Eight priorities to improve primary education

UK Primary School Students

Echoing the assertions made in the Week 2 content videos about the changing role of the educator as researcher, change agent, and evidence-based decision-maker, “… after three years collecting evidence from research, interviews, focus groups, submissions and official data, its (CPRT) 31 interim reports were followed by a final report with key findings and recommendations. This called for quick political fixes and snap reforms to be replaced by a long-term, sustainable vision for primary schools grounded in secure evidence”, Robin Alexander, Cambridge Primary Review Trust (CPRT) chair, set out eight priorities for improving primary education in a 2013 speech.

The priorities he outlined for public policy in education have a great deal in common with the big ideas about New Learning addressed in the Week 2 videos.

Help schools tackle educational disadvantage and close the attainment gap.

This priority echoed the professors’ ideas on how education is allegedly valued, especially according to political rhetoric, but it seems undervalued by those on the inside, because we will not commit as a country to devoting adequate resources to education.

Give children a real say in their learning.

This priority reflects the professors’ ideas as well as the students’ ideas from the reading videos about the shifting balance of agency from the professor to the students. It is vital that students be reflective, co-designers in their learning, and that personal education plans supplant the one size fits all approach. Students are human beings, not products.

Primary education should not just be about preparing children for secondary school.

This priority echoes the professors’ points about how just completing one stage of education is not a goal in and of itself, nor is merely preparing student for the next stage. We must look at educational outcomes that build capacities in students to act in effective and meaningful ways outside of the formal educational context.

Make 'breadth and balance' more than a slogan. Take seriously the curriculum beyond the 3Rs.

This priority echoes the professors’ points about the need to create in learners a capacity for problem-solving, adaptability, application of knowledge to multiple contexts outside of formal education, and to be interdisciplinary in its approach, creating a person who is educationally well rounded.

Increase the focus on evidence-based pedagogy.

This priority echoes the professors’ ideas about the changing role of the educator as a professional and as a researcher who observes and modifies his behaviors to achieve better learning outcomes for students.

Assessment should be about more than just test results.

This priority echoes the professors’ ideas about the need for more authentic assessment such as using artifacts of learning, observation of student performances, evidence of students applying knowledge and skills in a variety of contexts.

Schools should connect with the community.

This priority reflects the professors’ ideas about learning extending beyond the classroom and the idea that connecting with local communities will help meet the needs of learners with diverse demographic, economic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

The discourse of educational policy must change, and radically.

This priority reflects the professors’ ideas about political rhetoric and discourse. It is necessary for policy makers to rely upon evidence when making decisions. Evidence should be applied evenly rather than selectively (when it supports the policymaker’s own agenda)

The text supported and validated the assertions made in the course while providing a specific context in which they would be applied, primary education in the UK. Since the article was published in 2013, I wonder how many recommendations were actually acted upon by the legislature. I imagine not all of them.