Complexity?

The act of educating the youth of tomorrow has now been going on for a large number of years and in that time we have sought to improve it. That said there are those that will point out that education hasn’t changed that much over the last century and possibly at times I have been one of these people.

If we look at how it has changed, and I purposely avoid using improved, we can see that there is an increasing focus on evidence. PISA results and other standardised tests are used to compare results across years and across countries and educational systems.

Student performance data (read: standardised tests) has led to complex student management systems which can analyse data and present it in a variety of different ways.

To help in the analysis we “identify” student groups as minority students, students with support needs, students from poorer backgrounds, etc.

We keep adding in attempts to make education better. Is it possible that all we have done is make a more complex and fragile system than ever before?

Is it time to consider what De Bono suggested in the need for “simplicity”?

@garyhenderson18 Somerset – Educational Consultant

This ‘In Brief’ Article originally appeared in the December 2015 edition of UKEdMagazine – Click here to view the online editions.

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