Beyond
knowledge to
understanding
and skills
ELT
3 October 2011
We are preparing young
people for jobs that
don’t yet exist…
requiring technologies
that haven’t yet been
invented…
to solve problems of
which we are not yet
aware.
‘Curriculum for Excellence’
is Scotland’s educational
response to global
change.
The ‘Instructionist’ model of
schooling
 The aim of schooling is to transfer
knowledge
 Knowledge consists of facts and
simple procedures
 Success can be assessed by testing
pupils’ possession of knowledge
The Harvard Cognitive
Revolution
The cognitive revolution was “an all-out
effort to establish meaning as the central
concept…. Its aim was to discover and to
describe formally the meanings that
human beings created out of their
encounters with the world, and then to
propose hypotheses about what meaningmaking processes were implicated.”
Jerome Bruner: Acts of meaning
“Education is what
remains when we
have forgotten all that
we have been taught.”
George Savile, Marquis of Halifax (1633-1695)
The central
concept is ‘deep
learning’
involving
1. Constructivist
pedagogy
2. Focus on
understanding
3. Capacity to apply
learning
4. Development of
skills
5. Creativity
Exponential growth in useful knowledge
Changing skill requirements
Over time all skill levels are rising but
the proportion of higher level skills
within the distribution is also rising.
Primary school is where you
are taught to read, write and
count.
Skills in the post-elementary
curriculum
Conjugating French verbs
Solving quadratic equations
Applying Boyle’s Law
Ball control
Reading music
Skills in the post-elementary
curriculum - key questions
Transferability?
Relevance?
Vocational utility?
Progression?
Foresight
– The World in 2020
The transition to the knowledge-based
economy requires individuals to adopt new
skills, knowledge and attitudes:
Innovative and creative thinking
The ability to cross boundaries
Adaptability and flexibility
Sound analytical and critical thinking
Problem solving
Self-management and personal development
Core skills including technological literacy
Cognitive Taxonomy
Creation
Systems Thinking
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Understanding
Knowledge/Information
Higher Order Skills Excellence Group
Personal qualities -
prerequisites for skills development
Attention
Motivation
Personal resources
Self-belief
Reflection
Teacher policies
The past
Student inclusion
The most effective systems
Some students learn at high levels
All students learn at high levels
Curriculum, instruction and assessment
Routine cognitive skills for lifetime jobs
Learning to learn, complex ways of thinking,
ways of working
Teacher quality
Taught to teach established content
High-level professional knowledge workers
Work organisation
‘Tayloristic’, hierarchical
Flat, collegial, differentiated and diverse
careers
Teacher evaluation and accountability
Primarily to authorities
Also to peers and stakeholders
Transformational change
A transformed education service would be  Intellectually ambitious and culturally rich
 Capable of tackling socio-economic
disadvantage
 Able to relate knowledge, understanding and
skill
 Focused on intrinsic motivation
 Informed by a strong learner/customer focus
 Organisationally and technologically
sophisticated
 Eclectic in its delivery methods