Academics attack 'endless lists of facts' in new curriculum

A new national curriculum will demand “too much, too young” by forcing pupils to learn by rote at the start of primary school, 100 leading academics warn today.

Pupils’ education will be damaged at an early age because lessons will place an overemphasis on memorising “endless lists of spelling, facts and rules”, it is claimed.

In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, some of the country’s top professors of education say that the move will rob children of the "ability to think”.

It is claimed that the Government’s approach runs counter to systems employed by some of the highest-achieving countries in the world such as Finland which place a greater emphasis on problem-solving, critical analysis and creativity.

The comments – by dons from universities including Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, King’s College London, Birmingham, Manchester and Nottingham – will be seen as the most high-profile criticism yet of the Coalition’s new national curriculum framework.
Signatories include Prof Andrew Pollard, from the University of London’s Institute of Education, and Prof Margaret Brown, from King’s College, who originally advised the Government on the new document.

- Telegraph.co.uk