The decisions we take today on our children’s education will have a far reaching impact on them, writes Chris Jones, Head of Copthorne Prep School, Sussex
The world is full of uncertainty and is changing more rapidly than ever. As I say frequently to prospective parents, your children will be applying for jobs that don’t exist today, using technology that has not been invented: yet they are still being educated in a system that has not changed for over a century.
Above, children need face to face time so they can learn to read body language and emotions
Schools still assess knowledge via exams, which suits children who can read, write, remember and regurgitate!
I have often decried how society seems to define children and young adults based almost solely on academic results ? we like Jane, as she has 11 GCSEs at A* (grade 8 or 9) but somehow we value Billy less as he only has 5 B’s and C’s! Yet Billy could be the most creative, most empathetic, most innovative child, who is simply not motivated by having to learn a whole load of knowledge, and then regurgitate it in an exam that is not really relevant to his YouTube/social media savvy world.
This results-driven education ignores the obvious limitation of any testing regime: exams only assess those things that are relatively easy to assess. This leaves out a whole host of equally important aspects of education. Children need to learn to collaborate, empathise, create and innovate. They nee...