Concern over curriculum proposals inspires petition asking Gove to address these issues instead of saying, “Yada, Yada”.

Janet Downs's picture
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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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