Topic: British system of education (schooling)

List of questions:

1. A glimpse at history of education

2. Present day system of education

3. Some essentials on British system of education

4. Pre-school education

5. Primary education

6. Secondary education

7. Problems of state schools

8. Independent schools

9. Public schools

10. After sixteen

 

Literature:

1. Нестеров Н.М. Страноведение: Великобритания. Ростов на Дону, «Феникс», 2006.

2. Михайлов Н.Н. Лингвострановедение Англии. М., «Академия», 2003.

3. Артемова А.Ф. Великобритания. Книга для чтения по страноведению. М, «АСТ: Восток-Запад», 2006.

4. Томахин Г.Д. По странам изучаемого языка. М., «Просвещение», 1998.

5. M. Pugh A History of Britain. Oxford, 2001.

6. M. Vaughan-Rees In Britain. Lnd., 1999.

 

A GLIMPSE AT HISTORY OF EDUCATION

As in other countries, the vast majority of people in medieval Britain were illiterate. Written texts were in Latin, apart from churchmen, there was a small group of professional clerks who could read and write; if you needed something written down, you had to pay one of these clerks to do it for you.

After the Norman invasion in 1066, Britain started to join the mainstream of European intellectual life. Rich families employed clerks to teach children at home. The church set up small schools for ordinary people, especially choir schools where boys learned to read and write and to sing in the church choir. By the year 1200, there were the beginnings of the university in Oxford – at least a community of masters and scholars living and working together.

In 1440, England’s most famous school, Eaton, was founded by King Henry VI. (It is still regarded by many as the top school in the country – it was chosen by Prince Charles and Princess Diana for their sons William and Harry.) In its early days it was a mix of rich and poor students: the rich paid, and the poor worked in the school, cooking and cleaning to pay for their education.

By the middle of the 17^th century there were a number of charity schools around the country paid for by committees of rich subscribers. Of course, they were almost exclusively for boys only. Some aristocratic girls were well educated, speaking French and Latin, and reading music. But they were taught by private teachers at home.

There was always a basic problem with education for the poor: when they had got it, what could they do with it? In a very static, rigid society, it was almost impossible to change your position. Status was based on family, on birth – not on brains, energy and talent. Poor people who became educated, it was said, would get ideas above themselves, and feel dissatisfied and frustrated.

However, with the industrial revolution from the middle of the 18^th century, British society began to change radically. People in business made huge amount of money, and old aristocrats lost much of their power and influence. The pressure for universal education increased. So for the first time in history, ordinary working people had the chance to get an education – and the motivation of a more meritocratic society in which they could make use of it.

The French revolution brought ideas of social equality and a belief that all human beings could perfect themselves through education. Women started to demand greater freedom, respect and access to education. There was still a tendency to teach girls particularly feminine subjects, such as cooking, sewing, art and music. But later in the 19^th century, girls began to receive the same sort of education as boys. In 1974, Girton College, Cambridge, offered the first university places for women.

Through the 19^th century more and more children went to school, and in 1880 education was made compulsory up to the age of 13. A few years later about 97 per cent of girls and boys were literate – a situation unimaginable in most of the rest of the world. The school-leaving age continued to go up in steps until it reached 16 in 1972.

 

PRESENT DAY SYSTEM OF EDUCATION

 

British education is aimed to realize the potential of all, for the good of the individual and society as a whole. The general policy for education which is now being implemented throughout the United Kingdom is much the same with some variations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. All schools of Great Britain are known as state school (state supported, state maintained) and independent schools.

Independent schools are fee-paying schools ranging from public schools with centuries-old traditions to private experimental schools.

Schools supported by the state from public funds are of three kinds:

1) County schools – the largest group, provided and maintained by Local Education Authorities (LEAs) wholly out of public funds, no fees are charged to parents; they are primary schools (infant and junior), comprehensives, some grammar schools, secondary modern schools, sixth forms:

2) Voluntary schools – financially aided and controlled by government but provided by a voluntary body; mostly they are Church of England schools or Roman Catholic schools;

3) Directed-grant schools – completely independent of LEAs, receiving grants from the Department of Education and Science; they are mainly grammar schools, which receive the grant for taking pupils from the state system (from a quarter to a half, the rest being fee-paying pupils).

 

 

SOME ESSENTIALS

· Local, not central, government runs the state schools. Traditionally, schools have had a great deal of independence about what to teach and how to teach it. But in the last ten years the government has introduced a National Curriculum; this means that every pupil in the country does more or less the same work, especially in the primary schools.

· School education is divided into three stages: primary, secondary and further education. In England and Wales the primary cycle lasts from 5 to 11. Children of 5 enter infant schools moving on to junior school at the age of 8 and then to a secondary school. The transition from primary school to secondary is made at the age of 11. Most secondary schools in Britain (about 90 per cent) are comprehensive schools. They are state schools, which take children of all abilities (84 per cent). About 6 per cent of children go to grammar schools, state schools which take only students who pass “11+” examination.

· Every state school has a governing body responsible for the school’s main policies. It includes teachers, parents and members appointed by LEAs.

· Pupils cannot repeat a year in this system, which is based strictly on age. However badly they do, pupils go up to the next year. The only exception is GCSEs (General Certificate of Secondary Education) and A levels, which pupils can repeat if they needed better results; for example, to get into a university.

· League tables are published in the national press showing the exam results of each school. Consequently, some schools are more popular with parents than others.

· Many secondary schools are single-sex rather than co-educational. Statistics show that girls get better results when they are separated from boys.

· There has been much debate in recent years about teaching style: is it better for the teacher to stand at the front of the class and lecture 9in the old-fashioned way), or to set up a variety of learning activities for pupils to do individually or in groups? Traditionalists claim that the latter method, organizing in the liberal 1960s, has failed.

· The British school syllabus is divided into Arts (or Humanities) and Sciences, which determine the division of the secondary school pupils into study groups: a Science pupil will study Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics (Math), Economics, Technical drawing, Biology, Geography; an Art pupil will do English Language and Literature, History, Foreign Languages, Music, Art, Drama. Besides these subjects they must do some general education subjects like Physical Education, Home Economics for girls and Technical subjects for boys, General Informational Technologies (IT), Sex Education, and Religious Education. Computers play an important part in education. The system of options exists in all kinds of secondary schools.

· About 7 percent of children in Britain go to private schools/independent schools. The fees are between £5,000 and £ 15,000 per year; the main advantage of these schools is that discipline is better, so teachers and pupils waste less time.

· The school year is divided into three terms. Schools have 13 weeks in the summer, two weeks at Christmas and Easter, and three half-term weeks. The year starts early in September.

·  In English schools by law all children receive religious education and take part in daily prayers. But parents have the right to withdraw their children from such classes. In all kinds of voluntary school there is an opportunity for denominational instruction. Roman Catholic children generally have their own classes.

· Physical education, including organized games, is part of the curriculum of all schools. Organized games include tennis, cricket, football, hockey, netball and lacrosse.

· Medical inspection and free medical and dental treatment for all children attending state schools is provided. LEAs have a duty under certain conditions to assist financially in the provision of transport for pupils between home and schools.

· Most pupils in British schools wear school uniform, which differ from school to school. The favorite colors for school uniforms are blue, grey, black and maroon.

· The pupils who violate various school regulations may be punished in the following ways: for lateness, truancy they may be reported to the Headmaster or named in school assembly. They may be detained in school after ordinary hours.

· Corporal punishment has recently been banned in state schools. But in most public schools it is still allowed. Caning is the usual punishment for serious misbehavior in class, damage and vandalism. Many teachers remark that standards of discipline have fallen since corporal punishment was banned by the government.     

· Each school has its system of rewards: medals and prizes for the best pupils.

PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION

Compulsory education in Britain begins at the age of five but in some areas there are nursery schools for children under 5 years of age. Some children between two and five receive education in nursery schools or in infant classes in primary schools. Many children attend pre-school play-grounds organized by parents in private homes. Nursery schools are staffed with teachers and students in training. There are all kinds of toys to keep the children busy from 9 o’clock in the morning till 4 o’clock in the afternoon – while their parents are at work. Here the babies play, lunch and sleep. They can run about and play in safety with someone keeping an eye on them.

For day nurseries, which remain open all the year round, the parents pay according to their income. The local education authority’s nurseries are free. But only about three children in 100 can go to them: there are not enough places, and the waiting lists are rather long. 

PRIMARY EDUCATION

Most children start school at the age of 5 in a primary school. A primary school is devised into infants and juniors. At infant school reading, writing and arithmetic (three “R”) are taught for about 20 minutes a day during the first year, gradually increasing to about 2 hours in their last year. There is usually no written timetable. Much time is spent in modeling from clay or drawing, reading or singing. 

By the time children are ready for the junior school they will be able to read or write, do simple addition and subtraction of numbers.

At the age of 7 children go on from the infants’ school to the junior school. This marks the transition from play to real work. The children have set periods 0f arithmetic, reading and composition which are all “11+” subjects. History, Geography, Nature Study, Art and Music, Physical Education, Swimming are also on the timetable.

Pupils are streamed, according to their ability to learn, into A, B, C and D stream. Formerly towards the end of their fourth year the pupils wrote their “11+”, Examination. The hated “11+”, examination was a selective procedure on which not only the pupils’ future schooling but their future career depended. The abolition of selection at “11+” examination brought to life comprehensive schools where pupils of all abilities can get secondary education.

 

SECONDARY EDUCATION

Comprehensive schools dominate among all types of schools in secondary education: 90 per cent of all state – financed secondary schools is of this type.

Most other children receive secondary education in grammar school, secondary modern and very few secondary technical schools. Those who can pay go to public schools.

The transition from primary to secondary school is made between the ages of 11-12 years. At this age only some children sit for the selective examinations to be admitted to grammar schools. “11+” is retained mostly in Wales.  

Comprehensive school. Comprehensive schools were introduced in 1965. The idea of comprehensive education, supported by the Labour Party, was to give all children of whatever background the same opportunity in education.

So comprehensive schools are non-selective (“all-in”) schools, which provide a wide range of secondary education for all the children of the district. They are the most important types of secondary school because they are attended by 84 per cent of all secondary school pupils.

There are various ways in which a comprehensive school can be organized. It can be, by “streaming” within the school, try to keep children of approximately similar ability in one group or class; it can leave the children to choose between large numbers of courses; or it can combine the two methods. Pupils may leave the school at the age 16 or 18.

Comprehensive schools are often very large schools with up to two thousand pupils.

Grammar schools. A grammar school mainly provides an exam-centered academic course from 11 to 18. It is the main route to the universities and the professions. A large proportion of university students is recruited from grammar schools, though they make 3 per cent of all schools.

Most grammar school pupils remain at school until 18 or 19 years old, especially if they want to go on to university. Some degree of specialization, especially as between arts and science subjects, is usually in the upper forms. The top form is always called the “six form”. Pupils may remain in this form for two or three years until they leave school. Selection of primary school children is usually based on school record cards, teachers’ reports, tests and consultation with parents. After the reform act of 1988 many grammar schools were turned into comprehensives and the change was in many cases very painful.

Secondary modern schools give a general education with a practical bias. It is common for more time to be given to handicrafts, domestic sciences and other practical activities than in grammar schools.

“Streaming” is practiced in secondary modern schools. The children in each group are usually placed in three streams A, B and C: “C” stream is for children of the least academic type, concentrating mainly on practical work.

Secondary technical schools, a smaller group (less than 2 per cent), offer a general education largely related to industry commerce and agriculture. These schools are not very popular and few places have them. They provide teaching up to the age of 18.