All posts filed under: Education

When to give your child their first mobile phone – and how to keep them safe

Published by skeptic

I spend my career researching young people and the internet: what they do online, what they think about it and how their views differ to those of their parents. I often get questions from parents about their children’s internet use. One of the most common is when to get their child a mobile phone, as well as how to keep them safe when they have one. Here are my answers to some key questions. How old should my child be when they get their first phone? I’m afraid I often disappoint parents in my answer to this question by not giving them a definite number. But the key here is what your child is going to use the phone for – and when might be suitable for that individual child. According to a 2023 report by UK communications regulator Ofcom, 20% of three year olds now own a mobile phone. But this phone may just be used for taking pictures, playing simple games and supervised video calls with family. The more pertinent question is when …

Why are so many graduates shunning teaching? Pay – but not bonuses – could be the answer

Published by skeptic

There is a persistent shortage of teachers in England. Numbers of new recruits fail to meet targets, and too many teachers are leaving their jobs. It’s clear that more new teachers are needed – but apparently not enough people are choosing the profession. Much of the existing evidence about why people become teachers is based only on the views of existing or prospective trainee teachers. This is interesting, but says nothing about why other people do not become teachers. And if we need to increase the number of applications to teacher training, it is the people who decide against teaching that matter. These people are the subject of our research. We asked 4,500 undergraduate students in 53 universities in England about their career decisions generally and whether they had thought about teaching. Our findings suggest that rather than putting money into bonuses for new teachers, the government should focus on improving the overall financial rewards of teaching. Incentive payments are one of the main ways the government seeks to recruit people to teaching. They are …

Twenty years after section 28 repeal, lessons still need to be learned from UK’s homophobic law

Published by skeptic

November 18 2023 marks the 20 year anniversary of the repeal of section 28 in England and Wales. This law silenced any discussion of lesbian and gay matters in schools, and was law for 15 years between 1988 and 2003. It stated that local authorities: “shall not … promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship”. I was a teacher for every year of section 28. And I and other LGBTQ+ teachers feared we would lose our jobs if we were outed in our school workplaces. The scene was set for section 28 at the Conservative Party conference in 1987, an election year. Margaret Thatcher accused “hard left education authorities and extremist teachers” of taking opportunity away from children. She said: “Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay.” Margaret Thatcher after addressing the Conservative Party Conference in 1987. AP Photo/Dave Caulkin/Alamy Stock Photo Thatcher’s speech came at a moment of …

How the Welsh language is being promoted to help migrants feel at home

Published by skeptic

You can read this article in Welsh. The UK government alone decides who can enter the country and how migration and asylum policies are made. But devolved governments have scope to use their powers in fields such as housing, education, health and social services to shape the nature of the support that is subsequently offered to new arrivals. In recent years, the Welsh government has looked for ways to use its powers to help refugees and migrants integrate into Welsh society, taking into account the role of the Welsh language. Overall, this is an approach that seeks to create a welcoming and supportive environment in Wales. It contrasts with the UK government’s commitment to reducing net migration and to create a “hostile environment” for refugees and asylum seekers. The most prominent step taken to date was the publication of the Welsh government’s plan in 2019, which set out measures aimed at turning Wales into a “nation of sanctuary”. However, another significant – but less obvious – aspect of the Welsh government’s work are the steps …

Around a million children in the UK are living in destitution – with harmful consequences for their development

Published by skeptic

Millions of people in the UK are unable to meet their most basic physical needs: to stay warm, dry, clean and fed. This is known as destitution. Recent analysis from charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) estimates that around 3.8 million people in the UK experienced destitution at some point during 2022. This is a 61% increase since 2019 – and a 148% increase since 2017. Living in destitution means severe material hardship. The JRF’s 2022 survey of crisis service users in the UK found that 61% reported going without food in the month before the survey. They often put other needs, such as accommodation or feeding their children, over feeding themselves. About half of the people surveyed were not able to afford adequate clothing and basic necessities, such as toiletries. Many talked of living in insecure and low quality housing. One particularly alarming aspect of these most recent statistics is the steep increase in the number of children living in destitution. In 2022, around 1 million children lived in households who experienced destitution. This …

how this technology could change the profession

Published by skeptic

During the recent international AI Safety Summit held in the UK, the government announced a further £2 million to be invested in Oak National Academy – a publicly funded classroom resource hub – to develop artificial intelligence tools to help reduce teachers’ workloads. Generative AI, such as Open AI’s ChatGPT, responds to prompts from users to produce content. It has become a hot topic in education. While there isn’t much up-to-date research on how teachers are using AI, we know from our work with schools that teachers are experimenting with AI to create lesson plans, classroom resources and schemes of work. For example, a teacher might ask ChatGPT, “make me a lesson plan on river flooding in Tewkesbury for year seven”. Within seconds, a plan will be available containing learning objectives, materials, activities, homework, assessments and more. Technology giants Google and Microsoft, as well as established education technology platforms such as Khan Academy, are promoting their AI offerings to schools. Start-ups and smaller operations are also getting in on the action, many of them promising …

Government’s pandemic catch-up tutoring programme is still failing to meet the mark

Published by skeptic

A government scheme to help children catch up with schooling they missed during the pandemic is still struggling to help those most in need. A recent independent evaluation of the National Tutoring Programme has assessed the impact of the catch-up strategy in 2021-22, its second year. It has found that while some improvements were made by some children and schools, the overall impact of the scheme has been small. This follows a critical report delivered by the House of Commons education committee after the first year of the programme, which stated that it “appears to be failing the most disadvantaged”. Funding for the National Tutoring Programme is focused on schools with pupils qualifying for the pupil premium payment. These are children who have been eligible for free school meals and children who are or have been in care. The programme offers three approaches to additional support for pupils. Schools with the most disadvantaged pupils are able to access academic mentors: full-time, in-house staff members employed to provide intensive support to pupils who need it. A …

Why term-time holidays can be a lifeline for children and young people with attachment needs

Published by skeptic

The holidays are over, and children are back in school – apart from the ones going on a term-time vacation. The combination of the cost of living crisis and the fact that holidays can be significantly cheaper in term time makes taking children out of school for a holiday tempting for parents and carers. It has been reported that unauthorised holidays in term time accounted for over five million lost school days in England in the 2021-22 academic year. Headteachers in England cannot grant term-time holiday requests unless there are “exceptional circumstances”. If a headteacher declines a holiday request and parents or carers take their child out of school anyway, they can be fined £60. This fine rises to £120 if they do not pay within 21 days, or to potential prosecution if they do not pay within 28 days. But for some children and young people, there is more to the debate than a cheap holiday and some late summer sunshine. Some need extra time to build secure relationships with the important adults in …

pandemic assessment shows we should reconsider exams

Published by skeptic

The difference in average GCSE English and maths results between poorer and richer pupils – the so-called “attainment gap” – is the largest in England in over a decade, according to a recent government analysis. Reducing this gap is something politicians have struggled with for decades. But education professionals do know of one way to reduce it, which was made clear from the last few years of exam results. When end-of-year exams were replaced with teacher assessment during the first year of the COVID pandemic in 2020, there was a small but real closing of the gap. In 2021, when teacher assessment was also used, the attainment gap widened from 2020 and was higher than in 2019 – but this may reflect the many further barriers the pandemic added to disadvantaged students’ attainment. By 2021, most students had had two years of disruption, and for those with fewer resources to help them cope during the pandemic, the disadvantage rose exponentially. In other words, the less well-off students were falling further and further behind. In Scotland’s …

Schools know sharing sex ed lessons with parents is vital – it’s something they already do

Published by skeptic

The education secretary Gillian Keegan has written to schools in England stating that they should be sharing relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) teaching materials with parents and carers, even if copyright contracts with external providers of school resources appear to prevent them from doing so. In another letter, this time to parents and carers, she outlines that they have a “fundamental right” to know what is being taught in RSHE sessions. Keegan is right. Parents should know what their children are being taught – and parental involvement, particularly with subjects such as sex education, is vital. But the letters appear antagonistic and seem to imply that schools are not sharing what goes on in RSHE classes with parents. In reality this could not be further from the truth. Key role of parents Many years of robust educational research indicates that parents and carers are vitally important in the education of their children and young people – for all subjects. This is especially pertinent for sex and relationships education. The 2019 statutory guidance for RSHE …