Last year, I taught a fabulous module which compared the English education system to other systems around the world. The students enjoyed the module, it was interesting to compare and contrast wider international approaches to the curriculum. On reflection, what a useful thing to do!
How worthwhile to compare, for example, school starting ages in Finland; investigate the advantages and disadvantages of this; look at how mathematics is taught in Singapore. I wonder if this is a practice completed regularly by our system leaders?
As I led my students through the module I couldn’t help but think how much we can learn from other countries – even within the United Kingdom we deliver different curriculums. For example, Wales has only recently introduced their new curriculum (2022) https://gov.wales/new-school-curriculum-overview. One of the motivations behind their new curriculum was to enable schools and teachers to have more flexibility to respond to the environment. Their curriculum overview states that the new curriculum will bring this [change] about by making learning more experience-based, the assessment of progress more developmental, and by giving teachers the flexibility to deliver in more creative ways that suit the learners they teach. There’s certainly much to learn from these insights.
All countries have shared concerns. By looking at global policy ideas we gain a richer understanding of possible policy responses to these areas and of the practical issues in the development and implementation of policies. There is much value to making these comparisons. Hall and Ozerk (2008) did just this. They surveyed 21 countries and found that the recurring themes in all these countries were the following:
development of all children’s potential;
promotion of the rounded individual;
fostering of the good citizen;
cultivation of the lifelong learner; and
shaping of the flexible individual for life in a rapidly changing globalized world.
Searching for the magic formula, all countries are trying to build systems which will benefit our young people. But what is it that we want and need for our young people?
The OECD’s Working Paper ‘Beyond literacy: The incremental value of noncognitive skills’ (2024) highlights the importance of non-cognitive skills in life chances. ‘Cognitive skills’ we are told ‘ such as literacy and numeracy, are undoubtedly powerful predictors of important life outcomes’ (Herrnstein and Murray, 1996). We know that cognitive skills are strongly related to educational attainment; income, labour force participation, and health (OECD, 2013[2]). But over the last ten years, how we determine what equates to successful life chances has shifted to traits beyond these cognitive skills to personality traits such as: motivation, interests, self-concepts, and beliefs (OECD, 2015). We are now told that ‘these traits are now often referred to as “non-cognitive skills”, an umbrella term originally coined by the sociologists Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis (1974[5]) to denote potentially relevant skills other than those captured by standardised cognitive test scores’.(OECD: 2024)
Researchers have not agreed on what specific skills fall under the broad term, but as a guide, the ‘Big Five Framework’ The Big Five | Mind & Behaviour (ox.ac.uk)is being used as the most widely used model. The five dimensions are: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience. One can clearly see that this shift is quite straightforward, these skills matter.
Even in Scotland with their ‘learner-centred curriculum they place personal competencies as a key value of their learning: successful learners, confident learners, responsible citizens and effective contributors. These capabilities are applied across the learning rather than being linked to specific subjects.
Surely, if the research states the skills needed to be successful then we need to address these traits in schools, starting from a young age? TICK Hub was approached this academic year to work with a financial services company to provide some insights into the PSHE Curriculum for how financial management is taught in KS1 and KS2. After some analysis, we realised that often some of these vital areas which need to be taught are not being given the profile they need. Wouldn’t you agree? Being able to manage money is a key skill needed for the future. Let’s start integrating this into children’s deep learning rather than a lesson added in. Let’s also think about what young people need to know too.
We currently have a system which is arguably preoccupied with Ofsted criteria and results (because we need an indicator or how a school is performing)- this is what schools are held accountable for and so leaders work towards achieving this, but I do wonder if this means that children are taught to meet a criteria and not necessarily to help them be successful after their schooling has finished.
We have recently been involved with delivering some training and was shown the ‘Skills Builder’ website The Skills Builder Partnership. This is a great way to plan for skills within your curriculum. We highly recommend it and have been working with some schools to implement this into their curriculum. If you would like help in assessing your curriculum – please do reach out.
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