What should be prioritised in Primary Education?

What should be prioritised in Primary Education?

"Imagination is more important than knowledge.” – Albert Einstein 

Primary education has, on the majority, always been about pupils achieving certain grades and having a large bank of varied knowledge by the time they leave school for work in the outside world, going from ‘learners’ to ‘earners’. For the most part of the 19^th and the early 20^th century this was certainly true and is still argued as still happening today (Murphy, et. al. 2009). However like the quote at the start, is knowledge more important than anything else learnt in education? Or should the experiences (or other factors in education) take priority? This is what we will be looking into.

To start with, who decides what and why something goes into being taught in schools? The national curriculum was devised in the 1988 Education Reform Act to maintain what subjects and topics was to be taught in schools to ensure all pupils learnt the same thing, were up to the minimum national standard on assessments and didn’t miss out on anything during their learning (Bartlett, & Burton, 2016). The government decides what exactly is taught in this and changes periodically and due to pressures to ensure what is being taught is relevant to and matches what is needed in society (Donaldson, 2015). In the devolution of 1999, the Welsh Government was formed and took control of education in Wales. Over the years many changes have occurred but now another is on the horizon.

Donaldson, the architect of the new curriculum in Wales, proposed that there are 4 main purposes of the curriculum that pupils should develop as: Ambitious, capable learners, Enterprising, creative contributors, Ethical, informed citizens and Healthy, confident individuals. He believes that the curriculum should take the approach of prioritising pupils skills and experiences to prepare them for the future and ongoing learning  (Welsh Government, 2017). However in contrast to this, Dewey (1938, p.78) stated, “I believe that education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living.” This contradicts the current curriculums outlook, however if not to help and prepare a pupil for their future what is the purpose of having education and schooling? FitzPatrick (2014), agrees with Donaldson and recognises that children’s life-skills, well-being, communication skills and sense of identity and belonging all learnt in their primary education, are influenced by one another and the extent to which they develop these has an impact on this future experiences as learners. 

Donaldson also suggested six new areas of learning and experience to replace set subjects and encourage cross curricular learning these are: Expressive arts, Health and well-being, Humanities, Languages, Mathematics and numeracy, Science and technology (Welsh Government, 2017). With 3 key ‘responsibilities’ replacing core subjects - Literacy, Numeracy, and Digital Competency. Technology has taken a massive step up in regards to importance of subjects and learning and some say that this is due to living in the rise of the ‘digital age’. This supports the idea of education changing to the demands and needs of society (Lichtman, 2014). But, this also brings around the question of why certain subjects are still being taught and their relevance to the modern day. For example, History and the need to know facts such as names of kings and queens through the ages or capital cities etc when this can now be easily accessed on mobiles and other mobile technology at the touch of a few buttons (Murphy, et. al. 2009). However you could argue that that kind of information has always existed in books although admittedly not as convenient or readily accessible as being on a mobile phone. But it is the process of learning and developing your skills to effectively use this information learnt in exams or real life settings, that is the key reason why pupils are made to learn and understand it – not just to be able to remember it.

There are arguments for and against what should be prioritised in education, what should be taught and how it should be taught but there will never be one answer to suit everybody. This is due to everyone being unique and needing different things from the next person. Having education as something that is fluid and ever changing to the needs of society is one of the ways to try and be inclusive to everyone and although this is what is trying to be done, it is still not quite there yet (Murphy, et. al. 2009).

References:

Dewey, J. (1938) Experience and education.  New York: Free Press. 

Donaldson, G. (2015) Successful Futures: Independent review of curriculum and assessment arrangements in Wales. Caerdydd: Llywodraeth Cenedlaethol Cymru

FitzPatrick, S. Twohig, M. and Morgan, M. (2014) ‘Priorities for primary education? From subjects to life-skills and children’s social and emotional development’, Irish Educational Studies, 33(3), pp. 269–286

Lichtman, G. (2014) #EdJourney: A Roadmap to the Future of Education, Available online at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/cardiffmet/reader.action?docID=1767441(Accessed on 5^th May 2019).

Murphy, L. Mufti, E. & Kassem, D. (2009) Education studies: An introduction Maidenhead: Open University Press. 

Welsh Government, (2017) New School Curriculum: overview, Available online at: https://gov.wales/new-school-curriculum-overview (Accessed on 5^th May 2019).