Hot on the heels of the article in last week's TES suggesting that A-level teaching stifles independent thinking and creativity (see my previous blog entry) comes an item in today's Independent newspaper putting forward much the same idea. Anthony Seldon and David James argue that A-levels are 'part of a damaged process' that lacks academic integrity, and they refer (amongst other evidence) to the study mentioned in the TES article.
It is a really good sign, I think, that more and more people are now pointing out that (notwithstanding league tables and targets etc.) our present educational system lacks rigour/integrity and is not optimised for promoting independent thinking and creativity. There does seems to be increasing concern about how people really learn, and of course I welcome this.
Seldon and James suggest the International Baccalaureate as an alternative to A-levels. I don't know much about the IB, and must try to find out more. Could the IB help schools to promote real learning?
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