Beyond knowledge to understanding and skills ELT 3 October 2011

1. Beyond knowledge to understanding and skills ELT 3 October 2011

2. We are preparing young people for jobs that don’t yet exist… requiring technologies that haven’t yet been invented… to solve problems of which we are not yet aware.

3. ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ is Scotland’s educational response to global change.

4. The ‘Instructionist’ model of schooling The aim of schooling is to transfer knowledge Knowledge consists of facts and simple procedures Success can be assessed by testing pupils’ possession of knowledge

5. The Harvard Cognitive Revolution The cognitive revolution was “an all-out effort to establish meaning as the central concept…. Its aim was to discover and to describe formally the meanings that human beings created out of their encounters with the world, and then to propose hypotheses about what meaning-making processes were implicated.” Jerome Bruner: Acts of meaning

6. “Education is what remains when we have forgotten all that we have been taught.” George Savile, Marquis of Halifax (1633-1695)

7. The central concept is ‘deep learning’ involving • Constructivist pedagogy • Focus on understanding • Capacity to apply learning • Development of skills • Creativity

8. Exponential growth in useful knowledge

9. Changing skill requirements Over time all skill levels are rising but the proportion of higher level skills within the distribution is also rising.

10. Primary school is where you are taught to read, write and count.

11. Skills in the post-elementary curriculum Conjugating French verbs Solving quadratic equations Applying Boyle’s Law Ball control Reading music

12. Skills in the post-elementary curriculum - key questions Transferability? Relevance? Vocational utility? Progression?

13. Foresight – The World in 2020 • The transition to the knowledge-based economy requires individuals to adopt new skills, knowledge and attitudes: • Innovative and creative thinking • The ability to cross boundaries • Adaptability and flexibility • Sound analytical and critical thinking • Problem solving • Self-management and personal development • Core skills including technological literacy

14. Cognitive Taxonomy Higher Order Skills Excellence Group

15. Personal qualities -prerequisites for skills development Attention Motivation Personal resources Self-belief Reflection

16. Teacher policies The past The most effective systems Student inclusion Some students learn at high levels All students learn at high levels Curriculum, instruction and assessment Routine cognitive skills for lifetime jobs Learning to learn, complex ways of thinking, ways of working Teacher quality Taught to teach established content High-level professional knowledge workers Work organisation ‘Tayloristic’, hierarchical Flat, collegial, differentiated and diverse careers Teacher evaluation and accountability Primarily to authorities Also to peers and stakeholders

17. Transformational change A transformed education service would be - Intellectually ambitious and culturally rich Capable of tackling socio-economic disadvantage Able to relate knowledge, understanding and skill Focused on intrinsic motivation Informed by a strong learner/customer focus Organisationally and technologically sophisticated Eclectic in its delivery methods