Education level in British school not very high comparing to other European countries

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on December 5, 2013 at 22:27

Lots of debate about this. Marek. For a sceptical non-UK  viewpoint people may be interested to read Diana Ravitch's blog entry. And especially a quote from an article by Keith Baker.

"What has mattered most for the economic, cultural, and technological success of the U.S., he says, is a certain “spirit,” which he defines as “ambition, inquisitiveness, independence, and perhaps most important, the absence of a fixation on testing and test scores.”

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Permalink Reply by Marek on December 5, 2013 at 22:30

Hi Alan

I will look at this and let you know my non-UK viewpoint

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Permalink Reply by Marek on December 7, 2013 at 9:28

Hi Alan

I was reading a few articles in Diana's blog and must admit that she is right with the most important points such as - how to measure by test spirit of the nation or how to show employment for imagination.

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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on December 5, 2013 at 23:57

Aaaaaah!  So that's why we Brits can't fix our own computers?

So while Poland's PISA results improve all round in Maths(14th), Science(9th), Reading(10th) those very dim and untaught Brit kids have descended to all time lows of Maths(26th), Science(21st), Reading(23rd).  Shameful!

Irish kids, meanwhile, kept their heads above water with Maths(20th), Science(15th), Reading(7th). Two cheers!

But maybe "their Poles are brighter than our Poles". In 2004, did Poland send all their brighter young families to Ireland rather than to Britain?   Not so elementary, my dear Watson. A three-pipe problem, I'd say.

And has Ireland continued to export all her thickos to an unsuspecting Britain? (Mainly thick bankers kids)  Or has Ireland continued to populate Britain's schools with thicko and untrained teachers?  That may well be it.

The real thickos, of course, grow up to work for British media like the MIRROR (see Marek's link):  "Within the UK, Scotland outperformed England at Maths and Reading but English pupils were ahead in Science. Wales lagged behind the rest of the UK in all three subjects."

No mention of Northern Ireland, then. Does the MIRROR know the difference between UK, Great Britain, Britain?  And then a heady thought for OAE: has the Mirror declared Northern Ireland free of all ties to England - even educational ties?  Three loud cheers from OAE.  Shortlived, alas.  The Guardian says Northern Ireland comes below Scotland and England, but above Wales. "I look  up to him and HIM, but I look down on him. I hope Taffy knows his place."

I guess Northern Ireland Loyalists prefer to follow England and Scotland even when they're failing. Presumably, Nationalist and Republican kids follow their higher scoring siblings south of the border. Well, prove I'm wrong.

Indeed, my dear Holmes, it is more than a three-pipe problem. But here's another poser for you:  If OECD had administered their PISA leaning test to the kids of Galileo and the kids of the Pope - who'd have come out on top?

Yes, my dear Watson, the ramifications go far beyond the simple minds of the Mirror's Red-Headed League. But how did the students do in Reading in Reading?

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on December 6, 2013 at 10:05

Thérèse I salute you and your bravery. Swimming against the media tide with a no doubt well meaning effort to put a positive spin on British schools.  But it simply won't work.

As Michael Gove and every other sensible, informed person knows, from John o' Groats to Lands End all British local authority, state schools are uniformly dire. No, the word is probably appalling. Or maybe it's execrable?  Oh, if only I'd gone to a private school I'd know what these words mean; which one to choose; and how to spell them without using a spell-checker. 

So let's just say that these state schools differ only in which circle of hell they resemble. As you'll know this is a phrase from Dante's Inferno.  Which - as every young Brit person knows - is both a computer game and an unsigned Indie band from Wigan.  Was that in the PISA test, I wonder?

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on December 11, 2013 at 18:39

Here's an interesting link to a contributor to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA scores) debate. The TES Blog has some comments from Andreas Schleicher, deputy education director of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) - otherwise Mr PISA himself. 

As you'd expect he's understandably cautious and measured.  Though his reported comments hardly support the sweeping conclusions drawn in the national media.  Nor of course the magic academy solution which Mr Gove favours for all educational ills.

Incidentally, I came across an enjoyable variation of the fine expression "snake oil". (Originating in the U.S.)   Samia Waheed Altaf in her book about Development in Pakistan describes World Bank development experts as like pavement sellers of "witches' oil and lizards' tails".

(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)

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