Michael Gove Loves Written Exams Because He Was Good At Them
MICHAEL Gove, in charge of education matters for the coalition, has lost it. He wants schools to just be about creating students ready for more schooling. Education is no longer a means to an end – it is a life-long processs. Forget about the quality of the degree and satisfaction from life. Just sit down, shut up and get your certificate.
The fresh meat enters at one end and emerges gooey and pliable from the other:
New-style league tables are to be created showing how many children at each state secondary go on to graduate with an honours degree.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, said the move would encourage schools to make pupils “university-ready” and ensure they are given decent advice to pick the correct courses.
Victoria Coren nails it:
It is only a certain percentage of children who will ever have their imaginations captured by Shakespeare, algebra and foreign languages. The mistake, in a previous generation, was to privilege these disciplines above metalwork, carpentry and cookery. Our elders decided that it was insulting to the “less bright” kids to teach them “trades” instead of Hamlet.
But it isn’t at all. Some children’s brains come alive for practical or visual skills, some for flights of mental fancy; you don’t need to define them as more or less “clever”. Learning anything, whether speaking French or making a table, is beautiful for its own sake. We once had a system that identified whether children excelled at physical or verbal creativity, respected both and weighted their education accordingly. Abandoning that system was both patronising and short-sighted. It was a decision taken by those who had shone in written exams themselves, but couldn’t hammer a nail to save their lives. Like, duh.
Wonder how many men in takes for Gove, Cameron and Osborne to change a lightbulb..?
Posted: 21st, March 2011 | In: Politicians Comments (2) | TrackBack | Permalink
