News & Views
Is there a skills gap in the UK?
By Terry Freedman
Tue, 20 Nov 2007, 10:10

I recently gave a talk at the Westminster e-Forum on behalf of Naace. Here is the text of that presentation, which had to last no longer than four minutes. The audience was composed of Members of Parliament, journalists, and high-ranking representatives of skills organisations, companies and educational bodies.

The sub-text of the brief I was given was, no doubt, that schools should be doing more to encourage young people to take up careers in the IT industry (possibly via a university computer programming course of some description).

I have issues about that. For example, is it schools' job to do what the IT industry itself seems to find difficult to do, ie make IT-related jobs seem exciting and non-"nerdy" (especially to girls)? As often is the case, schools were taken to task by some of the speakers for the fact that ICT lessons are boring -- as proven by the fact that one of the speaker's daughter says so.

Actually, many ICT lessons are boring, but I like to feel that my own evidence for saying that (inspections, school visits, and general reading and discussion) is rather more robust. As I said in a comment from the floor at the end of one of the sessions, the phenomenon is well-established enough for me to feel moved to write a book about it (see the article about that).

More importantly, any subject can be taught in a boring way. The challenge is to identify good practice and then find ways of disseminating it.

But there is another issue. According to the Leitch Report,

"Today, over 70 per cent of our 2020 workforce have already completed their compulsory education."

That being the case, isn't it a bit late to be focusing on schools?

Anyway, read on to find out what I actually said, which, as I say, had to take no longer than 4 minutes. I did it too :-)

The brief

ICT in schools: Are children being taught the 'right kind' of IT?

Theme: Is teaching of IT skills in primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities meeting business's needs in providing IT-literate employees?

What are the different levels of IT skills; from basic IT skills to advanced computing?

What IT skills do employers want?

What kind of skills should young people be taught, and how can industry share this with the education sector?

You can view and download the agenda here (PDF).

My comments about best practice were not originally scripted. I was responding to comments made by previous speakers to the effect that ICT (educational technology) lessons in schools were boring. And how did they arrive at this conclusion? Well, in one case it was based on what the speaker's 12-year old daughter had told her. I had the impression that similar comments by other speakers were equally well-founded. Anyway, here is what I said:

Thank you. My talk is based on the principles of educational ICT as stipulated in the National Curriculum, and as realised by the best practitioners, rather than the worst.
I'd like to start by slightly redefining the terminology. For the most part, schools teach ICT rather than IT, where the 'C' stands for Communications. So I prefer to think in terms of ICT-literacy or digital literacy rather than IT-literacy. If you boil the ICT Programme of Study in the National Curriculum down to its bare essentials, it is quite simple: problem-solving in the context of technology.
To expand a little, the underlying model is a seven-stage cycle:

1. Identify a problem.

2. Break it down into its component parts.

3. Consider possible solutions.

4. Implement a solution.

5. Test whether it works in itself.

6. Evaluate whether it works as a solution in this context.

7. Go back to the start if necessary.

The skills needed in order to carry out this process successfully include:

• Analysis;
  
  
• Collaboration; and
  
  
• An ability to self-reflect honestly.

These skills are what we might call 'soft'. As far as the hard IT skills like word processing are concerned, pupils are taught skills on a need-to-know basis, they are taught how to work out what sort of skills they need for a particular task, and they are taught how to teach themselves. Also, when you look at the key concepts addressed in the National Curriculum, such as the validity of information, these are not trivial.

Problem-solving in our schools starts with five-year olds. Level 1 in the Programme of Study stipulates that pupils explore options and make choices to communicate meaning, and that they should develop familiarity with simple ICT tools. This is relevant to our discussion here today. By the time pupils have gone through the system they should be confident and competent in problem-solving using ICT. Towards the other end of the scale, the Key Stage 3 on-screen test for 14 year-olds has developed into a formative assessment tool in which pupils undertake simulated real-world tasks using a range of software tools provided.

Does the approach work? Let's consider some of the findings from the recent Ofsted Annual report, published on the 17th October.

1. "In less successful schools, the basic skills of literacy, numeracy and ICT needed for future success are not acquired quickly enough. In areas of higher deprivation, pupils do least well in relation to achieving future economic well-being."

2. "In the most successful lessons, teachers are enthusiastic and knowledgeable, encouraging pupils to be independent learners and to think for themselves. ICT is often used well to support this work and to engage pupils."

3. "[There is] a clear link between engagement with ICT and attainment in English and mathematics."

4. "The 2020 vision report on personalised learning made it clear that, as well as the vitally important literacy, numeracy and ICT skills, children need:

• the confidence and ability to respond creatively to new experiences, challenges and opportunities;
  
  
• to be resilient in the face of difficulty;
  
  
• to investigate problems and find solutions;
  
  
• to work collaboratively and independently;
  
  
• to evaluate information;
  
  
• to persevere;
  
  
• and to manage their own learning."

© Terry Freedman Tue, 20 Nov 2007