comfortable that the rise in tax a 6 day week and bringing the 8% currently educated privately into the state system would involve would go down well with your minions?

Principle: absolute equality of funding and curriculum across the sector, with no divisions based on private v. state or faith-based delivery.

I'd go for equity over equality for this as not everyone has the same, equal, needs from an education system.

Starting school at a later age and a focus on learning through play for the younger ones. Other than that and the badly outdated Orchestra and Fine Arts I’m liking your idea.

Ooh also fewer exams and box ticking tests to be replaced by practical assessments where appropriate.

PowerPoint applied before the age of 13 to be treated as child abuse and punished accordingly.

Concentrate on experience first theory second.
The removal of teaching of subjects that require judgment from younger children.

As per Schopenhauer.

Kids are not homogeneous robots. We need a broad and varied education system to suit all kids..those that are academically gifted, those who are not, those who develop more slowly, those with special needs. So education is not a one size fits all and should be able to cater for kids of all abilities.

Also education doesn't end with kids...we need a system that supports adults too. Some people make choices they regret as the get older and may want to re-train or enter education if they didn't engage so much when they were kids.

Principle: absolute equality of funding and curriculum across the sector, with no divisions based on private v. state or faith-based delivery. In other words, all private education to be banned. All faith education banned.

You're not thinking exciting enough. Shake things up more than that. Education is too stop-start. Too many different things in a day, too much time start, recapping, summing up and finishing and packing away and queuing for the next class.

My dad used to work in the education sector and was asked to write an article for an American publication about his visions for what education could look like in the near future

The article began something like..

There has been an outbreak of world peace. The entire military/industrial complex is surplus to requirements. All its resources, expertise and manpower are put at the disposal of children's eduction. Classrooms are the size of aircraft hangers, a 'lesson' lasts at least a fortnight, during which time children draw on resources, technology and expert assistance to realise work of scale, ambition and imagination.

Some good ideas.

Teach kids about money, tax, expenses, cost of rent, bills etc.

Give teachers time to be able to listen to students. Give teachers freedom to explore ideas and not be so restricted.

Introduce a tax for parents who earn over a very high threshold to go towards equipment at their kids schools. Or just make the government raise funding.

Bring back funding for level 3 Art courses.

Under my rule I promise that half of school leavers will have achieved above average exam results.

I agree except this bit:

Orchestra or Fine Art (student choice)

Both art and music are much much wider subjects than those two. Being forced to take lessons in some difficult musical instrument in which the student has no interest has been the bane of so many people's lives for so many years, I wouldn't put it in the curriculum. I'd have a music hall with booths staffed permanent representatives from as many genres as possible, and you either listen to and talk about it or make that particular music. So you can learn violin or you can rap, or spend 5 years learning to shred guitar like the very devil. Plenty of people love listening to music but will never play and should not be subjected to endless failure.

Same for art. I'd also add film and studies alongside literature.

And media studies in general. This is vital to a functioning democracy - people need to know when they're being taken for a ride. This would include debate and rhetoric.

I'd include some form of mental challenges as a form of sport. This could well be video games. I'd commission battle type games like Fortnite but they're really hard and you need teams with highly developed skills to succeed, and you'd have to actually teach the kids how to work on the problems, and as the curriculum goes on it needs more skills. Or games based on literature (like Last of Us) that emphasise the themes and challenges; or based on history like possibly but not limited to war type sims - but I'm not talking about teaching military strategy, I mean teaching about what happend and why through putting people in the place of the historical figures. This would be a great way to analyse the events, it'd help understand by having the students make the decisions themselves. Or even business simulators like those tycoon games but much more involved. And I'm not talking about a fun day or two, such games would be a teaching technique used throughout your school life. Actually I've surprised myself here, this is a fantastic idea.

Remove the national curriculum. Penalise heavily parents who don't participate fully in their childrens education.
More to the point, be fair. So no extra money for those with problems, thats not fair is it? Free choice. So like health care and bike ridng let people pay for what they want and don't expect them to pay for other people children. Especially when there are half a footy team of them.

Oh and I'd ban being "offended" when studying a book or film.

More to the point, be fair. So no extra money for those with problems, thats not fair is it? Free choice. So like health care and bike ridng let people pay for what they want and don’t expect them to pay for other people children. Especially when there are half a footy team of them.

Well, that's all marvellous.

don't expect them to pay for other people's children......so all education private now and cost of education removed from taxation? I don't have kids so I should pay less tax - is that what you are saying?

no extra money for those with problems.......so no learning support for those with learning difficulties unless parents are prepared to pay for it.

What could possibly go wrong?

Equal education no.
Equal access to support, resources etc. to all students to excel to their highest ability yes.
Streaming (my equivalent replacement to grammar schools) to be determined by some criteria that cannot be gamed easily, ie those with money can spend all they like on private tuition, but it won't help them get kids into a "higher" stream. Indeed it would be on a per-subject basis, so top set maths passing the leaving exams/assessment/A-levels early, but being in a remedial English Language set getting exactly the support they need is a real possibility.

Subjects, pretty much as per OP, but Modern Foreign language introduced gradually from kindergarten age onwards, and lessons from age 6.

More general studies at all ages up to 6th Form University Entrance exam level.

Actually quite like what we did... A-level Maths teacher taught us Contract Bridge and that dice gambling game with a title that may trigger the swear filter (in class A-level Applied Maths class). 2 of us had been taught Cribbage at about age 9-10. Then in 6th Form General Studies, it was those of us that knew these things to teach those who didn't. I'd quite like more of that, in all kinds of non-academic, extra studies areas (perhaps teaching instruments or something, or one of those non-team sports).

Oh and 1 extra subject... not sure what to call it, but "Life Skills", something like that.

Basically doing personal accounting, and taxes, and all that boring stuff.
How to use the internet and not get scammed.
Cycling Proficiency.

More to the point, be fair. So no extra money for those with problems, thats not fair is it? Free choice. So like health care and bike ridng let people pay for what they want and don’t expect them to pay for other people children. Especially when there are half a footy team of them.

wow. Pure condensed essence of Tory.

to quote mark steel “why should blind people get given dogs? I can’t climb trees but nobody buys me monkey”

– Sport (with focus on ‘life sports’, such as canoeing, climbing, cycling, skiing, etc.)

I think you're missing that the team sports like football, and to a lesser extent Rugby, cricket, hockey, netball etc still have high participation levels long after school. Even at the bottom of that list most villages still have a cricket club with mutliple age group and sexes teams. And 5 a side football is a huge business these days. Even if you taught canoeing in school, realistically the number of people who can carry that on is tiny. There's kit to buy, big house to store it all in, car to transport it etc. Vs 5 a side where you need a bus ticket and your normal sports kit.

You're also missing out on all the soft skills like teamworking and dealing with diverse abilities. Or simply just letting the non academic kids have their moment to shine.

In other words, all private education to be banned. All faith education banned.

That I can get behind

Stop all the useless testing.

give teachers freedom to teach and kids freedom to learn - no strict curriculum that allow no flexibility

Teach political science and critical thinking

Following on from the ‘World Leader Pretend’ thread, you have complete power over education wherever you live, from Reception/Kindergarten through to the end of Yr 13.

I'd hire some people to help me find some people to hire who knew what they were doing!

It's difficult to answer as I don't think it is just what you teach but also how you teach it.

Take science as an example as it's something I do a bit of. While I was fine learning fact it's not really what it is about when you get into it. More important is the inquisitive mindset and understanding how to test an idea and the limitations of the process. For example how there are errors in experiments, anomalies in information and effects on what you measure as you measure it.

As another example, history. You can teach facts about when things can happen but the thing I remember most from lessons was understanding consequences and knock-on effects to those events. Also the way that you see history through someone's experience and that introduces bias.

I'd probably want to add philosophy somewhere into the mix. It can be really interesting thinking about how we think, logic, reasoning and covering some of the big questions.

I'd want to throw religious studies in there as understanding normally brings acceptance.

I'd suggest something computer related. From basic usage (becoming less needed as programs become more user friendly) through to coding as I feel it's where a lot of work may be in the future.

That all said, I never minded school, in fact I enjoyed it. Could do sport, practical stuff and the academic. There needs to be some thought given to people who didn't get on so well. No point forcing everyone to sit through something they hate for years. Better to try and help them find a passion and gain the skills needed for life.

Science:

Yes we teach physics, chemistry and biology. But really Geography should be in with them TBH.

We teach them as facts, which they kinda are. But I don't think the scientific method that completely underpins them is explained properly untill a-levels and uni. So it's no wonder that people go onto reject facts and expert oppinions if we've never taught them science isn't about knowing one correct fact at all. It's about doing 99 other experiments that mostly don't work that teach you just as much as the one that did work.

Hey, maybe even teach kids that Newton wasn't actually correct, he just came up with a model for gravity which holds up well enough to put men on the moon, but falls short elsewhere.

– Practical Arts (wood & metal work; sewing & cooking)

I'd split those out.

D+T needs more diversity, to include things like mechanics/fitting and repairing as well as the usual metal, wood, electrical.

Textiles and food tech could be more practical (food already is, but textiles was a bit crap, why not teach to at least make curtains, cushions etc).

I’d want to throw religious studies in there as understanding normally brings acceptance.

I would be okay with an introduction to various faiths within the context of what I called 'Social Studies', but I am very wary of the idea of religious studies as a separate topic. But yes, I'm entirely on board with teaching things that encourage mutual understanding!

4 day week,
Proper cookery classes,
Lots of walking,
Free breakfast and dinner every day, Smaller class sizes!,
3 weeks at Easter/Christmas. 4 weeks in the summer.
Yes ban private & faith education.
A lesson called languages that looks at ancient and modern languages.
A culture lesson replacing English Lit.

Also, needs some “life skills”: financial management, critical thinking, etc etc…

Basic law, rights, politics in there somewhere, somehow. People won't engage with what they don't understand, and look where that has got us.

4 day week,
Proper cookery classes,
Lots of walking,
Free breakfast and dinner every day, Smaller class sizes!,
3 weeks at Easter/Christmas. 4 weeks in the summer.

Woohoo! I’m going back to school in your world

I’d want to throw religious studies in there as understanding normally brings acceptance.

I would go for anthropology covering religions and cultures in general.

through to coding as I feel it’s where a lot of work may be in the future.

tbh I doubt it. You dont need that many specialists in the area and most of the challenging part of software development (unless you get really specialised) is more the soft skills about understanding what someone is actually wanting and then logical skills in how to lay it out. Getting to caught up on code would be a mistake although it can be a useful tool for teaching logical thinking.

Putting greater weight on art/humanities than science seems mad.

Teach kids about money, tax, expenses, cost of rent, bills etc.

This is the one that always gets rolled out on Facebook. Yeah, alright, but do you really think kids give 2 shits about any of that? The kids I teach don't, and I wouldn't at 14. Equipping them with the skills to navigate life and work out these things out, be adaptable and able to problem solve would enable them to work this out no problem.

As a teacher, I dunno, sack off exams? The rhetoric surrounding differentiating to the needs of all the children feels a little contrived when we force them all to sit a shit load of exams every couple of years. It's daft. The gov like exams because they spaff out tons of quantitative data to add to the ego-parade, but you can't judge efficacy of education like that.

First class is the teaching of what people do in jobs, the whole range and diversity of it, for the first time in history children get to understand what adults actually do when working and thus..be able to focus their own lives on a career rather than pick something out of a hat or say 'dunno' then do hairdressing.

Then 'adulthood class', this one is quite basic, covers all life skills where it is properly explained that everyone gets anxiety and only in a very small number it can be extreme(loosing a phone or someone calling you a pig on Instagram not extreme) and being worried a lot is called 'normal' you get used to it, this might include activities like confidence building and independence, basically doing what some parents appear to struggle with...no wait that might be all of the above, this one is delivered by 22 year olds because they are 'adults' and teachers grew up in the late Georgian period.

One full day of trades for all, they will one day live in a house and this will be for at least half of their adult time, and it will also cost them all of their wages to repair it so worth preparing for, the very good ones can do it for a living and earn more than Lady Ga Ga.

Next 'health class', this might include sport, focus on diet and general health in all it's aspects.

Then 'money', budgeting for business and personal, credit and how much it costs in the long run etc. might include arithmetic.

And on Friday some reading and writing, and a traditional academic curriculum subject if they excel at the reading and writing.

They can sit an exam to prove proficiency in all these things and move onto normal classes.

Fadda in the 3rd post mentioned an absolute need. Critical thinking. When you read a newspaper, Facebook post, see an opinion piece, children need to be taught how to understand what's driving it. Who benefits from people swallowing those "facts"? Who's paying for this and why? Why is this bastard lying to me?
The gullibility of ordinary folk is the downfall of our civilisation.

Change of teaching style so that by the time kids hit college/uni they can actually cope with the teaching style rather than getting flung in and seeing who swims.

Proper streaming to college and uni.

First eejit to suggest uniforms gets made to dress as a penguin for the rest of the academic year. As long as its presentable and safe for classes its fine.

Also +1 for modern studies and critical thinking.

Yes, @squirrelking! Let's get rid of the flippin' uniforms! I flipping HATE them. And before someone tells me what benefits they proffer, Mrs SR and I talk about this all the time because she disagrees with me. I still maintain that whatever good they do is far, far outweighed by their fundamentally de-humanising nature.

Teach kids about money, tax, expenses, cost of rent, bills etc.

This is the one that always gets rolled out on Facebook. Yeah, alright, but do you really think kids give 2 shits about any of that? The kids I teach don’t, and I wouldn’t at 14. 

I teach post 16 and every year quite a few tell me they wish they learnt about the costs of real life things like the above while in school. At 14 most kids don't care about anything they learn but it's still an important thing to teach them.

Change of teaching style so that by the time kids hit college/uni they can actually cope with the teaching style rather than getting flung in and seeing who swims.

Proper streaming to college and uni.

First eejit to suggest uniforms gets made to dress as a penguin for the rest of the academic year. As long as its presentable and safe for classes its fine.

Also +1 for modern studies and critical thinking.

Totally agree with all of that. Teaching style needs to change as kids get older. Too many 16 year old that I teach have behaviour problems and can't cope with independent thinking.
Uniforms are old fashioned and not require in a lot of industries. They're also expensive for a lot of families.

4 day week,

I'd say 5 days, and longer days. Not more teaching, just longer days.

a day in a primary school is shorter than when I was a kid, theres no fewer hours lessons just no gaps (in fact so much is getting crammed into the primary curriculum theres more subjects that sessions in a week. Its a barrage.

Allow parents to work and earn the same hours as everyone else rather than have 10 hours per week chipped off their pay-packet

Allow kids to have some gaps between their lessons - some time to play, because they're kids, but also a bit of unstructured time to digest what they're being taught. Theres lots of talk about 'life skills' above - some gaps between lessons so kids can actually do a bit of living seems sensible.

One thing would be to start school later to try and allow kids to have a proper nights sleep. Of course impact on that on parents work patterns is tricky.
For uniforms I think it is tricky. I can see the theory behind them about stopping the poor kids being picked on for having less nice kit but it is rather undermined by the pricing of some official uniforms.