Learning Conversations

via Graham Atwell.

The Independent newspaper (a UK broadsheet) has reported that Knowsley council on Mersyside is completely restructing it's secondary (post 11) education.

It seems to closely mirror the systemic change that Angela McFarlane proposed in an interview with Alan November. School is beginning to be more like real life.

The Independent reports that Knowsley are abolishing the word "school" for secondary education - instead it will reopen the current schools as "learning centres" in 2009. These will be open for from early in the morning to late evening - and even at weekends.

And it's not just the name that's changing. The curriculum will be much more personalised. Generic skills such as problem solving and thinking will be made explicit. There won't be formal classes or timetables.

It will be interesting to see how the children and the staff react to such a radical change of roles. I'm pretty sure that some will fly with it. Learning will have a purpose; more than just a qualification. Teaching will be supportive and assessment formative. It will take the best of what is currently happening in schools and provide an environment in which that best can flourish.

I'm pretty sure though that Knowsley will be watched closely. It's the phase change that Jay Cross described recently. Such phase changes, in a political climate that prefers the status quo, will need to prove their worth.

I do hope it works. Schools and local authorities need an example to follow before they will make such changes. But without systemic change our education system will continue to be stuck in the early 20th century.