Late last year, the education secretary, Michael Gove, conceded that, while determined to adhere to his timetable for qualifications reform, if a “red light” flashed, he would bear in mind it.
It is tricky to visualize a brighter “red light” than last week’s education select committee report on Gove’s plan to exchange GCSEs with English Baccalaureate Certificates (EBCs). The committee dissected the challenges facing the coalition’s most contentious education reform and concluded that there have been serious concerns about almost every aspect of the proposals.
With the clock now ticking towards the introduction of the brand new exams in 2015, a seemingly intransigent minister, opposition to his plans from many quarters and a Labour Party policy review not because of report for several more months, even seasoned commentators can’t quite predict where this process will end.
But one group of headteachers is taking matters into their very own hands and pressing ahead with a grassroots reform movement, determined to construct support and consensus around an alternate vision of what education could and may be.
The Heads’ Roundtable started with a handful of college leaders, drawn together via Twitter by shared concerns in regards to the effects that government policy would have on their pupils, and by frustration in regards to the loss of a powerful alternative.
Since their original meeting on the Guardian’s offices in October last year, they’ve gathered greater than 6,000 Twitter followers, and feature met with the colleges minister Liz Truss and shadow education secretary, Stephen Twigg. Michael Gove has yet to just accept their invitation.
As the federal government held its consultation over EBCs, the Heads’ Roundtable held another consultation at the curriculum and qualifications, to which 150 headteachers responded. On Monday last week, greater than 40 of these heads met in Leeds to debate the effects and to begin thrashing out their alternative vision.
“None folks really expected this to take off inside the way it has,” explained Ros McMullen, principal of the David Young community academy, Leeds, and chair of the hot conference. “We were only a group of heads, who had never met beyond our Twitter conversations, but what we’ve discovered is that there’s a broad and growing coalition of faculty leaders accessible who’re not “enemies of promise”.
“Actually we’re among those that have delivered change and improvement and we wish to be actively curious about shaping the system of the longer term on behalf of all our pupils with the intention to raise quality and standards for all.”
Several key issues emerged from the consultation: rejection of the EBC and of norm-referenced assessment systems (from which Mr Gove has now distanced himself); disquiet in regards to the primary phonics, spelling and grammar tests, concerning the extent of political interference in curriculum and qualifications and in regards to the loss of time and thought given to major changes. Moreover there has been fear that a two-tier qualifications system will emerge and anger about what one founder-member of the crowd, John Tomsett, head of Huntington school in York, describes because the “curriculum cliff”, that could result in some subjects dropping by the wayside of young people’s lives.
The next step is to construct support among a fair wider group of heads using Twitter, local networks and other social media. Five key principles are the root for the movement:
• Major change ought to be separated from political politics;
• No child must be excluded from the qualifications system;
• Policy development should start with identifying what teenagers should know, understand and manage to do;
• Curriculum design should come before assessment and accountability;
• The teaching profession must be centrally eager about shaping future reform.
By May of this year, when the crowd meets, again they hope to have developed a radically different approach in response to the theorem of a “real” baccalaureate. Instead of the coalition’s EBacc choice of subjects, this will be a countrywide framework that might allow pupils to accumulate point scores with credits within the core subjects of English, mathematics and science and a decision of arts, humanities, languages, sciences, technical subjects and project work.
Extra points will be earned for “personal development and repair” in areas like PSHE, citizenship, outdoor education, arts and sport. Accountability does not just rest with the purpose score, but with a whole transcript of scores in the complete component parts. The technical routes could lead on to a “tech bacc” and there could be some large single units akin to engineering. The general baccalaureate awarded on the end of a student’s school career will be a “best fit” and, according to the Heads’ Roundtable core principles, would haven’t any maximum score, no ceiling on achievement, no limits on aspiration and a chance for each student to realize the qualification.
Tom Sherrington, headteacher of the King Edward VI grammar school in Chelmsford, Essex, who drafted the proposal, explained the thinking: “i’m the pinnacle of a highly selective grammar school, however the EBC just isn’t chatting with me – and it’ll. This is essentially a brief-term response, which leaves out lots of the problems while bypassing the tutorial/vocational completely.
“There isn’t a must exclude some subjects and no value to the nation in doing this – art and music are as intellectually rigorous as history and geography and one shouldn’t be intrinsically any less valuable than the opposite. Pupils don’t always need to have an analogous education, but all of them should have a great one. Education could be valued in its entirety, not only on that that is easily measured.”
The next stage of development involves eager about how the units, which can evolve from existing qualifications, could be assessed at different levels, similar to piano grades; how they would be banked through the years so students can take them once they are ready, building on success other than failure; and the way a baccalaureate approach can be extended back to primary schools.
Involvement of headteachers in future development of policy is important, in step with Alison Shaw, principal of Seaton Burn college in North Tyneside. “I came to feature my voice to these of a bunch of heads who’ve in common a want to contribute constructively to the national education debate,” she said.
“There’s considerable concern currently concerning the proposed changes to assessment and qualifications. In areas of critical professional importance, the voice of heads on policy-making ought to be portion of the talk. i’m hoping that the Heads’ Roundtable will influence policy by engaging resolutely in areas where there’s a need for greater consideration of different models to these being proposed, and by bringing to bear proper research.”
The challenges ahead for the crowd are clear. The draft proposals will need specialist assessment advice and, more importantly, might want to gain traction with politicians on all sides of the political divide. As Tomsett explained: “Time is absolutely not on our side, so it’s important for us to provide alternatives to Michael Gove and Stephen Twigg, and for them to listen, before schools start to implement the ill thought-through EBC.
“Profound curriculum development takes years and shouldn’t be rushed to fulfill political imperatives. Experienced headteachers with years of expertise are collaborating to supply academically challenging alternatives to EBCs; we all know what we’re talking about. The models we’re developing are rigorous and inclusive – you actually could have both.”
“I’m now being installed a situation where i’m forced to choose from the wishes of my school and the wishes of my pupils,” said founder member Vic Goddard, principal of Passmores academy in Harlow, Essex. “And that’s not right. We wish to develop a system where that conflict doesn’t occur and where we will do the very best for all our youth.”
• To determine more concerning the Heads’ Roundtable, see the result of the consultation or more detail at the “real” English baccalaureate, visit headteachersroundtable.wordpress.com
