Our full response is being printed as a pamphlet, but the first two pages of this newsletter highlight some of our concerns. However, the introductory pages to The Consultation Materials also specify disturbing changes to the purpose of education, not all of which appear in The Secretary of State s Proposals. Teachers will now have to reappraise their teaching in response to the changing needs of their pupils and the ideas and attitudes of society . Because education influences and reflects the values of society , the school curriculum should not only aim to provide opportunities for pupils to learn and to achieve , it must also give equal value to preparing all pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life . Pupils must also learn to cope with change and adversity and make informed choices .
Ministers claim to be reducing requirements in the traditional subjects for the benefit of teachers.
But they are simultaneously increasing the burden in other areas by requiring them to teach PSHE and citizenship from the ages of 3 to 16. Citizenship is to become a statutory subject in its own right. Clearly, the Government intends teachers to become surrogate parents, social workers and political agents, while spending millions of pounds hoping to persuade bright young people who just want to teach honest subjects to join a confused and politicised profession. Claims by David Blunkett, that these new areas of learning will teach children the difference between right and wrong are contradicted by his own advisers. The Secretary of State s Proposals recommend the Passport Framework for Personal and Social Education as an example of good practice .