Complacency killed the cat.
by Amy Ferguson
17 years ago, Sir Ken Robinson gave a pivotal speech about Scottish education. He asked the audience - Is our education system meeting the needs of our young people? Are we allowing students to nurture their talents, spark their curiousity and set off in a new direction, or are schools merely making the path that students are expected to follow?
In my opinion, not a lot has changed since Sir Ken Robinson's speech in 2006. A new Curriculum for Excellence was developed in 2002 following a consultation from the Scottish government but, arguably, the changes did not meet the needs of our young people. CfE boasted of developing "confident individuals, successful learners, responsible citizens and effective contributors", but the exam-based system from 4th year upwards remained largely unchanged. Instead of learning meta-skills (having difficult conversations, problem-solving skills, presentation skills, taking intiative and out-of-the-box thinking) that could help them in the workplace, the exam system encourages students to memorise facts and dates, a far out-dated system which is of no real-life consequence.
Complacency killed the cat.
I believe that curousity is the cornerstone of all great learning. It encourages to dig deeper, ask difficult questions, consolidate our learning and consider a better way moving forward. Our world is every changing and we need visionaries to carry us into a new society. Our world is every changing and, with the introduction of Artificial Intelligence, many of the professions we have today will soon be redundant. How can we best support our learners as we step into the unknown?
In the highly anticipated Hayward Review, we discuss moving to a most context-based model across the board. In an ever changing world, it is more important for our young people to develop resilience, flexibility and problem solving skills.
We don't know what society is going to look like in the next ten years.
Amidst changes in government, COVID-19, Brexit, a cost of living crisis and a climate crisis, we are yet to feel the ramifications of these events on everyday society. We are yet to see how our lives will morph and change to reflect this life-altering events. Instead of hiding from this, we need to act now to create an education system that gives young people a voice and a choice. The future, after all, is in their hands. Not ours.
Sources
The Scottish Government
