ATL

Northern Ireland

Great A-level results, but do they tell the whole story?

Back in August, ATL congratulated pupils and teachers on excellent overall A-level results in Northern Ireland. We also cautioned that the schooling system needs to allow time for thinking and creativity to produce the qualities pupils will need in their working lives. This touched a nerve and saw ATL in a round of radio and TV studios to argue the case. We called for a rational debate about the need to sacrifice some 'exam drilling' to allow for the development of the critical and creative faculties necessary in the modern employment world.

Our members advise us that the sheer volume of curriculum content that teachers and pupils plough through means that children spend very little of their time in school thinking! Exams test understanding much less than knowledge. Examination pressure often obliges teachers towards simple spoon-feeding of large volumes of information. This 'teaching to the test' often trumps lessons promoting higher-order thinking - requiring pupils to analyse, evaluate, synthesise, apply and explain.

We need a deeper debate about exams and the sort of students we want leaving our schools at 18. Pupils should leave school with qualities that will help them in employment - such as teamwork, good oral and written communication, creativity and perseverance. We need, much more than at present, to provide pupils with opportunities to develop critical-thinking, analysis, reflection, leadership, public speaking, and independent learning skills. Movement in this direction, away from 'drilling', will require political understanding and an inspectorial regime to match.