On the 23rd of May, Edge hosted a thought-provoking webinar that sought to present an alternative to the English Baccalaureate (Ebacc) currently in place in England. It featured Dame Alison Peacock assuming the role of a new Minister for Schools. Three ‘experts’: Professor Bill Lucas (Centre for Real-World Learning), Steve Willshaw (Chair, National Baccalaureate Trust for England) and Rosie Clayton (Head of Rethinking Assessment), presented visions of a future curriculum and assessment system that incorporates good practice from established international models.
The strengths of these three sessions showcased what is possible in countries like Singapore, Canada, Australia, China and India, where governments have embraced a knowledge and skills-based approach to curriculum development. Professor Bill Lucas rightly stressed that collaboration and student agency are vital. Young people must lead their learning with “a prominent role on the bridge, not just in the engine room.”
Surprisingly, though, no reference was made by these presenters to the established good practice much closer to home in the UK nations. The Welsh Skills Certificate is a curriculum that co-exists alongside the current National Curriculum, as does the CCEA in Northern Ireland. It was Tom Richmond (Director, EDSK) who highlighted these as important options to consider should the UK genuinely be seeking to replace the current curriculum with a National Baccalaureate qualification.
We also heard from Richard Markham (Chief Executive, IBSCA), who discussed the International Baccalaureate (IB) for 3-19-year-olds, a highly portable qualification with a widely-respected track record in over 150 countries, including the UK.
