Knight. Through. Rewarded. Adventure. Explosion.
Ok, so I know Spectator readers are of above-average intelligence, and so hardly a representative sample, but I’m going to stick my neck on the line and suggest that most literate adults are not only capable of reading these words, but they can spell them too. Yet Lucy Powell, our newly crowned Education Secretary, seems to think they are ‘obscure’.
Pity England’s children, and pity England. We have Philistines in charge of our education system
In fact, so ‘obscure’ are these words, according to the woman now tasked with securing school standards, that it is unfair to expect 11-year-olds to know how to spell them. Powell has told BBC Radio 5 Live this week that children’s focus during their final year of primary school should be on ‘learning how to communicate in written, in oral and other forms’ and they should ‘not get too drawn into some, you know, kind of specific aspects of grammar.’
Powell is particularly exercised about the ‘Spag’ test, a compulsory part of the Standard Assessment Tests taken at the end of Key Stage Two, when most pupils are aged 11. (For the uninitiated, Spag is teacher shorthand for ‘Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar’.) ‘It’s particularly obscure in parts, isn’t it?’ bemoaned the Secretary of State.
I have questions. Teaching children how to communicate is indeed a great idea. Powell suggests pupils should learn how to do this ‘in written, in oral and other forms’. But what exactly does she have in mind for this latter, ‘other’ category? Interpretative dance? Expressionist painting? And how does knowing the rules of spelling, punctuation and grammar – even the more ‘obscure’ rules – get in the way of communication? Although I guess even posing this question reveals my assumption that the aim of communicating is to be understood. It’s quite possible that the Education Secretary thinks producing a random stream of jumbled letters is a perfectly adequate way for people to express their emotions.
The truth is, it’s not just Powell who has got it in for Spag tests. Ever since they were first introduced by the coalition government in 2013, when a certain Michael Gove was education secretary, Spag tests have been controversial among teachers, parents and education unions. Forcing children to be able to identify ‘fronted adverbials’, ‘subordinate clauses’ and ‘determiners’ has been a particular bone of contention. Not only do the tests leave children feeling ‘stressed’ and even ‘distraught’, but they stifle creativity by leaving children ‘too scared to write,’ according to one union leader.
Adults badly need to get a grip. No child becomes ‘scared’ at the prospect of knowing a bit of grammar unless teachers and parents have already seeded the idea that understanding sentence structure is an insurmountable challenge requiring superhuman levels of intelligence and fortitude. Approach the task logically and calmly, and children are capable of learning almost anything. Testing is only ‘high stakes’ if children are told that the results are a big deal.
In reality, some teachers and union leaders have exploited children’s angst as ammunition in their own battle against educational standards. In the febrile imagination of progressive educators, teaching children knowledge, facts and rules is a form of Gradgrindian child abuse. Far better to let the little darlings frolic in blissful ignorance, unconstrained by grammar and unencumbered by the need for accuracy.
Sadly, this is utter tripe. Knowing how to write properly does not stifle creativity; it allows creativity to flourish. Being able to spell correctly and write grammatically means other people can understand you. It unlocks the door not just to career opportunities but to full participation in a democratic society and entry into the kingdom of knowledge. Failing to teach children how to read, write and spell – even ‘obscure’ words – is to deny them access to their intellectual birthright.
Powell’s latest comments echo remarks she has made previously, in which she has described Spag tests as ‘draconian’ and just a means of ‘micromanaging’ pupils. But go back to the early years of this century, before such tests were introduced, and England’s school children were slipping down international league tables comparing pupils’ performance in literacy, maths and science. Such rankings are clearly not the be-all and end-all of education. But they provide a good indication as to whether children have the skills they need to access further learning. With the introduction, from 2010 onwards, of a knowledge-based curriculum, backed up by rigorous testing, pupils were enabled to succeed. Now this looks to be under threat.
Pity England’s children, and pity England. We have Philistines in charge of our education system. Powell’s disregard for spelling and grammar points to a catastrophic attack on school standards that could take generations to overturn.
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