Education for the 21st Century - National's approach

Interesting news piece regarding the importance of diverse and broad approaches to education curiculum were linked to by Labour MP Phil Twyford. Gordon Campbell's piece on National's new focus on the three R's'(Reading, Writing, Arthimatic) and National Standards testing (one size fits all test to measure kids abilities... As if all kids had the same access to information/support/learning etc) and taking away funding for Science, Arts and Physical Education. Campbell points to a new study by Cambridge University which shows just how defunct this approach to education in the 21st century. This is the same message I've heard all year at Teachers College. National Standards testing have been heavily critised in the US as well (see, for example, this). Teachers continue to put emphasis on the three R's while recognising the broad spectrum of skills students need to learn. Furthermore, students who perform badly early on at school (no result on teaching but more perhaps cultural capitial they bring with them) are put off schooling, with devestating effects for later chances at education. As with Law and Order, it seems National is more concerned with political posturing and looking to be doing something, while really just blanketing black and white solutions to complex, dynamic problems.

See also this NYT piece by Thomas L. Friedman on what education needs to be for American public schools in the 21st century...