Note: The below is primarily focused on England’s education system, although any ideas for other nations are also welcome here.
Following on from the “Radical ideas to revolutionise the NHS” thread, I thought I’d do something similar in relation to the nation’s education system. While most industries have changed with the times, the basic format of education is pretty much stuck in the Victorian era, with an emphasis on outdated subjects which while are interesting to learn, have little practical use in today’s world. I’ve often wondered whether education policy in the UK needs a complete overhaul to bring it up to date with the modern working world, hence I have come up with a few ideas which aim to prepare students better for adult life by closing the cultural gap between education and work:
A complete reform of the National Curriculum, with more emphasis on technical subjects and life skills that prepare students for the world of work
Traditionally, most practical and life skills were taught by parents after school, but as more adults now choose careers over parenting, they have less time to teach their children these skills, so there should be a case for these to be incorporated into the National Curriculum. Things like managing finances, healthy living, workplace skills and personal safety should all be taught in addition to specific technical skills such as cooking, gardening, putting up a shelf, performing first aid etc. The issue with adding these to the curriculum is that other subjects would need to be sacrificed unless you extend the school day. English, Maths and the Sciences would absolutely have to remain, although you could probably get away with trimming down humanities such as RE and History.
More lenient mobile phone policies, with phones integrated into everyday learning and student management
Most schools take a very authoritarian approach to phone use, which is understandable from the context of minimising disruption, however this tends to teach kids that “phones are bad” in the same manner as drugs and alcohol and ignores the fact that smartphones are now an integral part of society and have potential to be used as a tool to teach safe and productive use of technology. Integrating smartphone use into everyday learning would teach kids many digital skills essential for the world of work, manage boundaries around screen time and allow them to engage with a more personalised curriculum tailored to their ambitions. It would also save schools lots of money on providing desktop computers for every pupil and replacing out of date textbooks which could be digitised and updated almost instantly on smart devices. There is the concern that this will glue kids to their phones even more, but I believe that if they are used regularly for learning, pupils will begin to associate these devices with work rather than fun, and hence use them much less in their spare time as they seek a change of activity.
Extension of the school day
As mentioned above, an expanded curriculum would necessitate this, but there is also a case for an extended school day in eliminating the need for parents to provide childcare and ensuring that kids stay out of trouble. An 8:30am start would give most parents enough time to travel to work after dropping off their kids, while finishing at 5:30pm would allow the same for the return journey after work. The problem is that children do still need time with their parents, and making this mandatory would disadvantage those who could benefit from extra family time.
Mandatory extra-curricular activities
Similar to the above, except the additional learning time would be replaced with enrichment activities such as sport, arts, music etc, which students would have to attend 5 days a week. This might be a better approach as sitting in a classroom for 8 hours isn’t really the best thing for personal and social development.
Reform of the term structure
The typical school year begins in September after a six-week long summer holiday, with two-week breaks at Christmas and Easter, and one-week half term breaks in between the holidays. This means that much of the leisure economy revolves around these dates, with prices for accommodation, travel and tourism rocketing during the holiday dates. Many schools already deviate from the traditional term dates, however one radical idea would be to abolish set holidays altogether, with school open 52 weeks a year and parents given 12 weeks worth of absence allowance to take their kids out of school at a time of their choice (which would include doctors appointments and other authorised absences in addition to holiday) This means that parents don’t have to worry about taking work leave or arranging childcare during set holidays, although it might disrupt learning in some cases if pupils aren’t given the opportunity to catch up after their leave.
Education voucher system
This would give parents more control over which schools should prosper for their children. Rather than central government funding schools directly, parents would be given a voucher of equal cost for each child, which can be used to enrol them in a state or private school of their choice. The cost would fully cover state schools, although for private schools the tuition fee may still need to be topped up with private finance. The advantage of this is that it would increase competition for good schools and incentivise them to expand, although it could possibly decrease the value of traditional private schools as they become increasingly oversubscribed. Additionally, education vouchers could be used to partially fund university tuition, home schooling and adult learning.
What are your thoughts, and would you suggest any alternative ideas to modernise the UK's education system?
Following on from the “Radical ideas to revolutionise the NHS” thread, I thought I’d do something similar in relation to the nation’s education system. While most industries have changed with the times, the basic format of education is pretty much stuck in the Victorian era, with an emphasis on outdated subjects which while are interesting to learn, have little practical use in today’s world. I’ve often wondered whether education policy in the UK needs a complete overhaul to bring it up to date with the modern working world, hence I have come up with a few ideas which aim to prepare students better for adult life by closing the cultural gap between education and work:
A complete reform of the National Curriculum, with more emphasis on technical subjects and life skills that prepare students for the world of work
Traditionally, most practical and life skills were taught by parents after school, but as more adults now choose careers over parenting, they have less time to teach their children these skills, so there should be a case for these to be incorporated into the National Curriculum. Things like managing finances, healthy living, workplace skills and personal safety should all be taught in addition to specific technical skills such as cooking, gardening, putting up a shelf, performing first aid etc. The issue with adding these to the curriculum is that other subjects would need to be sacrificed unless you extend the school day. English, Maths and the Sciences would absolutely have to remain, although you could probably get away with trimming down humanities such as RE and History.
More lenient mobile phone policies, with phones integrated into everyday learning and student management
Most schools take a very authoritarian approach to phone use, which is understandable from the context of minimising disruption, however this tends to teach kids that “phones are bad” in the same manner as drugs and alcohol and ignores the fact that smartphones are now an integral part of society and have potential to be used as a tool to teach safe and productive use of technology. Integrating smartphone use into everyday learning would teach kids many digital skills essential for the world of work, manage boundaries around screen time and allow them to engage with a more personalised curriculum tailored to their ambitions. It would also save schools lots of money on providing desktop computers for every pupil and replacing out of date textbooks which could be digitised and updated almost instantly on smart devices. There is the concern that this will glue kids to their phones even more, but I believe that if they are used regularly for learning, pupils will begin to associate these devices with work rather than fun, and hence use them much less in their spare time as they seek a change of activity.
Extension of the school day
As mentioned above, an expanded curriculum would necessitate this, but there is also a case for an extended school day in eliminating the need for parents to provide childcare and ensuring that kids stay out of trouble. An 8:30am start would give most parents enough time to travel to work after dropping off their kids, while finishing at 5:30pm would allow the same for the return journey after work. The problem is that children do still need time with their parents, and making this mandatory would disadvantage those who could benefit from extra family time.
Mandatory extra-curricular activities
Similar to the above, except the additional learning time would be replaced with enrichment activities such as sport, arts, music etc, which students would have to attend 5 days a week. This might be a better approach as sitting in a classroom for 8 hours isn’t really the best thing for personal and social development.
Reform of the term structure
The typical school year begins in September after a six-week long summer holiday, with two-week breaks at Christmas and Easter, and one-week half term breaks in between the holidays. This means that much of the leisure economy revolves around these dates, with prices for accommodation, travel and tourism rocketing during the holiday dates. Many schools already deviate from the traditional term dates, however one radical idea would be to abolish set holidays altogether, with school open 52 weeks a year and parents given 12 weeks worth of absence allowance to take their kids out of school at a time of their choice (which would include doctors appointments and other authorised absences in addition to holiday) This means that parents don’t have to worry about taking work leave or arranging childcare during set holidays, although it might disrupt learning in some cases if pupils aren’t given the opportunity to catch up after their leave.
Education voucher system
This would give parents more control over which schools should prosper for their children. Rather than central government funding schools directly, parents would be given a voucher of equal cost for each child, which can be used to enrol them in a state or private school of their choice. The cost would fully cover state schools, although for private schools the tuition fee may still need to be topped up with private finance. The advantage of this is that it would increase competition for good schools and incentivise them to expand, although it could possibly decrease the value of traditional private schools as they become increasingly oversubscribed. Additionally, education vouchers could be used to partially fund university tuition, home schooling and adult learning.
What are your thoughts, and would you suggest any alternative ideas to modernise the UK's education system?
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