2nd July 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Members of the groups hired to advise the government on the new curriculum have said that the current education plans will fundamentally damage the UK’s education system. Papers leaked this week feature concerns raised by members of a wide range of expert groups brought in to advise on History, English, Music, Art and Design, Modern Languages and Computing. This year the government brought in groups of experts in 11 subjects to consult on implementing the new national curriculum, which will be rolled out for 5-14 year olds from the start of the next academic year. The leaked papers show that many of the expert advisors have said that the curriculum is not fit for purpose.
Comments from the papers include concerns that “The whole process has had a very chaotic feel. It's typical of government policy at the moment: they don't think things through very carefully, they don't listen to anyone and then just go ahead and rush into major changes.” The timing of these issues is another blow for the education secretary, who has just three months to go before the changes are due to be introduced. A further consideration raised is that teachers will need to be trained on the new curriculum before they can begin teaching it in September.
Criticisms of the curriculum from the expert advisors are wide-ranging. One of the key points raised by the History group, chaired by a lecturer from Brighton University was that the curriculum is inconsistent, with the draft being far too prescriptive in some places and very unstructured in others. Contributors in English, including former Cambridge University academic Eve Bearne, said that there was too much emphasis on phonics, a move which was likely to lower reading standards. Art, Design and Music groups concluded that the curriculum was not fit for purpose, saying that there was an over emphasis of male, western classical traditions, and a focus on fact-learning at the expense of practical applications. The groups submitted reports to the government which said that the curriculum ignored the realities of the contemporary world. The final plans are due to be released in September.