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English literature GCSE

Arran Cameron
What does the IET and the engineering community think of the English literature GCSE? Is it relevant or beneficial for engineering or is it (like food tech) something that hardly anybody cares about?


English literature is a near compulsory GCSE in England but is now optional in Wales where it has experienced quite a heavy decline in the number of secondary school students taking it.
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    The Pen is mightier than the Sword (if inferior steel is used ?) . Although for many of my generation their “pens” were the tools of their trade, the File, the Pliers, the Welding Torch, the Brummagem Screwdriver etc.  As a simplistic observation, one of the most obvious differences between the professional engineer and the professional craftsperson, is their powers of explanation and persuasion. I like to see these as just different “intelligences” or talents, but academic advancement in most fields rewards expression through language, rather than through artefacts. In engineering we also potentially have the language of mathematics to deploy, when appropriate.  Somebody kicked off a thread about Electricians which went AWOL, but it is interesting to observe how many, who perhaps didn’t excel in persuasion as judged by an examination at the age of 16, became leaders. I met one with a Nobel Prize to his name a few years ago!   

    If the education system cannot ensure fluency in the English Language for all but the most challenged of students in over ten years, then something is badly wrong. Whether passing a GCSE exam in either language or literature demonstrates capability, or just repetition by someone coached to within an inch of their lives to win the exam “competition”, I’ll not pursue that just now - I need to revise?   
       

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    The Pen is mightier than the Sword (if inferior steel is used ?) . Although for many of my generation their “pens” were the tools of their trade, the File, the Pliers, the Welding Torch, the Brummagem Screwdriver etc.  As a simplistic observation, one of the most obvious differences between the professional engineer and the professional craftsperson, is their powers of explanation and persuasion. I like to see these as just different “intelligences” or talents, but academic advancement in most fields rewards expression through language, rather than through artefacts. In engineering we also potentially have the language of mathematics to deploy, when appropriate.  Somebody kicked off a thread about Electricians which went AWOL, but it is interesting to observe how many, who perhaps didn’t excel in persuasion as judged by an examination at the age of 16, became leaders. I met one with a Nobel Prize to his name a few years ago!   

    If the education system cannot ensure fluency in the English Language for all but the most challenged of students in over ten years, then something is badly wrong. Whether passing a GCSE exam in either language or literature demonstrates capability, or just repetition by someone coached to within an inch of their lives to win the exam “competition”, I’ll not pursue that just now - I need to revise?   
       

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