#subjectchoices

One of the most inspiring TED talks on education was given early on by Sir Ken Robinson, who throughout the nineties had been a professor at Warwick University.

The 2006 talk is one of the most viewed TED talks, with around 60 million views. Robinson’s main contention was this: creativity is just as important in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status. There is no question that literacy - and numeracy - have been pushed as the absolute essentials in the curriculum. Certainly in primary schools, time spent on these subjects has crowded out other facets of education.

The origins of this established hierarchy have come from our collective thoughts about the purpose of education. We perhaps dwell too much on the economic reasons: which qualifications and skills will get me (or my child) the best jobs and careers. We all want security and the means to look after our families, countries more broadly want economic prosperity. These reasons are important and not to be downplayed, and they are certainly at the forefront of ministers’ minds when Government policy is forged.

When Michael Gove introduced the EBacc in 2010 the shortlist of essentials – unchanged since – was:

English language and English literature

Maths

Science (double award or three separate sciences)

Geography or history

A language (modern or ancient)

State schools are measured on the percentage of pupils who get a good pass across all elements of the EBacc. Its stated purpose is “to keep young people’s options open for further study and future careers.” In short, it speaks to the economic motives of education. But what about the cultural aspects of learning, the social aspects of learning – working in teams, creating something, what about the elements of personal growth and flourishing that we should be seeking? There is nothing in the EBacc I would wish away – it is a good starting point, but where are all those creative subjects, the performing arts or practical subjects? Why does the EBacc not demand that schools include something from that sphere of the curriculum? Creativity does not solely reside in art, music and DT: if you are completing an extended piece of writing or solving a complex scientific problem, you will need to be creative. But by omitting this area from the core curriculum, it downplays the importance of these subjects.

Two aspects of my own ongoing education, thirty years apart, come to mind. First, the time at the start of Sixth Form where I first put myself forward for my first school production. That led to a low-key, but for me a very enriching experience of drama at university. I wished I had been nudged in that direction sooner, and that drama had been a curriculum option at my school. The second nudge towards creativity came 18 months ago when I picked up a guitar for the first time as my lockdown project and learnt through some online tutorials. I had never learnt an instrument before, always assuming I would be too clumsy or that I would resent the hours of practice at home. I had been completely wrong, and now it’s just my own children who resent my guitar practice.

Learning should not just be about the utility it brings – we should ascribe value to the fulfilment that it provides to the learner.

The Year 9 options evening was this week – and in that Mr Bull explained how our system for GCSEs works – you must do maths, English, at least two sciences, a language, a humanity (look familiar?) with three further free-choice subjects from over a dozen options. As things stand, we don’t insist on a creative subject. Perhaps we should for future year groups.

If the economic motives for education retain their primacy, perhaps, in our changing world of machine learning and artificial intelligence, we could all be missing a trick by not insisting on more creativity in the mix. Already creative industries are massive employers in the UK and globally. And when Alexa and her robot friends take over and perhaps diminish our requirement for more technically trained workers, we will still need humans with other skills. Many of those workers most in demand will be the people who show the greatest creativity.