Imperial Party forum

thomas davison

Pupils 'should not be taught lists of kings and queens'
Children should not be taught facts at schools because pupils are turned off and bored by lists of �kings and queens�, teachers� leaders said today.
The National Union of Teachers have opposed the introduction of a new National Curriculum.
The National Union of Teachers have opposed the introduction of a new National Curriculum. idiot: ALAMY
Graeme Paton

By Graeme Paton, Education Editor

1:00PM BST 31 Mar 2013

Comments120 Comments

The National Union of Teachers warned that the Government�s proposed new knowledge-based curriculum should be dropped because it represents a �pub quiz� approach to education and it will lead to large numbers of pupils playing truant.

Rising exposure to the internet means that children �do not need to be carriers of information any more� because facts and figures are available at the �click of a button�, it was claimed.

The NUT backed plans for a campaign to oppose the introduction of a new curriculum that sets out the core knowledge that pupils should master at every age.

Activists also attacked a new spelling, punctuation and grammar exam for children aged 11 amid claims it will lead to a focus on rote learning.

Ministers have insisted that the existing curriculum introduced under Labour placed too much emphasis on woolly, cross-curricular skills at the expense of giving children a grounding in the basic knowledge they will need as they grow up.
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But the NUT claimed that the new curriculum � for five- to 14-year-olds in England � had swung too far from skills towards knowledge.

The move comes just weeks after 100 education professors wrote an open letter to Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, criticising the new curriculum because it will fail to develop pupils� creativity and analytical skills.

Anne Swift, from the union�s ruling executive, said action was needed to protect children from the �grad-grind of a pub quiz curriculum�, saying children could use Google to access facts.

�I fear this proposed curriculum will mean teaching children to learn facts by rote, with inspectors turning up to test the children�s knowledge of the continents, chronological order in history and the times tables,� she said.

Alex Kenny, another member of the ruling executive, said: �So what's wrong with Gradgrind Gove's pub quiz curriculum?

�It's a curriculum high on content and low on aims, concepts and skills. A curriculum in which the learner is completely absent, or just a passive consumer of information or knowledge.�

The curriculum � due to be introduced from September 2014 � will cover all major subjects in primary and secondary schools.

In English, it suggests pupils should recite poetry by heart in the first two years and master around 200 complex spellings by 11.

The maths curriculum introduces pupils to fractions at the age of five, 12 times tables by nine and algebra at 11.

In history, pupils are to be taught a sweeping chronology of British history from the Stone Age to the Glorious Revolution of the 17th Century in primary school.

But the NUT backed a motion condemning �a narrow �kings and queens� and �our island story� history curriculum� and an �obsession with particular literary texts�.

The motion warns that as a result of the new curriculum "creativity and enjoyment at school will be reduced, thus alienating young people and leading to more school absence in direct opposition to the Department for Education focus on promoting school attendance and on reducing pupil exclusion and disaffection�.

It called for campaign to oppose the curriculum and the introduction of new tests in spelling, punctuation and grammar for 11-year-olds.

To coincide with the debate, the NUT released the findings of a poll of more than 2,000 members that found two-thirds strongly opposed �the emphasis on facts rather than skills� in the national curriculum.

One teacher said: �We live in a digital era. Children do not need to be carriers of information any more. Everything is available on the internet at the click of a button.

�Teachers do not need to teach these facts. It�s out of date and desperately needs dragging into the 21st century�.

Another respondent said: �I want to create a society of critical thinkers who can interpret the world around them and innovate it to make life better. I do not want to create a society of robots who just know stuff.�

This is such un data supported from the teachers leaders and not in line with how teachers I know think. In the real world, we do actually need considerable mental work space: the ability to retain quite a lot of data in mind to solve problems, appreciate situations and make decisions. Google doesn't do it if you brain is so narrow because it has never had to memorize a poem, a French irregular verb (big source of truancy no doubt), or learn a chemical formula. Allowing children to become attention deficit, entertain me beings does nothing to prepare them for the real world. And learning content is part of growing the mental work space, memory that is in such short supply in the work place these days. Moreover, teaching history is probably one of the easiest subject to make vivid and interesting whether you are covering themes or people. Heck BBC TV lives off the Tudors. I guess our teachers these days are products of a dumbed down education system and actually to be fair are probably not capable of teaching what is required. They probably all need to go back to a real school themselves. Oh and maybe work on an assembly line for a year so they grasp the real world that produces the products they consume without thought or knowledge of how they are produced. Then the teachers' leaders might be capable of leading change.

Teachers are a disgrace in this country and should all be sacked and start again, in fact if they had anymore brains they would be half-wits