Which current learning programs are influencing educational progression in the UK?

Practitioners such as John Abbott have outlined the frailties of the English Education System. In an article entitled ‘It’s really very simple…the solution to England’s education problem’(2009) he details that informal learning experiences must be valued in the home and the community. Thus the term learning program should now stretch beyond the school gates.

Longstanding schemes such as the Duke of Edinburgh Awards are high profile and seek to broaden the learning experience of children. Moreover, schools should become more involved in extra curricular sporting activities. For example, if a school was to operate a sports team in the local Sunday league then there would be opportunities to teach team work, problem solving along with an endless list of life skills.

Abbott (2009) offers a solution to such problems of larger primary school classes, a lack of ‘Doing it for oneself’, overly dependent students and students who prepare for exams and not life. He points to smaller primary school classes and more learn through doing. Furthermore he recognises that schools are not all powerful, it is the communities they are in which must also adapt to help the children within.