Teachers should determine education

An academic paper has said teachers should determine what is taught in UK schools and not the government, which may interest those in teaching.

Professor Richard Pring, from the Department of Education at the Oxford University, said in the Nuffield Review that those involved in teaching children are the best ones to decide what they should be taught.

The paper says that the national curriculum was launched 20 years ago to give the government control of what schools were teaching, but must evolve to meet changing times.

Professor Pring said: "To develop successfully, the national curriculum requires a knowledge of and a response to the social and cultural context of young learners – but in the light of the broader culture we have inherited.

"Only teachers are in the position to make the bridge between the two."

In the paper, the professor suggests that the ongoing overhaul of the qualifications system is an ideal opportunity to rethink how the national curriculum is delivered.

Also criticised is the current culture of testing and targets, with calls to develop a framework which allows the curriculum to grow, rather than follow a set of prescriptions.

In addition to the Nuffield Review, Professor Pring travels to Karachi twice a year to teach at Aga Khan University.