Presentation by Isabel Sutcliffe, International Standards and Quality Director, Pearson at the School Choice National Conference 20 December 2013.

2. 5th School Choice National
Conference, 20th December 2013
Practice 2025: Teaching for Understanding
Isabel Sutcliffe
International Standards & Quality Director
Pearson

3. Presentation Outline
What are the issues all nations seek to address in their education
policies?
Are there common trends emerging worldwide?
What are the trends in Curriculum Development, Assessment and
Pedagogy?
Example developments within India
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4. Global educational policy issues
•Defining
learning & skills needs for the 21st century
•Nurturing global citizens
•Maintaining, building global competitiveness & economic growth
•Achieving sustainability
•Matching/setting best practice
•Ensuring employability
•Redressing the knowledge, understanding, skills imbalance
•Maintaining, improving access & equity
•Teacher capacity, capability & professionalism
•Harnessing technology in fit for purpose ways
•Setting minimum standards & measuring outcomes
•Embedding culture of continuous improvement by raising
aspirations
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5. Emerging International Trends
•Large
scale education and skills development reforms & investment
•Encouragement of private sector involvement – leading to greater
variety & diversity of provision
•Centralised curricula & national testing systems
•Move to student-centred learning & moves away from marks
to standards/grades as reporting methods
•Focus on process & outcomes more than inputs
Emerging International Trends
•Focus on the individual student
•Growth of Qualification Frameworks as benchmarking tools
•Break with rote learning & emphasis on ‘21st century skills’
•Search for ‘best in class’ – increasing internationalisation, eg PISA
•Employer engagement
•Use of technology for learning as well as for delivery, reporting and
management tools
•FREEDOM & RESPONSIBILITY WITH ACCOUNTABILITY
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6. Common Trends in Curriculum Development,
Assessment & Pedagogy
•Curriculum
written as expected outcomes (KSU) in the form of development
continua, age and stage related K-12
•Pre-defined standards of attainment used to demarcate points – usually
age-related - along the continuum
•Expected learning outcomes at points along the continuum aligned with
assessment – formative, school-based and external
•Empowering students in the learning process by the sharing of learning
objectives & outcomes aligned with the standards of attainment
•Recognition of assessment for learning and the integration of assessment
with teaching & learning
•School-based assessment with external validation on the ascendancy
•Use of qualification frameworks as the means by which certificated
achieved outcomes might be referenced
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7. Exemplification of Trends
•Integration
of Teaching, Learning & Assessment
•Standards-referenced Assessment
•Standards-referenced Reporting
•Aligning lesson plans with standards-based curriculum, predefined
standards of attainment & learning outcomes
•Students involved in preparation, execution and reviewing the results
of assessment tasks
•Standardised means of reporting outcomes, standards, including
national and internationally-referenced qualification frameworks
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8. Solutions

9. Solutions
Teaching for
Understanding
Encourage application based
learning & evaluation
Help master higher order
thinking Skills
Carry out regular class-room
based assessment to track
students’ progress
Teaching for
Understanding
Use Standardized
Assessments designed to
measure the learning skills
& Outcomes
Provide feedback on learning
gaps of the student, batch
analysis for schools &
teachers

10. Possible actions for further reflection, further
consideration
•Mandatory
Professional Development of teachers and leaders
•Empower students in the learning & assessment process through the
use of explicit learning objectives & expected outcomes with
assessment at the core
•Involve the wider community in the development – and delivery ? - of
relevant, enquiry-based curriculum
•Break the link between teaching, text book and examination –
consider more school-based assessment, with external validation
•Integrate academic and skills-based learning
•Embed ‘21st century skills’
•Review factors used to measure educational improvement – from
inputs to process & outcomes
•Use a Quality Assured Standardised Framework of reporting outcomes
health
Standardization all across
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11. Thank
you