Mr Gove’s BETT Speech
Posted: January 11th, 2012 | Author: ZoeRoss | Filed under: Education, Teaching | 13 Comments »
Well, what an interesting start to BETT!
I was really cross this morning by many of the headlines flying around, for example, Gove’s Move to Scrap Boring ICT Lessons. What a demotivating headline to read for existing ICT teachers and certainly not the way to go about instigating effective change! Many of the ICT teachers I know work very hard to ensure their lessons are exciting, innovative and engaging and I certainly did when I was head of ICT. Mr Gove states in his speech; “Imagine the dramatic change which could be possible in just a few years, once we remove the roadblock of the existing ICT curriculum. Instead of children bored out of their minds being taught how to use Word and Excel by bored teachers, we could have 11 year-olds able to write simple 2D computer animations using an MIT tool called Scratch.” Erm, Mr Gove, this is happening NOW in schools all over the UK!
Anyway, away from the headline-grabbing soundbites, Mr Gove actually said that teachers no longer have to follow the National Curriculum. This is great! However, again a little outdated. As James Greenwood tweeted;” ”Truth is that many ICT teachers worth their salt have been exceeding the reqs of the NC for a long time”. Having flexibility to do what is right for your students is very important, and, despite what many may be saying in the media and indeed Mr Gove mentioned a great deal in his speech, in my opinion, that will not always be Computer Science.
I totally agree that more could be done in schools to make ICT exciting and challenging, and including programming skills which are relevant for the 21st Century, is an important way. I loved teaching Computing elements to my classes years ago. However, I do think that there is a danger of, as many people said on twitter this morning, “throwing the baby out with the bathwater”. There are some elements of the ICT curriculum that are great – animation, modelling, web design for example. I know these can be incorporated into an engaging Computer Science programme, but I am concerned that “coding” will be seen as the only worthwhile activity. It’s not.
For example, I am reminded of my low ability year 9 class, a delightful bunch for whom getting that cat moving backwards in forwards in Scratch was a major achievement. Teaching them programming or coding for a prolonged period of time would be agony for everyone. So, it’s great that teachers will have the flexibility to do what is best and I hope it stays that way.
I also hope that Mr Gove will take teachers’ expertise into account during the consultation process and not simply be swayed by what big businesses, influential voices and the media are saying. Teachers such as Mark Clarkson and Andy Field have been sharing excellent practice and taking a balanced view for a number of years. Those teachers involved in #ictcurric are also very passionate about making the ICT curriculum relevant, challenging and exciting and Open Source Schools and Computing at School have been advocating many of the things he discussed in his speech for years. Mr Gove, his advisors and those baying for ICT’s blood should respect that teachers have a great deal more practical knowledge than academics, enthusiasts and big companies about what works in schools. Although such organisations have their part to play and I respect that they bring different ideas and viewpoints to the discussion, they do not have the professional training, experience and knowledge to be shaping educational policy. Great teaching is about inspiring and enthusing students and giving teachers an official pass to get on with teaching what they think is best for their students, together with the time and resources to learn new skills, is key.
Totally agree with you. Was fuming by the time I got to school this morning with the comments on Radio 5. The set curriculum is the problem not the teaching.
In Wales it is further back than England and nothing has been said here about any changes.
Hi Zoe
Great post with interesting points (some of which I’ve covered in my post). I think it’s easy to feel disheartened by the “boring ICT” headlines but we must remember that we are ahead of the game.
The sad fact is that we are only a small percentage of ICT teachers. Many are not engaging in networks online or seeking out professional development opportunities such as TeachMeets. I hope my classroom is not boring and I feel the announcement legitimises some things that we’re already doing.
I have no doubt that there will still be many boring lessons in ICT up and down the country. The work you have done to push the curriculum has paved the way for these teachers.
Now how do we get them to find out about it?
Thanks for the comment, Stuart and I do agree that there is more work to do, however I have noticed a genuine increase in the numbers of teachers I meet who are already using tools such as Scratch and are now looking to push it further – ie create more complicated games. So, it is happening, albeit more slowly than is right for some pupils, and if this speeds that up then that is a good thing. How do they find out about the work we’ve all being doing…well maybe we should all write a book like #movemeon & ask Gove for the money to put it into every ICT department?
It is just too easy to “bash” ICT & actually Gove improved on this from his speech as SSAT & was much clearer that it was the ICT curriculum he was opening up – but in which direction?. I hope you can get the right changes in Wales too soon!
You raise a series of excellent points. I have seen the impact of a poor ict curriculum first hand but Gove ‘vision’ seems very narrow…he talks of abandoning the curriculum to free it up but then tries to say what should be taught. I just see it that once again he has demonstrated his lack of understanding of the issues.
Indeed, and all the more reason he needs to be advised by teachers, not those with their own, possibly skewed, agenda. Thanks for the comment!
Lucid, forthright and challenging as ever Zoe.
Have responded on my blog – well a stream of consciousness – http://gideonwilliams.posterous.com/day-11-of-366
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Some interesting points Zoe. I understand the frustration that many innovative ICT teachers will feel at the accusations of being ‘boring’. However, it is easy for those innovative, connected educators to over estimate their influence due to the close networks they are part of such as twitter. We have to remember a minority of teachers are sharing in this way, and that are many, many more who are not (and potentially not innovating as a result).
You are right to point out that many ICT teachers effectively evolved beyond the current curriculum some time ago. What interests me is the delivery of ICT by non specialists though, particularly at Primary level. There are many teachers there who feel ICT is not their specialism and that so long as they deliver the NC (or, shockingly, the QCA scheme from 10 years ago), they are fulfilling their responsibility in terms of ICT.
This announcement will hopefully make many thing again, and consider what they are doing in ICT and whether it is actually what their pupils need. If significant numbers of teachers start follow these lines of thinking then we could see some subtle but large scale changes for the better in this area.
Thanks for the comment, Oliver and I do see where you are coming from, particularly from a primary perspective. I do have to emphasise though that most secondary ICT departments are now doing some form of programming, usually Scratch and this is not just innovators. I totally agree that a move in this direction is positive, however I am also concerned that the balance will swing too far and some of the excellent, but not computer science, aspects of ICT will be removed. Computing is great but it’s not for everyone.
A good post which supports those teachers who do care, unfortunately my own (aleit brief ) experience of teaching showed me how much work is required to move ICT teachers forward.
This was a huge disappointment for me and was a significant factor in my decision to put my teaching career on hold after I completed my PGCE.
I am glad for Gove’s decision even if with his clumsiness because it gives me hope that the teachers who really need a shake up may now get it, instead of being able to teach the same things over and over and putting a lot of students off, not many students who got as far as A2 level I my school showed any interest in doing it after and many of the GCSE students seemed to have chosen it thinking it would be an easy pass.
As a member of the BCS I hope their input will be valuable too.
It would be a better world if all ICT departments had a head like you were!
Hi Chris, Thanks for your comment. What a shame that was your experience and it has lead you to put your teaching career on hold. You are right that ICT is often seen as an easy option and some of the GCSE courses for ICT are very weak. Exam boards (and the strive results and a higher place in the league tables) have much to answer for. There is no doubt that Computer Science is more rigorous and useful for some students; let’s hope we can have that and also an engaging ICT (or whatever they want to call it) curriculum that is accessible for other students and deals with other aspects too. Josie Fraser addresses this further in her excellent post Computer Science is not Digital Literacy. Good luck in your future plans, whatever they may be.
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