To Be or Not to Be…? We’Ll Think About It

Children need to learn the skills of independent thinking more than they need to memorise historical facts like the Battle of Hastings or lines from Shakespeare, believes a teachers’ leader.

Traditional “rote learning” is not relevant to a 21st century education, according to Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.

She called for a new curriculum based on broad skills such as the interpretation of evidence instead of teaching pupils pages of dates and facts.

Speaking at the ATL annual conference in Torquay yesterday, Ms Bousted said: “We are not dumbing down. We are raising up. A skills- based curriculum demands that you make connections between different subject domains.

“That requires thought. Too much learning that goes on today is rote learning. That is not what is needed in the 21st century.

“Quite seriously, we have got to move beyond ‘Should we or should we not teach Shakespeare?’ Is the world going to collapse if they don’t know To Be, or Not to Be?’

“Our national curriculum should be far more focussed on the development of life skills and ways of working than whether or not we teach the Battle of Hastings.

“The skills of historical understanding are far more important than whether or not we teach a particular battle.

“The Right-wing press and politicians cling on to the curriculum because it is easy and they don’t have to engage with the important issues.”

Ms Bousted condemned “oppressive and ridiculous state control” over what is taught in the classroom.

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