posted on 29 April 2010 08:35
Major teaching unions have voted to boycott SATs. Heads, teachers, governors and parents all have their views. The government's position is clear: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/10089376.stm
Hot educational topics like this are always emotive. Feelings run high, tempers flare, hackles rise. But very few people examine why they feel so strongly. Dig deep enough and we find the personal beliefs and values that driive our feelings about testing.
And yet again, in such a significant debate, whose voices are silent (or at least go unreported)? Of course, the children. After all, what do they know about values, about learning, about school and about testing....
This country would do well to listen carefully, seriously and without condescension, to its children. They have all the answers we need. They speak with purity, from the head and heart, unburdened by adult baggage, politics and fears.
Go on, take a risk, ask your Y6s what they value most. See how high 'being tested' figures on their lists.