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One of the central aims of Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence is: “More freedom for teachers.” Another is to: “Simplify and prioritise the current curriculum.”
Speaking to some teachers in various authorities across Scotland, I get the feeling that the band of control freaks that inhabit so many parts of the education administrations in our local authorities and schools simply do not get this, and are intent (knowingly or unknowingly) on subverting the laudable aims of ACE (’A Curriculum for Excellence’) by crippling it with bucketloads of pointless tick boxes and regimes of micro-planning to the Nth degree, and generally ensuring that ACE goes the gradgrind way of every curriculum initiative that has preceded it. These people do not want freedom for teachers; nor do they understand how simplification of the curriculum can work. All they understand is their lopsided deficit model of curriculum management - one that requires close control of every aspect of the teaching process, and one that is intrinsically incapable of trusting teachers. For many, I believe, it is also a sign of their own anxiety in the face of the freedom that ACE will offer if properly implemented.
It is time, I believe, for the teachers themselves to say ‘enough is enough’ and tell the control freaks where to go!
- Throw the tick sheets in the bin.
- Refuse to hand in the detailed plans that undermine the very essence of ACE.
- Most of all, take control of your own destiny and ensure that your pupils are able to benefit from the admirable aims of the Curriculum for Excellence.
Let’s not allow the control freaks to win.
Subverting Scotland's Simplified Curriculum
Wednesday, 14 November 2007
