Category: examinations

We can’t do it all: we can’t teach our children everything. British education systems have responded to the demands of every age by adding to school curricula.  It has been much harder to purposefully take things away. Just like the nice jacket that doesn’t quite fit, we’d better save that little bit of trigonometry in case we need it later. The cluttered curriculum is fueling the great post-GCSE exodus from science: to enthuse young people about the beauty and utility of science, we need to decide what to take away.

Ever-burgeoning curricula sometimes create a temporary fix for their own problems, when they push entire subjects off school timetables by accident. The passing of subjects such as Latin is occasionally lamented, the threat to drama or music is sometimes recognised, but science curricula continues to protuberate. The accumulation of curricular items has created a particular crisis in science: we don’t spend lesson time on what is most important-we can’t try out, think about, play with scientific ideas-because there’s too much stuff to learn in the first place.

Continue reading “The Cluttered Curriculum”