A view from the bridge

Did you know that there is a bridge into the DfES? Well, almost, anyway. ‘The Bridge’ is the name that DfES officials give to a room, in their Smith Square headquarters, which is used to display information about each of the different initiatives that are being developed across each of the five key stages. DfES officials are encouraged to walk around the room in order to gain an experience of ‘joined up government’.

The problem with ‘the bridge’ is that it is too narrow. Why share these insights only with DfES officials? What about headteachers, other school leaders and governors? Why not broaden the range of people who are given the opportunity to contribute to the broad direction of education policy?

Perhaps we can go a stage further. The one group that we consistently fail to consult about the direction of education policy is the students themselves. While the latest ideas and initiatives that emanate from Smith Square may well have a profound impact upon their life chances, how often do we actually ask the recipients of change what they think and feel about it?

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and curriculum change

At a recent QCA workshop on the proposed changes to the National Curriculum, attendees were asked to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the current key stage 3 (KS3) curriculum. The views of teachers, school leaders and a range of education professionals were widely canvassed. To their credit, the organisers also agreed that a re-shaped curriculum, that did not incorporate at least some the values of young people, would represent a significantly missed opportunity. It surely cannot be right to expect students to fully engage in a curriculum that is solely composed of elements that adults deem to be appropriate. Hence, QCA agreed that we could offer students at our school a chance to contribute to the debate on what elements should make up the ‘21st century curriculum’.

Asking students

Twenty-four members of the student council were taken off timetable for an afternoon and given a range of activities aimed at seeking their views on the current KS3 curriculum. The students who took part represented years 7-13 in order to reflect a range of curricular experiences.

Students were put into four groups and given a piece of flip chart paper on which they were asked to draw the outline of a ‘typical’ 13-year-old. They were then given a block of post-it notes and asked to write as many statements as they could describing the skills, knowledge and attributes they felt their ‘typical’ student should have gained by the end of KS3. These were then stuck on the ‘student’.

At the end of this exercise, students were asked to think about whether the current KS3 curriculum provided the attributes they had considered in the first activity and to state the reason why it did or did not. These were then stuck on a ‘yes’ and ‘no’ wall. Students were then asked to consider how a curriculum might look that was able to develop the ‘student’ they wanted to be or have been.

The conclusions reached by students are summarised in a series of tables below.

Table 1. Student voice: skills, knowledge and attributes that they would like to have by the end of KS3.

Theme	Student Statements
Tolerance	Be aware of other people’s views Be considerate of others
Confidence	To be confident in your work and know that you have done your best Have a confident attitude To have made a difference in the school Be able to interact in a range of situations
Skills	Good presentation skills and vocabulary To be a team player and be able to work with others To be able to socially interact with all age groups Good interview and debating skills Effective organisation, revision skills and time management A broad comprehension of current affairs
Content  knowledge	Be good at a broad range of sports Have an understanding of woodwork and metal work Cookery Speak a variety of languages (not just French or German) First Aid Basic DIY
Self awareness	Be able to set limits and follow them through Have your own image and know who you are Set standards and targets and know if you achieve them Have a general idea about your future

 

Table 2: Student evaluation: does the curriculum meet your aspirations?

All but one student said ‘No’.

No

The curriculum is too focused on ‘normal’ subjects and should be more concerned with different subjects – Think outside the box We do not learn the things that are important to us We do not do skills – just facts It only teaches subjects with little or no interaction There is not enough emphasis on basic skills such as cookery and first aid The useful things like getting on with people are not taught The curriculum is based on a stereotypical view of children and no-one has asked us what we want to do Not enough subjects are covered It is too academic

Yes

Citizenship teaches social skills

 

Student comments on the curriculum:

‘I learn more in science club than in lessons’

‘Pupils need to be encouraged to emotionally support each other’

Table 3: Student hopes: the curriculum that they would like to develop

Theme	Student Statement
Delivery	Teachers move around the school, instead of pupils – this saves time One-to-one time with teacher Every lesson should be different with more variety in the way we learn We should be able to go to lessons as and when we need to rather than when the timetable tells us to – we could do more work independently on the internet Lessons could be repeated so we choose the ones we need. Lessons should be available on the internet via e-portals
Assessment	Exams should test more than just what you have learned from a book Condense KS3 into as little time as possible and do not waste our time with SATS Break up subjects into smaller units with more end of unit tests that end up as port of a qualification
Content	We need a wider range of GCSE options – instead of cramming them into year 10-11, bring more into KS3

 

Table 4: Planning the future: how students would organise the school week

1	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
	Science	Maths	Drama Including presentation and interpersonal skills Drama	Technology	PE
2		English		Science
3	Languages Range provided online with technician supervision	Technology Including Art, DIY	Maths	History	Geography
4	PSHE Skills based e.g. first aid, presentations		Independent learning at home via internet	Enrichment Chosen from a range of extra curricular clubs	English
5	Cookery Collaboration with other schools	Project work Cross Curricular over a number of weeks		Languages	Maths
6				Project work	Project work

 

Students and the curriculum: our findings

The fact that 99% of the students we spoke to did not consider that KS3 met their needs cannot be ignored. Furthermore, students did not value KS3 SATs as a qualification. Instead, they would like to embark on a longer journey, towards a final key stage four assessment made up of project-based modules, with regular tests that contribute to the final assessment.

In terms of content, technology has made facts so readily available that students no longer value them for their own sake. The adage developed by our grandparents that ‘knowledge means power’ is now out-of-date. Instead, students want to be taught how to access quality facts, how to interpret them and how to have the confidence to develop their own views.

In summary, students are strongly telling us that any curriculum that really meets the needs of young people is one not built on fact alone, but rather on the softer skills of tolerance, interpersonal skills, confidence and self knowledge - all of which are much harder to teach.

Where to now?

Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge describes what happens when two normally separate communities come together. We need our own version of this process within educational policy. Those who develop policy need to spend a lot more time speaking to those who receive it. Welcome progress has been made in recent years in consulting teachers and harnessing their creativity and experience. Our very simple research demonstrates that we now need to do the same with students, a constituency whose views are currently almost completely ignored. Lots of self-appointed experts claim to tell us what students need and how this can be achieved. In reality, we need to do a great deal more to extend the bridge out from Smith Square and into every school in the country. Our current view from the bridge is far too narrow, precisely because we do so little to build a consensus between our policy makers and the students they claim to be working for.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Dr Annabel Kay is Deputy Headteacher and Mr Peter Kent is Headteacher at Lawrence Sheriff School, in England, United Kingdom.

 

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