Originally posted @ 10:12 pm, Thu 27th Aug 2009
The latest in the "education has been dumbed down" charge was a bizzare appearance this morning on BBC Breakfast by a spokesperson for "the Campaign for Real Education". I wonder if it's even a real campaign - more like an "emotional spasm". Not one sober fact but instead a kind of constipated distress - as students up and down the country were shown celebrating their achievements. Yet it got national coverage.
The Daily Mail has been in on this one. An article listing the failings of students in their history exams - ("One undergraduate wrote in an essay that French resistance fighters used the internet to publicise their cause.") - hmmm.
More troubling for Daily Mail readers is the news that the colour red offers a psychological advantage in competitions.
Except of course it's not news. Even in the 19th Century, yep, the 19th, teams were exploring choices of colours to help win matches. My favourite story from this era was how Preston North End took to wearing white shirts with large red polka dots to put off their opponents. "Come on you spots!"
The Daily Mail offered decisive evidence for the advantage of wearing red shirts - "England's victorious World Cup team in 1966, led by Bobby Moore (pictured) wore red - but have since switched to white."
SINCE SWITCHED TO WHITE!!!! Now, as any self-respecting football fan would say "IF, YOU KNOW, YOUR HISTORY", you'd know England's first colour has always been white. Sure, two of our greatest performances have been wearing red - Duncan Edwards' destruction of Germany in the fifties and the 1966 cup final.
But even 15 hours on, not one Daily Mail blogger has written to point out this basic error, nay, dare I say, key stage 2 error. (We all knew that when we were 11). Written about English history. Written, by the way, outside exam conditions.
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Of course, there are moments when I want to join in the "standards have been dumbed down" mantra. And that's when I find out my 15 year-old nephew is on his way to getting a better grade in his physics O-level, sorry GCSE, than I got. And his main subject is history.
He suffered a full 10 minute interrogation into whether this knowledge and progress was real. (Apparently my Mum / his gran seemed to think I should be saying "well done" - as if.) But he withstood the pressure - pointing out they'd prepped on exam papers from 10 years ago and he knows today's tests are just as challenging.
Today's children have achieved the best results ever. Let us rejoice at that news.
Now, who's for forming a "campaign for real opinion holders". Surely, that's worth a slot on BBC Breakfast? Just don't expect me to wear a red blazer, with a polka dot tie, when I'm on.
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