The National Literacy Strategy and knowledge about language in the English school curriculum

In “The English Patient: English Grammar and teaching in the Twentieth Century”, Hudson and Walmsley (2005) contend that the decline of grammar in schools was linked to a similar decline in English universities, where no serious research or teaching on English grammar took place. This article argues that such a decline was due not only to a lack of research, but also because it suited educational policies of the time. It applies Bernstein’s theory of pedagogic discourse (1990 & 1996) to the case study of the debate surrounding the introduction of a national curriculum in English in England in the late 1980s and the National Literacy Strategy in the 1990s, to demonstrate the links between academic theory and educational policy.

Forging futures? Engineering in the primary school curriculum

Starting with the research question, "How can the Primary School Curriculum be developed so as to spark Children's Engineering Imaginations from an early age?" this paper sets out to critically analyse the issues around embedding Engineering in the Primary School Curriculum from the age of 5 years. Findings from an exploratory research project suggest that in order to promote the concept of Engineering Education to potential university students (and in doing so begin to address issues around recruitment / retention within Engineering) there is a real need to excite and engage children with the subject from a young age. Indeed, it may be argued that within today's digital society, the need to encourage children to engage with Engineering is vital to the future sustainable development of our society. Whilst UK Government policy documents highlight the value of embedding Engineering into the school curriculum there is little or no evidence to suggest that Engineering has been successfully embedded into the elementary level school curriculum. Building on the emergent findings of the first stage of a longitudinal study, this paper concludes by arguing that Engineering could be embedded into the curriculum through innovative pedagogical approaches which contextualise project-based learning experiences within more traditional subjects including science, history, geography, literacy and numeracy.

Preparing Aston Business School students for placement

Aston Business School (ABS) has offered four-year sandwich degrees (including a year long placement) for over 30 years, and ABS has often been ranked top for graduate employability. This report outlines the activities ABS uses to meet its ever increasing placement targets. ABS builds relationships in students’ thinking between theory and practice, and this has implications for their study, the placement period and beyond. Developing the links has certainly been a factor in the enhanced employabilility of ABS graduates, resulting in ABS having been ranked top for graduate employability for many years. The eight employability skills used as the basis for the placement preparation objectives originate from Smith at al’s (2002) work on employability. We were encouraged to find that these employability skills overlap with the benchmark of the ‘Profile summary for Business and Management’ outlined by Hawkridge (2005). In this case study we provide a rationale and then the objectives of the placement preparation period, followed by specific details of the preparation process. The evaluation highlights key achievements and areas for development, and the discussion is future-focused. Readers should note that the ABS Undergraduate curriculum is aimed at preparing students for employment but this case study focuses on the role of the Placements Team.