Engineers who did not enjoy school - are they rare?

Andy Millar:

Hmmm...as a parent of two recent school leavers, a school governor for 9 years, and a very active STEM Ambassador for 17 years I'd suggest that if there's one thing successive UK governments (of all colours) have proved over the last 20-30 years it's that major reforms to the curriculum - and, indeed, the whole role of schools -  can be done year after year! I'd better not go further else I'll start getting political.


The state school system is continuously evolving, changing, and developing, so giving that development a nudge in any particular direction is always possible. Which many involved in STEM education support - including the IET - are very actively doing.

I’m watching computer science in schools with trepidation as an acid test whether it’s realistically possible to add a new subject to the school curriculum that is both mainstream and respected. There have actually been no new subjects added to the school curriculum since the 1950s that are both mainstream and respected apart from Spanish – and that’s just another foreign language. Other new subjects have merely been updated old subjects like D&T Resistant Materials replacing woodwork and metalwork, or religious studies replacing scripture / Bible studies, but are not really new subjects to the same degree that computer science is; marginal subjects like electronics and business studies; or subjects that aren’t respected and valued by further education and employers. I would say that the last major curriculum change on a similar scale to introducing computer science was implementing traditional science and non-Christian religions into the primary school National Curriculum in the late 1980s – and it was quite a difficult process that took the best part of 10 years to fully settle in place despite them being established subjects at secondary school.


Computer science is a completely different beast from ICT. It requires teachers with a different knowledge base and a different mindset from that of a high proportion of ICT teachers who’s knowledge of computers is only using them for office tasks and doesn’t extend far beyond the curriculum that they have to teach. They rarely know anything about algorithms or microprocessors, and neither have they done any programming. It’s common to find history teachers teaching ICT in secondary schools who have no formal education in anything computer related. It’s plausible to say that electronics and physics teachers are in a better position to teach computer science in secondary schools than ICT teachers are.


If computer science succeeds as a mainstream subject in 10 years time and the GCSE is just as respected by further education and employers as a GCSE in traditional science, history, or geography are then I will conclude that it’s genuinely possible to add a completely new subject to the school curriculum.


If computer science becomes a marginal and unpopular – or even a failed GCSE – in 10 years time then I will conclude that the state school curriculum is virtually frozen. It will be possible to tinker around the edges of established subjects or introduce new minor subjects at secondary school level that are optional and only offered by a handful of schools where budgets and teachers are available, but no new subjects on a national scale that are both mainstream and respected.


Another concern I have about computer science is that it’s not a facilitating A Level like biology, chemistry, and physics are. The effects of this could propagate down the school system to primary level giving the impression that computer science is a soft subject, even if it’s as academically rigorous as traditional sciences are, putting the longer term future of computer science into jeopardy.


There is some evidence that independent schools have fared better than state schools at introducing and teaching computer science. One possible explanation is that independent schools are able to employ people from industry to teach computer science who are knowledgeable in the subject but are not qualified teachers, rather than having to find qualified teachers with the knowledge (rare) or train up existing ICT teachers which is what state schools have to do.


A third possible outcome in 10 years time is that computer science will be a respected subject but not a mainstream subject with the vast majority of all GCSE entries being from independent schools rather than state schools. In other words, computer science becomes the new Latin. This scenario will also make me conclude that the state school curriculum is virtually frozen.

Andy Millar:

Hmmm...as a parent of two recent school leavers, a school governor for 9 years, and a very active STEM Ambassador for 17 years I'd suggest that if there's one thing successive UK governments (of all colours) have proved over the last 20-30 years it's that major reforms to the curriculum - and, indeed, the whole role of schools -  can be done year after year! I'd better not go further else I'll start getting political.


The state school system is continuously evolving, changing, and developing, so giving that development a nudge in any particular direction is always possible. Which many involved in STEM education support - including the IET - are very actively doing.

I’m watching computer science in schools with trepidation as an acid test whether it’s realistically possible to add a new subject to the school curriculum that is both mainstream and respected. There have actually been no new subjects added to the school curriculum since the 1950s that are both mainstream and respected apart from Spanish – and that’s just another foreign language. Other new subjects have merely been updated old subjects like D&T Resistant Materials replacing woodwork and metalwork, or religious studies replacing scripture / Bible studies, but are not really new subjects to the same degree that computer science is; marginal subjects like electronics and business studies; or subjects that aren’t respected and valued by further education and employers. I would say that the last major curriculum change on a similar scale to introducing computer science was implementing traditional science and non-Christian religions into the primary school National Curriculum in the late 1980s – and it was quite a difficult process that took the best part of 10 years to fully settle in place despite them being established subjects at secondary school.


Computer science is a completely different beast from ICT. It requires teachers with a different knowledge base and a different mindset from that of a high proportion of ICT teachers who’s knowledge of computers is only using them for office tasks and doesn’t extend far beyond the curriculum that they have to teach. They rarely know anything about algorithms or microprocessors, and neither have they done any programming. It’s common to find history teachers teaching ICT in secondary schools who have no formal education in anything computer related. It’s plausible to say that electronics and physics teachers are in a better position to teach computer science in secondary schools than ICT teachers are.


If computer science succeeds as a mainstream subject in 10 years time and the GCSE is just as respected by further education and employers as a GCSE in traditional science, history, or geography are then I will conclude that it’s genuinely possible to add a completely new subject to the school curriculum.


If computer science becomes a marginal and unpopular – or even a failed GCSE – in 10 years time then I will conclude that the state school curriculum is virtually frozen. It will be possible to tinker around the edges of established subjects or introduce new minor subjects at secondary school level that are optional and only offered by a handful of schools where budgets and teachers are available, but no new subjects on a national scale that are both mainstream and respected.


Another concern I have about computer science is that it’s not a facilitating A Level like biology, chemistry, and physics are. The effects of this could propagate down the school system to primary level giving the impression that computer science is a soft subject, even if it’s as academically rigorous as traditional sciences are, putting the longer term future of computer science into jeopardy.


There is some evidence that independent schools have fared better than state schools at introducing and teaching computer science. One possible explanation is that independent schools are able to employ people from industry to teach computer science who are knowledgeable in the subject but are not qualified teachers, rather than having to find qualified teachers with the knowledge (rare) or train up existing ICT teachers which is what state schools have to do.


A third possible outcome in 10 years time is that computer science will be a respected subject but not a mainstream subject with the vast majority of all GCSE entries being from independent schools rather than state schools. In other words, computer science becomes the new Latin. This scenario will also make me conclude that the state school curriculum is virtually frozen.