Education for children starts at the very earliest point of their lives. From the moment our children are born, they start taking in massive amounts information. Infant and toddler daycare is one of the first places that our children often go to get their first chance of socialising with other children. At this point they are also introduced to the very basics of education and learning. Each month that goes by, new advice, new techniques and different ways of teaching children are introduced. Your child’s early childhood education centre will always be on hand to give you, other parents and carers up-to-date information on how to rear and develop young children.

We will now take a look at news released this month, which is related to education.

Diversity and inclusion

Across the world, we have now seen a massive change towards transgender and gender identity. It is now recognised that you are able to specify how are you identify yourself. In times gone by, trans-gender teaching would never have been something that any of us would have experienced. Now however, we are able to have diversity and have teachers from all backgrounds, regardless of their gender or how they identify themselves. As with anything of this nature, there are those that would disagree with this stance, but to have full inclusion and equality, this is a must in our educational system. Some argue that having access to all kinds of teaching staff from all kinds of different backgrounds is useful when teaching our children, as it prepares them for real life and what it is like once they leave the educational system. As with any new development, it is important that we spend  time ensuring that we produce enough amenities for those who identify themselves under a different umbrella.

Climate change

In other news, students in New Zealand are opting to strike from school or skip classes in protest of the need for climate change. Rallies and matches have been organised all around New Zealand so that the government can see their dislike to the way that things are being handled. This is mainly in secondary schools but some primary schools were also welcome to the protest. A lot of the communication for these protests has been done over social media i.e. through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Although many would argue that students protesting is not good for education, there is a point in giving them freedom of speech and helping them make their own decisions which are crucial skills for their adult life.

Friends at university

University can be a very lonely place when you have left home and you started a new course. Most of us go to university to meet new friends and to get a new experience that we would not necessarily get whilst living at home. It is claimed in some university that one in six students say that they do not have any real friends whilst studying. There could be a number of reasons for this, but it could just be the way the courses have changed over the years. These days social interaction tends to take place on social media and this cuts down the need to socialise face-to-face. It is changes like these that will be affecting the way that students interact with each other and the cause for the lack of friendships. The focus of education has also altered somewhat in the sense that the academic side is taking precedence of over the social side of things.

University Grading

Universities are now coming under greater scrutiny as they have been accused of giving out too many first class and 2:1 degrees. There has been a recent upsurge in these classifications, putting more weight on regulators to investigate the cause of this. The worry is if this continues, courses may seem too easy and not exclusive enough for those that aim for the top grades. Certain universities are offering higher grades than others and this is casing the concern to increase.

Child Absences

Being absent from school will never have a positive influence upon your childhood. Many schools see holidays taken within term time as a way for children to gain experience of a different country or culture. If however, persistent time off is taken, this could have a detrimental effect upon a child’s education and learning. The risk of entering into a life of criminality is increased when schooling is not consistent.

Grammar schools

There have been a number of governments looking at increasing the number of grammar schools, in the request for excellence. There has been resistance from some quarters, as it is believed that having a selection process does not provide equality. Some are arguing for more free places, giving those from poorer backgrounds more opportunity to have access to these centres of excellence.  

Examinations

Exam season is fast approaching and students the pressure for students seems to be larger than ever. It is believed that this has a detrimental effect on a child’s mental health. Therefore, more focus has been placed on the mental health of young children, highlighting the need for more intervention from pastoral care workers.

Teacher Pay

It has been highlighted that there is a gender pay gap within the educational sector. Either males or females can obviously undertake management responsibilities in schools. However there is evidence to suggest that in some cases, males are being paid more than females. Now that this has come to the forefront, efforts are being made to correct this issue.

It is clear to see that there are a number of hot topics in education this month, all of which highlight that changes needs to take place.