British primary schoolchildren (aged 7 to 11) must demonstrate mastery of new communication tools, such as blogs, that podcasts, Wikipedia or Twitter, according to the primary education reform project being finalized by Gordon Brown's government to adapt it to the technological era. The immersion of students in the blogosphere has been the most publicized aspect of the plan, which will be approved next April with the intention of combining traditional learning themes with a greater understanding of multimedia products, erected in the sign of the times.
Just as important as oratory skills or the presentation of good handwriting will be knowing how to write on a keyboard or being familiar with audio and video download services, social networks or the communities that, in the case of the aforementioned Twitter, They allow the user to report what they are doing at that precise moment. The plan, however, places greater emphasis on the need to encourage mental calculations to the detriment of the calculator.
The project prepared by Sir Jim Rose (former head of the body that regulates educational centers, Ofsted) entails the biggest change in the educational system in the last three decades. The study program that students will follow before entering secondary school synthesizes the thirteen subjects that are currently taught in six large flexible areas: English language, mathematics, science and technology, human, social and environmental understanding, physical health and well-being , and art and design. And its centerpiece is the greater freedom granted to centers and teachers to define the content of the study plans. A model that is quite close to what Spain has in primary school, if the minimum teachings set by the central government for the six subjects of the stage are taken into account.
Thus, the new British curriculum requires, for example, that the student be able to place historical events in chronological order and establish relationships between them, but leaves it to the teacher's discretion to choose the periods that will be the object of study. This point has sparked criticism from those who denounce that, on paper, chapters as sensitive to British history as the Victorian era or World War II could be excluded from primary school programs. The Minister of Education, Ed Balls, has ruled out such a hypothesis by appealing to common sense.
"The attempt to formulate a centralized curriculum with very rigid evaluations, used as a mechanism to control the quantifiable results of the system, has been, basically, a failure," says the British expert in science teaching, today at Stanford University (USA). USA), Jonathan Osborne. The professor believes that the new model "will return to teachers a degree of professionalism and, I hope, a confidence that they had lost in the last 10 years in their relationship with society."
The project prepared by Rose argues for the need to integrate into the system technological advances that were "unimaginable" when the bases of the national educational curriculum were created twenty years ago. The majority of experts appreciate that the reform includes "new trends" in the field of communication, although there is concern in some sectors that the pillars of traditional education end up being undervalued.
The leader of the National Union of Teachers John Bangs believes that the new plan "minimizes the role of books and written texts in favor of learning that is based on Web". Students will learn to create multimedia products to share information on the Internet beyond the classroom, although teachers must help them discern the "reliability" of the information circulating on the Internet and discourage them from limiting themselves to "copy and paste." material on the computer when preparing their work. The reform also wants to address the changes in society, with the strengthening of the area related to health, physical development and well-being. This segment will include lessons on healthy lifestyle habits, relationships with peers and family, and even how to combat bullying.