Development of Educational Sector in Great Britain - Essay Example

1 The adage says that knowledge is power. Knowledge generates from education and the process of education in any country involves study at schools and colleges where the students learn various disciplines of knowledge that would generally and greatly be useful to them in their professional life. For any body, professional richness flows from academic knowledge gained over a vast period of educational career in schools, colleges and universities. This is a universal phenomenon and the UK is no exception. But this great country, which once ruled most of the world countries through colonisation for more than two centuries, has been consistently suffering from peculiar problems in the educational field like so many other countries. On the face of it, everything is fine in the educational sector in the UK especially in its schooling system but a deeper study of its curriculum raises questions about its efficacy and influence it would have on the future professionals of the Great Britain. The ever increasing gap between academic theories taught at schools and their applicability in practical and professional life poses a great question mark over their usefulness in making up the future citizens of the country. Already it has reached a threatening stage where the native British youth have been lagging behind in taking up professional careers when compared to their counterparts of Asian origin in the UK. Lucinda Platt of the University of Essex, using the data from the UK's Office for National Statistics, has recently disclosed that young people of ethnic minority families in Britain, particularly Indian working class families, have been claiming a larger cake in professional and managerial roles in the country. According to Platt, 56 percent of 2 youth from Indian families took up these professional jobs while only 43 percent of youth from the native white and non immigrant families acquired these jobs in the country from 1960 onwards (Findings). Not surprisingly, this study sources the mega success of Indians to their educational achievements. The theory and practice The theory and practice of education is directly linked to the growth of practical knowledge among the wealth of students. It would also have its impact on the effective or ineffective utilisation of youth power for the sake of the country and society. The design and development of curriculum, pupils and educational management, teaching methods, prioritising the subjects, inculcation of necessary creative and imaginary skills among the student community are all part and parcel of the theory and practice of education. Among these, curriculum and its related affairs play a major role in consolidating the pieces of knowledge gained by the students. When one deeply thinks of the ongoing schooling curriculum in the country, one tends to note that unfortunately it is not creative oriented but purely pro-academic. Most of the UK schools have been following the teaching of academic subjects colleted from various sources while no importance is being accorded to supplement the theoretical knowledge with practical proficiency. Practical knowledge is used to find solutions to problems plaguing the society. In the absence of this end objective, there is no meaning to pursue any kind of education. Mary Warnock, acclaimed educationist and researcher, strongly feels that education and teaching should above all aim to stimulate and engage the imaginative skills of the students. As far back as 1973, 3 Warnock, in her research paper 'Towards a Definition of Quality in Education', had suggested that it would be better for students to leave their schools with a profound knowledge of one important subject rather than shallow knowledge of several topics (Mary Warnock, Para 6).What a visionary statement it was! The singular meaning of her statement, applicable even in present days, is not very difficult to understand. She was thoroughly of the view that students should not be subjected with formal acquaintance of several subjects as it would not give them any kind of perfection on any single subject. By her remarks, she wanted to convey that pupils should be trained perfectly and thoroughly in at least one subject of their choice so that it would help them when they take up their professions. Can any one deny the fact that there is an emergent need for her views to be noted down by the UK's educational policy makers Nursery curriculum There are differing views on the curriculum of nursery children in the country. In fact a debate has been raging over the issue of formal education for pre-school stage children. The Guardian disclosed in April 2000 that most of the parents had expressed the wish that children should not be forced to learn formal education until they are 6. According to a study by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, the attempt to teach reading and writing at preschool stage to children in crowded schools in England is damaging their ability to learn maths (Views on when a child should start formal learning and National Institute of Economic and Social Research study shows nursery lessons may damage learning). Due to lopsided policies of the 4 Government, the number of preschools and playgroups has declined from 18000 in 1991 to 15700 in 1999. As a result of the short lived voucher programme, there was a huge influx of four-year-olds into the nursery classes in primary schools. Unfortunately the trend has continued in the absence of the voucher system too (The threat to pre-school playgroups). It all conveys that the early age formal education has only been helping the children in losing their creativity and intelligence skills. The curriculum of 7-11 The national educational curriculum of UK provides a statutory entitlement for learning for pupils up to the age of 16. Under the curriculum, all schools in the country must provide a programme of career's education for students of age groups of 7-11 and include work related learning with in the curriculum for all students at Key stage 4. The National curriculum also seeks to enable students to critically analyse and evaluate their learning performance and find out methods to for improving (Careers education, work related learning). But, there is still no data available to confirm that this programme is being successfully implemented and producing excellent results. Poor knowledge of history Students with poor or no knowledge of their country's history, initial or advanced, would never advance in future. Lack of its knowledge would degrade the levels of intelligence at difficult times and weaken the spirits at certain times. Britain, which had an eventful history to its credit, 5 seems to be neglecting this fact. Going by the present indications, the future students of the UK will have poor knowledge of their country's history. According to the annual report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools 2004/5, history, especially primary history, is taught very poorly in the schools compared to other subjects and pupils are not developing sufficient knowledge of their past ( Overview and trends in primary history since 1998, Para 3). Lack of creativity The main defect of the British educational system lies in its inefficiency to generate creativity and imaginary skills among the school children from their initial academic days. This is perhaps due to the system of the British children going to school very early. According to a study report published in November 2002 by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), early schooling is the main reason for killing the motivational spirits and weakening the self esteem of the children. It would also normally result in high drop out rate later on. The report further points out that the pupils are not allowed to spend much time on tasks of their own choosing resulting in killing creativity. The most unfortunate thing is that the children are found to be less active physically spending less time in exploring and investigating their environs and surroundings (NFER finds beginning school too young is bad). The above findings are further substantiated by the observations of the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted).It has found that children in UK are normally required to go to school after their fifth birth day but in practice their formal education starts one year earlier. Under a centralised, monitored and prescribed school education system, the primary pupils are put to lot 6 of pressure and stress. In a report published in 2003, the Ofsted says the core of the curriculum for six- year- olds in the British schools was literacy and numeracy with an emphasis on knowledge and skills. The report talks of parents as well as teachers complaining about lack of time for children for playing and creativity. The gist of the report is that the problem has arisen from the high ambitions of early education (Ofsted questions the ambitions of early education).It all indicates lack of planning on the part of the policy makers. But it should not be forgotten that the present policy makers have also been lacking in creativity due to their defective educational background. Future curriculum In the back drop of the diminishing creative skills of students and growing complaints against the academic oriented curriculum, QCA, after conducting various subject summits, had published on October 12, 2005 a booklet containing the characteristics of a future curriculum. It aims at training the students in such a way to meet the aspirations and requirements of the society and economy. It also focuses on contributing to social justice through common entitlement for all learners as existing in a liberal democracy, giving substantial weight to personal, social and emotional education, promoting the development of skills, providing value knowledge that falls outside the traditional subject boundaries, allowing for innovation and customisation, providing technology in the process of learning and recognising the practical and performance based learning. It is also equipped with proposals to make students reach out to the world out side the school (The characteristics of a future curriculum). 7 The philosophy of education One must, in all humility, salute the person who had coined the word 'philosophy'. Philosophy in itself tries to seek the ultimate truth guiding the sea of humanity and its relations with the unknown mysteries. Over a period, this word has taken a distinguished place in metaphors to describe the way of thinking and mindset of people, organisations, countries and Governments. As an example, one can say that the philosophy of terrorists is to terrorise the public by attacking public properties and destroying them. And the philosophy of the Bush Administration of USA is to attack those who sponsor terrorism. In this back drop, no action goes with out a philosophy. In such a case, educational sector also must have a philosophy, in the sense that it must have certain aims and objectives to pursue and achieve. Peters successfully develops an equation between the branches of philosophy such as ethics, mind and epistemology and the issues of education such as curriculum, purpose and objectives (Peters, 1973, P.2). He repeatedly argues that education must be pursued for a great purpose of putting its knowledge for practical use. Frankly speaking, the aim of any educational process should be to develop innovation, imaginative skills and thinking abilities among the pupils. According to John Nisbet, no curriculum is acceptable unless and until it paves the way to develop thinking abilities among students (The thinking curriculum). The real educational curriculum therefore signifies an ability to think and find solutions faced by the society and humanity. Let us think of UK's problems. Presently the country is facing a key problem in relation to its social housing sector. The citizens 8 know very well that the social housing sector is being privatised and council housing stock is being transferred to RSLs (Registered Social Landlords) in order to save the local authorities from financial bankruptcy and to elevate the status of homes. The Government opines that privatisation is the only solution to elevate the status of council homes but that it has been creating new problems to RSL tenants is totally neglected by the policy makers. Solutions to problems should never lead to the creation of new problems in place of the old. In this case, an effective solution can only be to reduce the financial burden of tenants even after the stock transfer while elevating the status of homes to decent levels. Otherwise it can not be called a solution. It therefore reflects the lack of thinking abilities to properly analyse an issue from a wider angle on part of the policy makers who were educated in the monotonous manner like the present generation. Society needs to find effective solutions to its various acute problems and students- the future citizens - should be properly educated to make them knowledgeable enough to deal with them. To meet this requirement, a suitable philosophy must be developed. "It cannot any longer be seriously doubted that there is such a thing as the philosophy of education." So says Mary Warnock in her Schools of Thought. Follow it up vigorously. 9 Works Cited: Findings, November 2005 - Ref 0545. Migration and social mobility: the life chances of Britain's minority ethnic communities. Retrieved November 15, 2005, from http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/0545.asp Mary Warnock, Thoemmes Continuum. The history of ideas. Retrieved November14, 2005, from http://www.thoemmes.com/encyclopedia/warnock.htm Views on when a child should start formal learning and National Institute of Economic and Social Research study shows nursery lessons may damage learning, Formal teaching versus play-based learning. Early years. Retrieved November 14, 2005, from http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/Database/earlydebate.html#beginning The threat to pre-school playgroups, Formal teaching versus play-based learning. Early years. Retrieved November 15, 2005, from http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/Database/earlydebate.html#beginning Careers education, work related learning, What is the National Curriculum for England The national curriculum for England. Retrieved November 14, 2005, from http://www.gemseducation.com/server.phpshow=nav.001004006001 Overview and trends in primary history since 1998, History in primary schools. Annual report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools 2004/5. Retrieved November 15, 2005 from http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications/annualreport0405/4.1.5.html NFER finds beginning school too young is bad, Formal teaching versus play-based learning. Early years. Retrieved November 14, 2005, from http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/Database/earlydebate.html#beginning Ofsted questions the ambitions of early education, Formal teaching versus play-based learning. Early years. Retrieved November 15, 2005, from http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/Database/earlydebate.html#beginning The characteristics of a future curriculum, A curriculum for the future: subjects consider the challenge. Retrieved November 15, 2005, from http://www.qca.org.uk/downloads/futures_report_rgb_qca_05_1615.pdf Peters, R. S. ed. The Philosophy of Education. Oxford University Press, 1973. The thinking curriculum, research in education no.47 autumn 1990. Retrieved November 15, 2005, from http://www.scre.ac.uk/rie/nl47/nl47nisbet.html Warnock, Mary. Schools of Thought. Faber, 1977. 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