The School Curriculum Ten Years Hence - UCET: Universities ...

Very similar conclusions arose from OFSTED’s evaluation of the New
Start projects (OFSTED 2000b and 2001b) whose aim was to raise
the participation of underachieving and disaffected young people in
education, training or employment. This is the key target group of
14-17 year olds that are likely, without effective intervention, to
end up needing the kind of support as adults that Frank has
described. Many of these young people were, at best, erratic
attenders at school and were not expected to achieve success in
GCSE or other qualifications. Outreach work was an important
feature of these projects - working with the young people wherever
they were.
The more successful projects demonstrated the importance of
dealing with individuals and focusing on the particular social and
personal, as well as educational, obstacles to educational progress.
The role of the personal adviser or mentor was important here in
providing personal advice, diagnosing needs and procuring a wider
range of contexts for learning and evaluating the outcomes. The
new Connexions Service is intended to build on some of these
positive features of New Start.
The results of the different New Start projects were very mixed but
there were sufficient examples of success with some of the most
disadvantaged young people in the education system to be
optimistic about what can be achieved.
Finally, what might the implications be for teacher training? While
initial teacher education and training can only be just that, initial, it
does need to reflect the increasing diversity of the secondary
curriculum and the teacher’s skills that are needed to accompany
this.
Of course, you will not be able to produce someone with all the
necessary knowledge and skills on a one-year postgraduate course
but, I would argue, you must start them on that learning pathway. I
began with the key features that promote effective learning - this is
surely where we should place our emphasis. But they must also
become familiar with a wider range of learning contexts than has
traditionally been the case in initial teacher education and training.
REFERENCES
Desforges, C (2001) Knowledge Base for Teaching and Learning.
Teaching and Learning, 3, October.
OFSTED (1993) Access and Achievement in Urban Education.
London: HMSO.
OFSTED (2000a) Improving City Schools. (HMI 222). London:
OFSTED.
OFSTED (2000b) New Start Partnership Projects for 14-16 year-olds