A
petition calling on Education Secretary Michael Gove to address concerns about the proposed curriculum made headlines in the
Independent last week.
The petition raised several issues:
1 Three of the four
experts on the advisory panel for the National Curriculum had resigned because Gove both ignored and misrepresented their concerns.
2 Gove ignores the comprehensive and independent Cambridge Review of the Primary Curriculum. (
147 countries have accessed the CPR website for inspiration but in England it is brushed aside.)
3 Gove misrepresents research. The petition links to
Gove v Reality. It also reproduces an email from one of Gove’s favourite academics, Daniel Willingham, which shows that Gove’s assertion that Willingham supports a mainly fact based curriculum is misleading.
4 Gove is perpetuating a myth that the exam system in not robust.
5 Gove uses inflammatory and derogatory language to describe children, parents and teachers.
6 Gove undermines young people’s success.
7 Gove refuses to accept that childhood is as much a time for happiness and curiosity as it is for developing the important blocks of literacy and numeracy.
8 Children are not political pawns for building political careers.
See Debra Kidd, the petition organiser, in debate with ex-schools minister, Nick Gibb,
here on Channel 4 News.
The petition asks Michael Gove to respond to these concerns. To sign the
petition click here.
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