Comparison of Early Childhood Education in England and Scotland - Essay Example

? Early Years education in England compared with Scotland Insert (s) Early Years Education in England compared with Scotland Introduction The education system in the United Kingdom is generally devolved in a manner where by each of the constituent countries of the UK have their own separate educational systems governed and defined by separate policies and laws. Consequently the policies as well as the curriculum used in early year’s education in any of the countries in are often different from the ones used in other parts of the United Kingdom. For example, the English system of education basically focuses on the quality of education while the Scottish system has more emphasis towards the breadth of education. As a result, most schools in England tend to have more advanced examinations with small class sizes as opposed to the Scotland schools that are generally characterized by large class sizes and less advanced examinations (Gearon, 2002, p.36). Additionally, the average age range for primary schools in Scotland is between 4 and 12 and this is equivalent of the English reception classes. With regard to the curriculum differences, early education in England follows the strict national curriculum that applies to the states of England, Northern Ireland and Wales. The National curriculum requires the compulsory teaching of subjects such as English, Science, Math, ICT, Geography, Design technology, Physical education and the optional modern foreign languages On the other hand, Scotland is currently in the process of implementing its own model of education curriculum for academic excellence. The educational reform in Scotland is particularly aimed at providing a wide education as well as improving the flexibility and the range of courses being offered in Scottish schools for early learners especially those of the age below 18 years. Consequently the Scottish CfE programme has focused on improving the capacities of the pupils and helping them become successful, confident responsible and effective contributors to the national development. This paper critically discusses the main policy aspect that has resulted in the curriculum differences in early education between England and Scotland. The National Curriculum and the Early Years Foundation Stage act According to Holt and Donnell, (1999, p.78), one of the policies that have significantly shaped the early education across the United Kingdom is the Early Years Foundation Stage act which was passed in 2006 and became effective in 2008. The act not only stipulates a set of welfare requirements to be observed in the early education systems but also specifies some of the learning and development requirements that should be followed by the providers of early education especially to children under the age of compulsory education in the UK. The national learning and development requirements are however applicable to England only and are therefore not observed in the other countries such as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is this policy aspect that has resulted in significant differences in early learning between England and Scotland. England for this case has been able to revise various policies that aim at improving the education sector. Of importance to note is that some of the aspects of the curriculum used in England tend to differ with the ones used in Scotland. Earlier education policies in England such as Early Years Foundation Stage take into consideration an aspect of welfare requirements for the child. In Scotland the polices major on learning and development for children bellow five years that all education institutions have to adhere to as a form of policy to streamline the sector. Learning and development requirements have been majorly emphasized in England as compared to Scotland that majorly majors on the welfare aspects of children in the early stages of learning. All early childhood institutions have to register under the childcare act so as to legally operate and comply with welfare requirements (Donnell, Le, and Micklethwaite,2000). Within the same frame work of learning and development as required in England the major emphasis is put on use of written language in academic plays and learning activity, emphasis also being put on phonetics and the ability to form simple sentences at an early age. These are some of the aspects that are emphasized by the time the child is five years. These aspects have been met with a lot of criticism that they have lead to early failure on the performance of children. Research has also shown that better results are posted by students in Scotland who start these complex educations system aspects much later rather than at age five. This has been attributed to children being stressed with the work load at this tender age hence resulting to poor performance later in life (Holt, Dickinson, and Donnell, 1999). With regard to the educational assessment methods used in early learning, England is known to have its curriculum divided into four stages. At the end of each of the key stages, the early learner’s and pupils are required to be tested through Key stage tests that are popularly known as SATs. The assessment system used in Scotland is however significantly different from the one used in the other British countries. For example, unlike the system used in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, the Scottish educational assessment system is primarily divided into two main phases. The initial phase is designed to last from age 5 to age 14 pupils and is further divided into six distinct levels from A to F. As opposed to England, whole groups are not tested in Scotland but rather teachers are required to test individual pupils when they are ready for the assessments. There are however ongoing plans to introduce a single curriculum in Scotland for all the learners from age 3 to age 18. As been previously noted, the policy differences between the two counties of the United Kingdom, the education system in Scotland has greater breadth that is emphasized at secondary level on a wider range of subjects that aims to make the education system more expound and wider in scope. On the other hand in England more depth is achieved through smaller subject range. In addition in Scotland education system and curriculum is made in such away that qualifications at secondary education are done by one central body being Scottish Qualifications Authority while in England this is done by several bodies. In England English is predominantly used as the first language which becomes a challenge for people who do not know English and as such they have to learn through that one language unlike in Scotland Gaelic, Irish and Welsh are used as a first or second language. Through the use of these languages it becomes easy to incorporate what is learned within the class setting. There has also been clear distinction in terms of the education qualification of the two as in England education qualification is based on IGSE or A levels which is not the case in Scotland. These differences have shown have been used to a large extent to critically analyze the education systems and their major impact to the society. Criticism of the national curriculum as used in England The study of many of the subjects offered during the early learning stages normally culminate to the pupils sitting for their GCSE national assessment exams at the end of key stage 4.One of the policy areas that has recently come under criticism is the fact the national curriculum allows public schools to choose their own examinations and curriculum and most of them usually opt for more demanding ones which are not even tied to the national curriculum. According to Potter (2007), a two tier system has been created whereby pupils in public schools continue to lose out. As a result, critics have suggested that to ensure equality in English schools, public schools should be provided with more funds and GSCE should strictly follow the study programme for the Key stage 4 as contained in the National curriculum (Siraj-Blatchford, 1999, p.156). Another area of contention has been regarding the free market objectives of the current national curriculum used in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Although the primary goal of the National Curriculum was provide league tables and choice to parents, critics argue that the overemphasis on the league tables has pressured many pupils to have higher grades and as a result many of them opt for easier subjects such as history and arts and dropping more difficult subjects like physics, mathematics and chemistry. Differences in the Educational curriculum For several decades, schooling especially early education from the age of 5 years has always been compulsory in England. Many English schools however are currently admitting children from the age of 4 into their reception classes that are part of the early foundation stage as specified in the UK national curriculum. After completing the foundation stage, many children in England are generally expected to participate in the compulsory assessment for school entry based on the performance during throughout the foundation stage (foundation stage profile). As part of the national government education policies, the English system also stipulates compulsory primary education for all kids and the primary education is categorized into two main stages. As earlier been noted, the first stage which is also known as Key stage spans from the age of 5 to 7 ages and the second key stage spans from the age of 7 to 11ages. Early years learning in As opposed to Scotland, England generally has generally adopted a statutory national curriculum as prescribed by the national government. The National curriculum has defined both the key stages in terms of the foundation or core subjects that are required to be offered to the children under each stage. Curriculum for excellence aims to achieve a transformation in education in Scotland by providing a coherent more flexible and enriched curriculum from 3 to 18. It includes the totality of experiences which are planned for children and young people through their education wherever they are being educated. The 3 to 18 curriculum aims to develop the four capacities of confident individual, effective contributor, irresponsive citizen and effective learner in students while providing a curriculum which embraces the principles of breadth, depth, relevant challenge and enjoyment progression of choice and coherent. On the other hand the national curriculum of England was introduced for primary and secondary states schools following the education reforms act 1988 (Waller, 2005). The national curriculum in this country’s primary phase provides abroad and well-balanced curriculum relevant to children incorporating the subject areas listed above the curriculum design ensuring the curriculum meets the needs and interest of all learners. In Scotland the development process has involved un-paralleled engagement with teachers and practitioners. This has built upon the existing good practice across all sectors of Scottish education and takes account of research and international comparison. The England curriculum the system is integrated with effective teaching, learning and assessment. The curriculum is at the heart of school strategies to raise achievement and improve outcomes for all their learners. Scottish curriculum is implemented by partner organisations namely the education Scotland, Scottish qualifications authority and the Scottish government. The England national curriculum on contrary has its foundation on education acts policies formulated by the government. Finally the Scottish curriculum has been discovered to have downsides on its assessments style by its emphasis on teacher rather than the learner while the national curriculum of England puts a lot of concentration on the learner with frequent exams that make it exam oriented. It has also been seen that in comparing the two Curriculums that of England and Scotland, the approaches used in teaching are different. Scottish Curriculum Guideline development emphasizes on use of individual child centered approaches. On the other hand in England the approach used is class centered and as such the effectiveness of this strategy has been criticized by many scholars who believe that each child has a unique intelligence quotient (The Scottish Office Education Department ,1992). Conclusion In conclusion, the main policy aspect that has resulted in significant differences between early education in England and Scotland is that England generally has adopted a statutory national curriculum which defines both the key stages in terms of the foundation or core subjects that are required to be offered to the children under each stage. On the other hand, the Scottish educational system has been based its own model of education curriculum for academic excellence that is primarily aimed at providing a wide education as well as improving the flexibility and the range of courses being offered in Scottish schools for early learners. References Donnell, S.C.2000. INCA: The International Review of Curriculum and Assessment Frameworks Archive. London: Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). Gearon, L. 2002. Early Education in the United Kingdom. London: David Fulton Publishers Limited.  Holt, G., D. & Donnell, S. 1999. Education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland: a Guide to the System. Slough: NFER. Potter C. 2007. Developments in UK early years policy and practice: can they improve outcomes for disadvantaged children? International Journal of Early Years Education15.2, pp. 171-180. Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum.1999. The School Curriculum and the Culture of Scotland. A Paper for Discussion and Consultation. Dundee: Scottish CCC. Siraj-Blatchford I.1999. Early Childhood Pedagogy: Practice, Principles and Research. In P. Mortimore (Ed.) Understanding Pedagogy and its Impact on Learning. London: Paul Chapman. The Scottish Office Education Department 1992. Curriculum and Assessment in Scotland National Guidelines: Religious and Moral Education 5-14. Edinburgh: SOED Waller T. 2005. An Introduction to Early Childhood: a multidisciplinary approach. London: Paul Chapman. Read More