Contemporary Issues in Education and Training - Essay Example

?CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN EDUCATION and TRAINING Inequalities in economic aspects will have a major impact on the people’s personal, professional and importantly social life. Thus people will have different social backgrounds based on their economic status and that could impact other facets of their life, including education. That is, differences in economic and social aspects will normally lead to categorization of people into different classes, from high, middle to low. It is assumed (may not be the norm) that people belonging to high class (economically and socially), will have a lot going for them starting from their birth to education, profession, personal life, etc. On the other hand, people from the supposed low class may not be able to get all the constructive things. Although, they may be interested to access all the constructive things particularly education, because of their economic and social drawbacks, they may not be able to do that. In those cases, the role of government and other governing bodies assumes so much importance. From earlier times, government has been coming up with various policies and steps, to give them a platform or backup to aid them in their endeavours. This is particularly visible in the educational sector. Education plays an important part in the intellectual and mental development of any individual. Education is an imperative part of human life as it directs person particularly young children towards his/her progress. Thus, lack of education could take the lives of people in the negative direction. Although, this is not a norm, as many people without education are shining in various fields, however, the fact is, education provides them the platform to learn a lot of things, and importantly gives them the confidence to go for various optimum targets. To fulfil this motive only, government has been giving free or subsidized education to the needy target group. Although, this government policy and social initiative is aiding a lot of children and providing positive results, some scepticism has arisen due to the new studies, which show that social background determines pupils' success. That is, even if the economically and thereby socially disadvantaged people are given free education in the form of Free Schools and City Academies, it does not guarantee their success. This implies that the children’s social status is the reason for their lack of success, and the government should reconsider or even stop its free or subsidized education, as it does not lead to success. However, the fact is, various other factors plays a role in the academic success of the children, and their social status is not a major reason. So, this paper will discuss the above assumptions regarding the class differences, and will point out how there are many more factors that play a role in a child’s academic success, than the class differences. “Class in Classrooms” For a child to become educationally equipped various factors come into play and all these factors have to be fulfilled. Among these, the two key factors are the parents and the school, its teachers. As the child will spent maximum of their childhood years and time in their household and in their schools, these two factors or environments will only play a key role in their development and in their future. Among these two environments, it is always said and assumed that the school environment only play the major role as far as academic success is concerned. With the children spending more productive time in their schools only, than their homes, in their crucial formative years, it is logical to say that the schools and their teachers mainly play the influencing role in the academic success of the children. Although, the role of parents and home environment cannot be totally ignored, the schools are said to decide the pupil’s success. However, recent studies have stated that the children’s parents and their home environment, thereby their social background maximally influences the academic success of the children, more than the school environment. Without totally dismissing the role of schools and the teachers, the studies mainly put the onus on the children’s social background or their social status in deciding their success. For example, in a study by the academics at University College London (UCL) and Kings College London, it is stated that the children’s academic performance and their success will be mainly decided not based on what schools they are put in, but based on their social class. This study by the two prestigious colleges used previously unreleased data from the Department for Education and Skills, and using various statistical analyses, has come up with facts that correlate a child’s success with that of their social background, including where they live and what their parents do. “This unprecedented project has revealed that a child's social background is the crucial factor in academic performance, and that a school's success is based not on its teachers, the way it is run, or what type of school it is, but, overwhelmingly, on the class background of its pupils.” (Taylor 2006). The report also compares the academic performance of the students based on their location. It states that in the affluent areas like the Dukes Avenue, Muswell Hill, in the northern part of London, and Lammas Park Road, Ealing, in the western part London, 67 percent of 11 year old children are expected to achieve level 5 in the national English tests and about 94 percent of 15-yearolds are expected to get five or more passes at GCSE at grade C and above. (Taylor 2006). On the other hand, only 13 percent of the children living in underprivileged areas like the Hillside Road, Dudley, or Laurel Road, Tipton, located in the West Midlands, are expected to get the top level 5 in the national English tests, and only 24% are reckoned to get the five-plus GCSEs at grade C and above. (Taylor 2006). The other study carried out under the auspices of the Liberal democrats also toes the same line, and also questions the efficacy of the government funded initiatives like Free School and City Academies. The Social Mobility Commission, which was set up by the Liberal democrats and which came up the results in 2009, states that the children from disadvantaged social backgrounds continues to perform badly when compared to students from wealthier social setup. It states that in 2008, “only 35% of pupils eligible for free school meals obtained five or more A to C GCSE grades, compared with 63% of pupils from wealthier backgrounds.” (Shepherd 2009). The study also provided facts with long term reliability and which again shows the role of social class in deciding the success of children. “Between the early 80s and the late 90s, the proportion of poorer children who graduate from university has risen by only 3%, compared to 26% from wealthier families, the report says.” (Shepherd 2009). After providing all these facts about how the economic and social status of the children and their relevant schools, the report also focuses on how the funds being spent on Free Schools and City Academies are not giving expected results. That is, Free Schools and City Academies are being run or supported by the government, mainly to educate the young children from deprived backgrounds, who cannot afford profit based privately owned education systems. These free institutions receive central government funds for their functioning and that includes their day-to-day activities, teachers’ salaries, even children’s meals and other expenses. “Academies are publicly funded schools which operate outside of local authority control…and have more freedom than other state schools over their finances, the curriculum, and teachers' pay and conditions.” (BBC NEWS Education and Family 2010). However, as per this report, the funds being spent for these institutions are not making the students successful. This indirectly states that the billions of pounds spent on improving social mobility over the past decade have not effectively helped the target segment. (Shepherd 2009). This focus on social class being the key determinant for the success of school children was also put forward in the study done by the Emma Perry and Becky Francis, belonging to the charity RSA. They stress that more than the school and its teachers, and also other social factors like the students’ country of origin or even sex, social class is the deciding factor. “Social class, more than sex or ethnicity, remains the strongest predictor of academic achievement in Britain, according to a new study by two influential academics.” (Bloom 2011). As in the above cases, this study also provides a list of facts and figures, of how students from underprivileged background fare badly in their academics, when compared to their wealthier counterparts. This perspective about the role of social class also has validation from government officials. That is, the head of the government owned teacher training department, Graham Holley also states that social status has been playing a significant role in educational success of the children from earlier times and it will continue to do so. Importantly, he further adds that those schools employing children from disadvantaged sections also tend to under perform. “Graham Holley, the chief executive of the Training and Development Agency, said: “The performance of a school and a child in it is highly linked to social class. If you turn the clock back on pupils in school today 15 years and predict their outcomes from where they were born, you can do it.” (Salter 2008). Although, all these studies states that students could not achieve the expected success because of their social status and background, it also kind of implies that children may not be able to succeed unless their social status are optimized, and so the government is incorrectly channelling high funds to these free educational institutions. Thus, in a way, these studies question the government’s policy of supporting these schools. Role of government and the importance of education Although, the above mentioned facts about the role of social class in deciding the student’s success may be or could be true, it is important to make sure that it does not impact or change the current government policy of supporting these schools. Social class of people or in particular that of children is something, which is determined by various factors, including the capabilities and potential of their parents, profession of the child’s parents, cooperation between the parents themselves, their lifestyle, etc, etc. With the social status being determined by these various non-school factors, it is not logically right for the government to pause their funding for the schools. Instead of stopping the funding, government should try to elevate the social status of the children, and more importantly the parents themselves should uplift their status. So, thinking on the lines of impeding the funds allocations to the Free Schools and City Academies will in no way help regarding the success of the students. Even if the government stops the funding, it is not going to change the pattern of children from lower status attaining lower results. Actually, it may lead to further deterioration of the students’ performance, as lack of funds may impair the quality of education provided. The bottom line is, although students’ success could be based on their social class particularly in a government funded institutions, the government’s role or their allocation of funds should not be minimized, as social status and thereby rise in academic success cannot be brought on by just stopping the allocation of funds. Although, the government instead should focus on uplifting the social status or classes of all the people through various social measures, better education can be provided by correcting the problems within the school environment particularly in relation with the teacher’s role. That is, more than the social class, importance should be given to the teaching environment in each school or class. Difficulties in attaining good education and thereby success often arise from an unsuitable environment-inappropriate grouping of pupils, inflexible teaching styles, or inaccessible curriculum materials as much as from individual children’s physical, sensory or cognitive impairments. (learningmatters.co.uk). All these problems have to be corrected first, before blaming the social status of the students, for their lack of success. Thus, the government should continue to focus and fund the Free Schools and the City Academies, so the children from the disadvantaged sections can have free educational option. Even if the results or success may not be great at these institutions, at least sizable numbers of students are studying, and the bright and the committed ones among them can make the change, and achieve better social statuses. It is better than doing nothing for them and helping them elevate their living and status. Importantly, these Free schools and City Academies should be encouraged by the government elevate the educational levels of the underprivileged students, which will indirectly or directly will improve their life, living standard and also their class. Discriminations based on race, religion, colour, sex and also in this case social statuses is an omnipresent phenomenon and a sensitive issue. With passage of time, reforms were introduced to protect and integrate the disadvantaged sections of the population particularly people from low social class into the mainstream of the society. It was aimed at equalizing educational opportunities. Education deals with learning to interact with all humans, irrespective of their race, gender, religion, nationality or social status. In an educational atmosphere, interaction among students irrespective of their identities will only help a student to understand that people of opposite backgrounds are humans too, thus developing the values of humanity in the young minds. Importantly, this continuation of government funding will also have a profound effect on employment hiring and promoting practices. That is, people from disadvantaged sections of the population, starts out at a disadvantage, regarding the job opportunities, as they are usually from financially backward families and are not blessed with the luxurious and efficient education. In that case only, the role of government supported institutions becomes a far superior option for them. When the underprivileged children are given educational options, sizable number of them (but not all) could perform aptly academic-wise and achieve widespread success. This government funding goes a long way in fulfilling this expectation. Apart from the funding, care should be taken to understand each student and provide specialized and optimum education to them. This will surely improve their academic performance, and the factor of social status will have no role to play. More than the social background or status, there are other deeper issues, which decide the academic success of the children Each individual learns things following a specific style which aids him/her in achieving optimum success in his/her learning attempts and thereby academic success. Different types of learning styles are adopted by people, depending upon their specific abilities and talents. The style followed by a learner differs from the learning style of other individual. This fact has been noticed by teachers, psychologists and researchers. In such a scenario, the need to alter the teaching methods to suit the learning style of an individual has been presented by numerous experts, who are working in the field of education. The fact is, each child in the class has an individual learning style which differed from other children. However, teachers adopt a similar teaching method to teach all the students in the class. Carol Ann Tomlinson after becoming aware of this fact, aimed to solve this problem through her theory based on differentiated instruction. This theory will have apt application in improving the academic success of the students, instead of focusing on their social statuses. Tomlinson mentions that differentiated instruction means teaching a student according to his/her learning style. “But at its core, differentiated instruction means addressing ways in which students vary as learners.” (Rebora 2008). For this, the teacher should interact with each student in the class and know about his/her learning preferences and interests. “In differentiated classrooms, teachers provide specific ways for each individual to learn as deeply as possible and as quickly as possible, without assuming one student's road map for learning is identical to anyone else's.” (Tomlinson 1999). In addition, the differentiated instruction presents the necessary skills, which children are required to learn in the school, in an interesting way. “You don’t jettison the facts and skills; you just package them in a way that makes them more interesting to learn, more memorable, more transferable, more useful, and retainable.” (Rebora 2008). Children enjoy this learning process, as they are engaging themselves in an activity which interests them. The specific learning skills of the children are identified and the teaching method is altered according to the requirement of those learning skills. The student and his/her needs are well understood by the teacher and a teaching method is developed which aids the student in performing at his/her optimum levels. Dr. Mel Levine, a paediatrician, aided in the development of Neurodevelopmental Framework for Learning, a model intended to study learners and the process of learning. Through this framework, Mel Levine presents the different constructs which help in understanding the learning process and the various factors involved in it. The eight constructs included in Levine’s model are attention, temporal-sequential ordering, spatial ordering, memory, language, neuromotor functions, social cognition and higher order cognition. According to Del Levine, these are the constructs that are significant to study the process of learning and the capacity of the learners, thereby providing apt educational environment for their academic success. That is, judging a learner on the basis of these constructs, a neurodevelopmental profile is created. The abilities and the specific skills of the students can be gauged by studying the neurodevelopment profile. In the field of education, this neurodevelopmental profile can be utilized to see whether the environment of the school and the teaching methods adopted by the teachers in the classroom are matching the neurodevelopmental profile of the student. The profile could also aid the educators in knowing the strengths and limitations of the student. “The profiles would in essence consist of a balance sheet of individual strengths and weakness along with a description of the “goodness of fit” between these and the tasks a child is asked to do.” (Kincheloe and Horn 2008). Thus, when the correct teaching method is adopted, children can be given optimum education and teaching, and that will result in them acquiring better knowledge and skill, which will result in their academic success. Conclusion The world is not an ‘equal’ place, with equalities mainly visible in some facets of human life, without it being the norm. The countries, societies and people of the world differ from one another, with inequalities visible in many ‘spheres’ of human life. Although, culture and the lifestyles of people differ between each country, inequalities can be mainly seen on the basis of the economic aspects particularly regarding the social class. With various studies showing that social status plays an influencing role in the educational performance and success of the students, the other perspective is about government’s support to various free and subsidized educational institutions. That is, although the studies may not be wrong, the focus should be mainly on the constructive options and the government role in it. For a child, the early stages of education are crucial because their fresh mind will grasp anything. So, positive things have to be taught to them, in a positive environment, thereby laying a strong foundation for their future life. Thus, it becomes all more important that the parents and importantly the teachers, with the backing of government actualize that positive environment, overcoming their barriers in education, enabling them to have a wholesome and complete development. References BBC NEWS Education and Family 2010, Q&A: Academies and free schools, viewed on May 14, 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10161371 Bloom, A 2011, Social class still dictates kids' success - study, viewed on May 14, 2011 http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6070596 Kincheloe, JL and Horn, RA 2008, The Praeger Handbook of Education and Psychology: Volume 1, Greenwood Publishing Group. learningmatters.co.uk, Overcoming barriers to learning, viewed on May 14, 2011 http://www.learningmatters.co.uk/sampleChapters/pdfs/184445052X-5.pdf. Rebora, A 2008, “Making a Difference”, Teacher Professional Development Sourcebook, vol.2, no.1, pp. 28-31 Shepherd, J 2009, Social class still determines success, viewed on May 14, 2011 http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jan/12/social-mobility-disadvantage Salter, J 2008, Social class determines a child's success, says expert, viewed on May 14, 2011 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2981910/Social-class-determines-a-childs-success- says-expert.html Taylor, M 2006, It's official: class matters, viewed on May 14, 2011 http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2006/feb/28/schools.education Tomlinson, CA 1999, The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners, ASCD. Read More