Curriculum Controversy: UK Professor Joins NZ Voices To Criticise ‘The Science Of Learning’ Approach

Monday, 28 October 2024, 11:23 am
Press Release: Aotearoa Educators Collective

AEC hosted, a SOLD OUT event, with Guy Claxton (Emeritus
Professor, University of Winchester) called ‘The
Corruption of Science and The Practice of Teaching’ last
Tuesday.

Guy’s message joined the growing chorus of
NZ based Academics raising concerns about the narrow and
corporate focus to our current curriculum form, specifically
the over reliance on ‘The Science of Learning’. He
argued that the idea that we should teach students in a very
formal, teacher-centered way because they don’t know as much
as experts is wrong, it should not be viewed as an either
or.

Guy states, “to try to base whole systems of
education on such binary nonsense is not just specious, it
is seriously damaging.”

“Part of the
problem is the gullibility of politicians, administrators
and some educators in the face of authoritative but
ill-informed claims to scientific warrant by small but
vociferous (and often surprisingly aggressive) bands of
academics and consultants. Many of these people have no
qualifications in the sciences of learning, and a very
limited and highly selective understanding of the
field.”

The timing of Guy’s event has
tapped into a growing sentiment of Principals and Teachers
who are raising their own questions around the Government
trying to sell them a silver bullet to lifting educational
outcomes. School leaders are constantly learning and looking
for ways of growing understanding and practice across a
range of learning sciences.

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The event sold out all 600
tickets and had a growing waitlist. The event passed 500
tickets within its first 3 days.

About Guy
Claxton

Guy is a cognitive scientist, education
thought leader and prolific author interested in expanding
human intelligence through research, writing and
education.

He has spent most of his working life based
in a variety of UK universities including Oxford, Bristol,
King’s College London and Winchester. But increasingly his
work has taken a more practical turn, and has been involved
with a wide range of organisations where a better
understanding of human intelligence is
needed.

About Aotearoa
Educators Collective

Aotearoa
Educators Collective is an umbrella collective created to
support education thought leaders who share a common
interest in promoting progressive ideals in schooling. The
group includes academics, principals and teachers and is not
aligned to any political party.

These leaders
choose to contribute to mainstream public debate through
mainstream media based on their research, their lived
professional experience and their standing within the
sector.

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