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Conference Motion Session I: Tuesday 29 July: 1430-15.30

 

Conference speeches are the personal opinions of those making them and may not necessarily represent current Voice policy. Motions that are carried will go to Voice’s Council (the policy-making body) for consideration.

 

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Conference believes that the opening of new faith schools could be divisive not inclusive.

 

Proposed by: Wesley Paxton (pdf)      

   

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Conference believes that the wide range of qualifications available at age 16 is confusing and bewildering to students, teachers and employers.

 

Proposed by: Simon Smith

 

I told a colleague at school that this was something I was to put forward at Conference. They simply replied: "Yep, that’s true, no need to say anymore is there?" It was as simple in his mind as that!

 

Let’s consider the range of courses that are taught to pupils at the age of 14,15,16,17 and 18.  There are a wide variety of names that are used…..

 

BTEC, ASDAN, DIDA, GCSE, NVQ, Diplomas, Certificate of Achievement, A Level, AS level, and Baccalaureate.

 

They are just some of the titles we are talking about.

 

I believe that we are doing a disservice to our pupils at the age of 16.  Pupils can leave school or move onto further education with what I consider to be a bewildering range of qualifications.  I don’t think that we are being fair to our pupils by allowing them to enter the adult world with such a confusing array of qualifications that are difficult to interpret and understand.

 

We have the ability to get a variety of As, Bs, Cs, Passes, merits, level 1, grade1 and so on. 

I have no hesitation in saying that if you take any individual course and look at its content than you will most likely find a series of study programmes that are worthy in their own right.  I can accept that some courses will be tailored to meet the specific needs of groups of pupils, whether it be by aptitude, ability or even location.

 

I think that we should take a few steps back and think about why we have qualifications.

To my mind this falls into 2 categories. 

 

Firstly, to provide a level of training in a particular skill or discipline such as learning to read, write, do additions, read maps, or even plane a piece of wood.  Many of the skills will be basic to allow people to succeed in the everyday requirements of life and employment.  The level of skill achieved will vary from person to person but essentially the skill sets will be the same. 

The training in these skills becomes more specific as you get older.  Such courses start with options at the age of 14 and then become more focused at the age of 16. There is a need to monitor, check and assess how people are progressing through these stages.

 

But however specific a course or qualification may be, we are reminded that in the world of employment today, flexibility and adaptability are crucial, with the average person likely to change jobs or even career direction 6 or more times before they get to retirement.  In this scenario surly it is important to have a qualification system where everybody understands what things mean.

 

Secondly, to my mind, qualifications provide a level and even judgement of a person’s ability in a subject relative to other people.  Now this has been a sensitive subject for some in education.  There has clearly been the belief that to have an overt way of clearly showing success or failure is not right.   The arguments about the merits of examinations have been well rehearsed over time and I don’t think we need to go into detail here today.  Exams are here and they are here to stay.

 

I do have some understanding of the success/failure argument.  I personally feel that a grade system of letters is better than an old fashioned pass/fail.  But I do firmly believe that we need a grade system.  We are educating our pupils for life but also so that they can be employed.  The world of employment is a much harsher environment; in many cases it simply cannot have as much empathy with the needs of individuals as we can in education.

 

I feel that it is important for people to be on a level playing field with their educational qualifications; it would be easier to understand progress and be comparative. This to my mind can only be done under the same umbrella of qualification.

 

As teachers, how do we explain what’s best for pupils? With new courses popping up on a regular basis, it certainly can be very demanding to simply keep up with developments and yet we are the ones that pupils and parents will turn to for advice.  We have recently had the diploma introduced to provide a qualification more suited to modern needs, but it seems to me it’s simply becoming an addition to what’s already on offer.

 

It was once suggested to me that the range of exams that are available now was part of a plan to confuse people so that the equivalence of different qualifications could not be understood and pupils could enter the next stage of their lives under a smoke screen and confusion and all start equal again as they moved into further education.  I spoke with one employer who said it was almost like a bit of a gamble taking on people, based on their qualifications, as they just didn’t understand any longer what they all actually meant or what they were worth.

 

We must not forget parents as well.  We often talk about wanting to get further engagement from parents. How on earth are they going to understand and join in sensible discussions about the future with so many different standards to interpret?  I think that the time spent explaining the complexity of equivalence and relative levels is probably best spent actually getting on with doing some work and learning things.

 

It really is quite a thrill to be in school on a Thursday in mid August and see the pupils receive their exams results; to see the smiling happy faces as the envelopes are opened.  It’s one thing to simply know in your mind that you have worked hard for something, but I think that we should make those exam results and certificates stand for more by giving this present confusing system a proper shake up.  

 

It surely cannot be beyond the ability of us as educationalists to come up with a simple accreditation system that can easily understood.  People say that we are supposed to be the clever ones!

 

Let’s throw out what’s confusing, let’s perhaps revert to some traditional values that are known and respected. Let’s give students, parents, teachers, businesses, and the commercial and industrial world a better chance at understanding what those important pieces of paper mean.  

 

The system needs a sort out to be fair to all.  Please support the motion.

 

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Conference believes that the wide range of qualifications available at age 16 is confusing and bewildering to students, teachers and employers.

 

Seconded by: Peter Morris

 

What is the matter with this government? Why doesn’t it listen?

 

For many years now, teachers have been telling the government: Enough is enough. Why do we need all this continual change. I remember several years ago addressing the Conference on this very subject. I remember that Conference called for a period of stability in education to allow the whole gambit of changes to bed down. Did they listen? Did they hell! Since then, it has been full steam ahead for change, change and more change.

 

The increasing number of qualifications and initiatives just seeks to bog us all down , whilst many of us are getting more and more confused. And if teachers are getting confused, what about pupils, parents & employers?

 

Some years ago, you heard me talking about dumbing down qualifications to ensure that all pupils leave school with some form of qualification. What we need is a range of qualifications which are fit for purpose. The term I used a few years ago was ‘horses for courses’. That expression applies today even more than it did then. Lets have a range of qualifications that be understood by all. It is important that academic qualifications remain rigorous, but that these stand alongside vocational qualifications.

 

Colleagues, I have pleasure in seconding this motion.

 

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Conference believes that teaching should not be a masters-level profession.

Proposed by:  Nardia Foster  (Word)

 

Conference believes that teaching should not be a masters-level profession.

Seconded by:  George Clement

 

 How many people in the room can remember spending 3 years at a Teacher Training College?  Remember all those teaching practices that you had to pass?  Those who failed were either given a second chance or advised to find another career. 

 

When I started my career, my then Head of Department said ‘I wouldn’t progress unless I had 1^st, An ‘A’Level and then later a degree’.  This was from someone who didn’t have a formal teaching qualification themselves but did have a degree from Oxford.  I did get both the ‘A’ level and the degree and I jokingly say that I went from being a B.U. (Bloody useless) to B.A. (Bloody awful).  Did the degree make me a better teacher?  I doubt it.  What did help was the experience of doing the job with support from more experienced colleagues. 

 

Ofsted have said, recently, that there are a large number of incompetent teachers.  Why? Because no one is allowed to fail.  Remember, the Training Colleges were stringent in both their selection and assessing procedures.  Is the possession of a Masters degree going to change that?  I doubt it.   

 

This Masters degree will, as Nardia mentioned, divide staff.  It could also be used to overlook experience in favour of the holder of a Masters with less experience.  Given the time and effort that will be required, how will NQTs manage?  We have already seen that work/life balance is not working properly.  This will put more pressure on NQTs and instead of learning by experience they will be spending valuable time studying. 

 

Finally I would say that experience in doing the job makes good teachers, not necessarily some degree.  Therefore I urge members to vote for the motion.

 

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Conference urges the Welsh Assembly Government to support the introduction of a manifesto to promote education outside the classroom.

 

Proposed by:  Yvonne Johns     Seconded by: Peter Wilkinson

 

Every young person should have the right to experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of learning and personal development whatever their age or circumstances.

 

The use of learning outside the classroom often has the most memorable learning experiences and helps us make sense of the world around us and this experience stays with us into adulthood, affecting our behaviour, lifestyle and often choice of career and world of work, and often encouraging the take-up of hobbies and other interests.

 

Education is more than just the acquisition of knowledge.  Outside the classroom experience helps us to develop skills, understanding, values and personal development and encourages teamwork. It significantly enhances learning and achievement. Education outside the classroom is not an end in itself but a vehicle to learn and provide a framework for learning that uses the surroundings and communities outside (such as the Welsh countryside and seashore etc).  It adds much value to the classroom learning and adds depth and spans traditional subject boundaries. (Visits to Cardiff and London, for, example, for Geography, History, Communication, etc) which might be more difficult to teach, and puts subject matter into context.  It involves interpersonal communication and cooperation.

 

I am a believer of experiential, student-centred learning often called authentic learning. What we do, see, hear, taste, touch gives us the main pathways to learning.  We experience  and we remember we are told and we forget. It aids memory recall. Young people are intensely curious and we should  encourage this at all levels so they explore the world around them. If this is to be successful we need to have better provision for learning outside the classroom. This initially has to come from the encouragement and support of the Welsh Assembly Government to the teachers and carers.

 

The benefits of learning outside the classroom enable children to apply knowledge across a range of challenges, build bridges between theory and reality, engage with quality learning experience in real situations that have the capacity to raise achievement across a range of subjects and to develop better personal and social skills.

 

When these experiences are well planned, safely managed and personalised to meet the needs of children, they have numerous benefits such as making learning more engaging, developing active citizens and stewards of the environment, nurturing creativity, reducing behaviour problems. Because we empower the children to take responsibility of their learning, we stimulate and inspire, provide a challenge and the opportunity for them to take acceptable levels of risk and improve their attitude to learning.

 

All of this fits in with Key Education Priorities and provides a powerful route to ‘Every Child Matters’ outcomes. Well planned and structured outside the classroom activity enables children to enjoy, achieve, stay safe and develop a healthy lifestyle.

 

When and where it takes place should be left to the  discretion of the planning team to meet the criteria and objectives set. It could be part of the school day, holiday or weekends and making use of the wide ranges of environments and the wealth of culture we find in Wales  (such as Snowdonia, the Conwy Valley, the seashore, theatre and heritage sites) and of course within the UK and further afield.

 

Residential places have the advantage of being a good leveller, getting young people to develop life and social skills and learn to work as a team and appreciate each other. For some children this will be the first time they have left their parents and learnt to be independent. None of this can happen without the enthusiasm and hard work of those responsible for young people. It needs support of government, teachers, support staff, carers, parents and community and voluntary organisations, with a shared agenda for future activities working in partnership. In order for this to happen, a shared vision is needed, supported by a Manifesto with clear guidance, protocols and risk management criteria  to help formulate the delivery of learning outside the classroom.

 

I urge you to endorse this motion that the Welsh Assembly Government support the introduction of a Manifesto to make a difference to young people by promoting learning outside of the classroom.

 

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