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If you love children and want to inspire young minds, become a Montessori teacher.
Montessori is the world’s largest education movement with 600+ UK Montessori schools and 22,000 worldwide. Study the Early Childhood course part time at Montessori Centre International. Home study also available.
The work of the former Department for Education and Skills (DfES) is now spread between the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).
The DCSF co-ordinates all work on policy for children, young people and families, with a priority given to increasing support roles in schools and increasing access to childcare places and provision for early years.
BIS is responsible for increasing the level of skills in the workforce, including basic skills of literacy and literacy, as well as the high-level skills related to graduates. The department is responsible for the development, funding and performance of further education (FE) and for higher education (HE) in both research and teaching. A priority area is funding for science and technology. Following the Leitch Review of Skills in December 2006, on the long-term skills requirements for the UK, there has been an increase in education and training provided by further and adult education, but future development is unclear given constraints upon public expenditure.
A hot topic in schools in England is the issue of the assessment of children’s progress in the key national curriculum subjects, English, maths and science, at ages 7, 11 and 14 years, and the use of standard attainment tests (SATs). Many teachers complain that the focus on assessment and testing leads to ‘teaching to the test’, reduces time for other subjects, causes too much stress for pupils and teachers, and results in unfair league tables of school performance.
Other recent developments include a review of the primary curriculum and an increase in the number of children studying for vocational rather than academic qualifications, with the introduction of vocational diplomas for the 14-19 age group as an alternative to A-level/GCSE. The compulsory age for participating in learning, either by full-time education or by part-time training for workers, will be raised to 17 from 2013.
The decline in the numbers of children and young people attending and leaving school, after a peak in the age cohort 18-20 years in 2010/11, is expected to impact upon schools, FE and HE. In response to the economic recession following the credit crunch in November 2008, there has been an increase in the numbers of young people staying on at school, entering FE or applying to HE in order to avoid unemployment. There may be further major changes in education in the next few years because of the effect of the economic recession and widely anticipated reductions in public expenditure, as well as any change in government following a general election no later than June 2010. The current system of funding for HE, including tuition fees, will be reviewed after summer 2010 and may allow universities to increase fees substantially.
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