(...) What are these exams actually measuring and what are the long term effects of pushing children and young people through the process?
(...) what’s the point of our obsession with exam results? Have we just become exam factories as claimed by the IoD? How are we measuring intelligence? What about creativity and valuable interpersonal skills - are they worthless?
(...) This has led to many brilliant people thinking they are not ‘intelligent’ as they are being judged against this sadly limiting mindset.
(...) Instead of nurturing skills that are valuable in a computerised age, the current model stamps out innate creativity and divergent thinking, with standardisation being the main goal. I firmly believe that it’s time to change the paradigm and move away from an archaic system where the focus firmly remains on testing.
(...) Schools are still squashing children into an antiquated education machine, which spits them out as either bruised and battered rejects or as conformists; experts in rote learning and memory challenges rather than deep thinking and enquiry.
(...) The IoD calls for students who are “imbued with curiosity, open-mindedness and the ability to make connections between seemingly unrelated bits of information”. They are NOT looking for students who have been trained to simply recall information to pass tests. The skills that are useful to employers are almost the opposite of the skills that are applauded in our education system – the ability to be effective in team working and to find good solutions through collaboration rather than the being able to provide a single ‘correct’ answer in isolation under exam conditions.
Universities also have a critical part to play if we are to change anything. Offering entry by grade only and a well written personal statement means that individual talent and ability is lost. And even they are becoming unstuck as this model unravels. As declining applications bite home, the likes of the University of Bristol are lowering entry grades for students from disadvantaged areas and giving guaranteed places to every school in the city. While I welcome the change, I have to ask is this really shifting the paradigm or is it just a sharp business move?
(...) We must all be more aware of the never-ending pressures on young people and the potential long term impact on their self-esteem and mental health.
(...) children should be encouraged to ask questions and think independently - not at the expense of Shakespeare or the Periodic Table - but alongside these.
We use learning wheels to map skills with values to inform our pedagogy, while ensuring that children feel safe and confident to speak out and be listened to. Our diverse programmes are developed to foster leadership, adaptability and resilience in all students.
(...) However, there is far more to learning. If we take the time to nurture our young people, we have a greater chance of equipping them with the values and attributes they need to become engaged learners and achieve long-term career success.