Edufuturists #124 - TeacherHugRadio.com Launch - The Exams Fiasco

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The Edufuturists launch show for TeacherHugRadio.com which aired on 31st January.

In this special episode about the exam fiasco of the last 10 months we are joined by Lord Jim Knight, Laura McInerney, David Price OBE and Dr. Debra Kidd.

After 10 months of dithering and delay in England on many political issues, one important decision that teachers up and down the country won't have missed is that surrounding exams. A Levels, vocational qualifications, GCSE's and SATS. They've all been affected by lockdowns, the government and mutant algorithms. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is adamant that exams are the best and "fairest" way that students can show what they have learned. Is this true? Winston Churchill once said that "democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time". Are we in danger of lazily appplying this logic to exams, in that exams aren't perfect but it's the best we have? Many of us want to avoid just teaching to an exam, however year 11 engagement in online learning dropped last year when exams were scrapped. Implying that many students think they are just being taught to pass an exam. Leadership tables based on exam results dominate our education system and pressure to achieve certain grades causes many teachers to leave the profession every year. All this when many companies are now saying that exam results are not what they primarily consider when hiring employees. So our question today is: Has a year of exam fiascos revealed that when it comes to end point assessment, the tail is wagging the dog? And if so, are there better solutions?