Education Sector Trends Written by Caroline Doherty, head of education strategy at The Key
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Has 2020 proved we should stop trying to predict the future? As the new academic year gets underway, Caroline Doherty, head of education strategy at The Key, reflects on how many of our 2020 education sector predictions ended up being far from reality and examines which trends might be here to stay Back in January I shared my thoughts on what the education sector could expect in 2020. I considered manifesto commitments (that December election feels a long time ago now) and topics like Ofsted, funding and curriculum. Unsurprisingly perhaps, I didn’t suggest a global pandemic might force the country’s schools to close to the majority of students at a moment’s notice, or that teachers would undertake a vast remote learning experiment. I also failed to predict that we’d take, albeit tentative steps, to examine the concept of
there are still some big unanswered questions. What’s going to happen about exams next year? How will rotas, if needed, work in practice? Could schools close again in the event of a second nationwide spike? I’ve learnt from my previous prediction experience, and won’t attempt to answer those questions here, but I will stick my neck out and suggest three emerging trends that are hopefully here to stay.
race in our society and our curricula. So, I think it’s safe to say I won’t be taking up a career in fortune telling any time soon. But in all seriousness, as the new The power of academic year begins, where are collaboration we now and what’s next? As Teacher Everyone in education the reality of living with s will hav shares a common purpose, COVID-19 sets in, and we their w e so joint working is get our heads around out ass ork cut nothing new, but the the tiers of the ‘contain essing p speed and depth of strategy’, year group learning upils’ partnership working bubbles, staggered ensurin gaps and has increased hugely. starts and facemasks,
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