The time has come to say goodbye to antiquated Victorian educational principles and curriculums that have no value in the real world. Teachers and school leaders have known this for some time, but feel powerless in the face of constant scrutiny by Ofsted, the press and the 'league tables'.
Ironically, lockdown home-schooling has given parents, and the general public, an insight into the unnecessary and quite frankly ludicrous objectives our children are being prescribed by the Government and many are starting to question just what the heck their children are being taught.
The author of one hilarious article, questioned why her daughter of 6 was being taught to recognise, "...grammatical features such as prepositions, conjunctions and subordinate clauses; eight- and nine-year-olds, noun phrases expanded by the addition of modifying adjectives, preposition phrases, fronted adverbials and determiners; nine- and 10-year-olds, modal verbs and relative pronoun cohesion." She went on to state, "I don’t even know what some of these terms mean, and I’ve got a PhD in English." Case in point.
As Guardian columnist Peter Hyman states, "Employers are [...] increasingly doing their own strengths-based assessments and are not predominantly looking for academic qualifications. Exam grades are no longer seen as a proxy for what is needed not just in the workplace but in life. It’s agility, initiative, curiosity, problem solving, collaboration, emotional intelligence that matter most."
Positive Education is the answer to this. A character strengths and values focused curriculum that supports wellbeing and encourages communication, creativity and collaboration is surely the key to the future of education in Britain and education globally. The scientific evidence is there, we just need to act on it.
We offer a range of workshops and services designed to help you create a flourishing school that reaps the benefits of prioritising wellbeing. We also provide Resilience & Wellbeing training for adults and young people. Contact us to find out more.