posted on 02 March 2010 05:43
Personal Learning and Thinking Skills (and similar in other parts of the world) are asked for by employers and asked of teachers when planning lessons. All over the UK I hear secondary teachers saying, "I know why PLTS is valuable, I believe it should be an entitlement of all my students, but I have so much pressure on me to 'deliver the content." This is a real and valid response.
Many other teachers are already infusing PLTS - using it to deliver the content. They can do this because either:
a) they or their school have invested time 'training' learners to learn in more collaborative ways, or
b) they inherited 'teachable', skilled-up children from their feeder primaries
But this is only part of the picture. If PLTS is so valuable (and I believe it is) then it should be publicly valued alongside GCSE subject grades.
I propose two additional GSCE-equivalent grades: Employability and Learn-ability, for which pupils can get grades from U to A*.
Think about this: a pupil with 9 A*s (subject), a B for Learn-ability and a D for Employability. Then imagine a pupil with a scattering of subject grades (C-A*) with Learn-ability and Employability both A*. I know who I would choose (as an employer myself)
But how can we assess these 2 'subjects'? Amanda at Clayton Hall Business & Enterprise College knows how - it's all there in the BTEC assessments - PLTS infused throughout - a small step from the progression grids to a grade. Call her up - but wait till Friday (Ofsted visit).
If PLTS is so valuable and teachers are beholden to their grades, then make PLTS a grade.