ENG-1983 — Page 23

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EDUCATION AT THE CROSSROADS

Access and Interface Closely associated with questions of priority is the problem of access to education and the stress caused by the competition to secure the best advantages that education can offer. Given present circumstances, are our systems of selection and allocation appropriate, efficient and just? Are the arrangements described in the 1978 White Paper for those continuing in full-time education after Form III satisfactory – are we providing enough places at this level and are the arrangements made for pupils to progress from junior secondary to senior secondary education appropriate?

Are the educational choices available to pupils appropriate to the stage of development which they have reached when exercising choice? In particular, is the government right to develop prevocational education and is it reasonable for parents to commit their children to this form of education at the age of 12?

Given the disjointed appearance of the various sectors of education and the various hurdles that children face when moving from one sector to another, what beyond existing and proposed policies can be done to ensure smoother progress through the system, and to reduce competition to the level where it stimulates achievement rather than generating anxiety? Could any additional measures be introduced within the existing system to reduce the discontinuity which pupils face at the various transitional points?

Role of Teachers

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The Education Department's measures to strengthen the links between school management and teachers appear to be encouraging harmonious and efficient working relationships within schools and promoting a more responsive situation to problems as they emerge, rather than when attitudes have hardened. It is not possible, however, to assess the long-term effects or to determine whether they will always provide fully adequate consultative arrangements within schools and between the schools and the department. Questions which arise include whether employment practices within schools are generally satisfactory, whether teachers have an adequate voice in the management of schools and whether they have sufficient opportunities to influence the managerial practices of the school system as a whole.

On the professional front, are teachers generally given enough freedom within schools (consistent with overall discipline and efficiency) to pursue teaching styles or to exploit learning opportunities which make the best use of their individual talents and creativity? In what ways can individual originality be encouraged in teachers without risking any undue loss of cohesion in the performance of the teaching staff as a whole? Are individual teachers given enough shared responsibility for curriculum development within schools so that they operate as a team with objectives which they have personally helped to determine? Are senior staff sufficiently alive to their professional responsibilities towards junior staff – for example, in providing appropriate induction arrangements for newly-qualified recruits? Do senior teachers display appropriate qualities of leadership in professional matters and in the development of the curriculum areas for which they are responsible, over and above their proper concern with managerial and organisational matters?

Teachers have significant roles to play in the work of the Curriculum Development Committee and the CDC Textbooks Committee, their membership of subject committees and panels enabling syllabus development, in particular, to reflect the needs and interests of pupils as perceived by the teachers themselves. The system of continuous evaluation of Educational Television programmes also depends very much on the direct participation of teachers. Could additional opportunities be found for teachers to participate in planning and policy-making and, if so, in what areas would their contribution be most useful?