With the introduction of the new GCSEs, the bar for students to vault over has been raised once again. However, many believe that this is not the way forward to improve education.
Around the time of Theresa May’s grammar school controversy, some pointed to the German system as an example to follow. UKIP’s idea of ‘profession schools’ was hardly original, peculiar how they pushed Brexit- then proceeded to copy European educational values. The German education system filters students into a wide range of professions and career paths in accordance to their ability and interests. This leads to a complex range of institutions, shown below[1].
However, Germany is twelfth in the league tables, according to Edudemic.com’s 2014 survey[1]. We are above them at sixth place. Why would we adopt a suggestively inferior educational system?
Arguably, one could say that the removal of coursework and the fixation on final exams has abstracted education to such a great level that it no longer represents real life work. Germany is renowned for its ability to educate skilled, efficient workers[2].
The Guardian[3] pushed the idea that creative play leads to enhanced brain development, thus allowing children to achieve higher results. This is undeniably true, as shown by Finland’s second place ranking in the league tables, who do just that.
Unfortunately, we are not in the same positon as the Finnish, who have a modest population at best, and are far wealthier. Therefore, funding may not be available to implement Finland’s ‘creative education’ system.
South Korea has an educational system similar to ours, except it is considered the best in the world (again, according to Edudemic.com’s 2014 survey).
Asiasociety.org ; “The Korean school system is a 6-3-3-4 system; that is, six years of primary school, three years of junior high, three years of senior high school and four years of college.”
Our educational system in comparison is 7-5-2-4; seven years of primary school, five years of secondary, two years of senior education and four years of higher education. The first drastic difference seen here is the Korean’s spend an additional year completing their equivalent of A-levels, a year less at primary school and two years less in secondary. That is three years less in total that South Korean students spend in education.
The second drastic difference is shown below:
(Note: as the student population figure is outdated for South Korea, it is likely they now match our student population due to natural population growth)
How could South Korea spend approximately one eighth of our educational budget and overtake us by six places in the league tables? How can their students spend three years less in education and surpass our educational expectations? What are the South Koreans doing, which we are not?
Drilling their students into the ground is what they are doing. The South Korean educational system is brutally competitive.
Wikipedia:[1] “It is a commonly known saying in Korea that 'If you sleep three hours a night, you may get into a top 'SKY university;' If you sleep four hours each night, you may get into another university; if you sleep five or more hours each night… forget about getting into any university.’ ”
I, personally, found myself in a pit of despair just reading about their super intensive programme. It is effective, but at what cost? The answer; students sacrificing their holidays, birthdays and their passions to study. This inevitably leads to mental health issues, as the brain cannot cope with constant stress and work.
Clearly, this is not the way forward for Britain. However, there must be something we can learn from the East; considering their hold of the top four places in the league tables of education.
I believe that finding a balance between pushing and nurturing students is key. As always, having a black-and-white view to complex issues leads people to be blind to the clear solution. With the introduction of the insanely harder A-levels and GCSEs, it is clear the Conservative government are trying to push students harder, like South Korea.
However, basic reverse psychology will tell you that the more you push someone, the more they resist. If you overcome their original “mental inertia”, you may get them moving in the right direction, but often when a person is put under pressure- without a motive to succeed- they just give up. This is where the underachievement begins.
Some people appear to believe that just telling the most rebellious age group in the UK to do as they’re told and learn will work because they said so. Unfortunately this group of people somehow find themselves in positions of power within education.
A student needs a motive to try, to succeed. The first lesson that should be taught in school is the importance of education. Often students ask their teachers “when will we actually use this in life?”, it’s become so frequent, even, that coming up with clever responses is commonplace staffroom banter.
The obvious genuine response is to explain to students that what they’re leaning is merely a foundation for harder topics. However, the implication of education becoming harder the longer one stays within it, is an equally potent deterrent to “because it’s on your exam”.
The students that really succeed, therefore, are the students that enjoy a challenge- because they believe they can succeed- and receive gratification for doing so. Thus I have explained why education is as much about nurturing as it is driving students forward.
Simply making exams harder will not spur students on, if anything it’ll suppress the flow of young minds into the strongly desired STEM subjects. This is why I oppose the latest changes in education.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Germany
[2] http://www.edudemic.com/learning-curve-report-education/
[3] http://www.dw.com/en/germany-exports-a-secret-of-its-success-vocational-education/a-38114840
[4] https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/sep/20/grammar-schools-play-europe-top-education-system-finland-daycare
[5] http://fairreporters.net/world/the-best-education-systems-in-the-world-in-2015/
[6] https://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/total_spending_2016UKbn
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_South_Korea
[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_England#Higher_education
[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_South_Korea