Feminist professor Becky Francis to lead shake-up of national curriculum, Government announces

29 comments

1. I’m sure a feminist professor will have the interests of white working-class boys, our lowest performing demographic, at heart.

2. Personally I’m interested in whether they’re going to remain with a focus on a knowledge based education or whether they’re going to revert to a skills based curriculum. The tories shifted us over to the former with some good results. Welsh Labour and the SNP fully embraced the skills approach and the results have been poor. The comments in the article about an ‘outdated’ curriculum, as well as the appointment of Jacqui Smith as an education minister, suggest we could be seeing a return to a ‘skills based’ curriculum, unfortunately.

3. It seems that the term “feminist” might be off-putting to a lot of people, especially when it seems more “humanist” in its approach nowadays. Feminism seems less about liberating women and more about helping all people to become equal. Maybe that is an optimistic take, but that is my experience.

4. Most of her body of work seems to be focusing on elevating the performance of girls and getting more of them into STEM. This certainly isn’t the primary issue in schools right now since boys are performing terribly. Hopefully her changes account for this and don’t focus on the themes of her previous work.

   Seems there’s no details about what this changes might entail so too early to comment but I have doubts about a person who has focused their publications on feminism and ethnic minorities.

5. ITT: men who didn’t bother reading past the deliberately incendiary Torygraph headline. 

6. And so it begins whenever there is a new government education has to change, I hope this isn’t just change for the sake of change.

7. I am confused about one thing. I am a university professor and it is standard procedure to call faculty members Professor so and so (usually as a kind way to avoid revealing a faculty member’s credentials – whether they have a PhD or just a Master’s degree). I have a PhD, so I am also Dr. so and so, but if I were no longer a faculty member I would no longer be Professor so and so, just Dr. so and so. Is Becky Francis still a professor at an institution of learning? It seems from the piece that she is in charge of a non-profit or something, which would make her a PhD (I’m assuming), but not a professor. She is still referred to as Professor Francis throughout the piece.

8. For those not in the know the EEF which she is CEO of is a group which do systematic reviews of literature and their quality to suggest better ways of teaching inline with Psychology and educational research…so a good person to head this up probably

   https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk

9. Since the election the telegraph has turned up it’s hateful rhetoric. God I hope the sale doesn’t go through and it folds to nothing. Burn it to the ground.

10. You have to give labour credit they get their ideological ally straight onto reforming the curricilum on week 2 of the new government. The Tories just whined about woke in public instititons for 14 years and never did anything about it.

11. I feel like a central problem in education is how boys and girls are thrust together with similar expectations without recognising how different the two genders are at those ages 

    I was always jealous of girls’ levels of concentration and found just being in a classroom with them distracting anyway 

12. >Francis, Becky (1998). Power plays: primary school children’s constructions of gender, power, and adult work.

    So a social constructivist who views everything through the lens of power… great.

    Somehow I don’t think she will be addressing the attainment gap between boys and girls… except if it somehow advances her own social goals.

13. Having read the article a lot of the things they’re advocating for are good ideas, especially making trusts follow the curriculum, they should be allowed to go above and beyond for extra enrichment activities but having a baseline they must teach is a good thing, I would be wary about dictating too much though and allow them room in how to teach but just setting the what, I.e teach about an ancient empire but don’t define if it’s Rome, Greece, Egypt or Mesopotamia for example

14. > Prof Francis, who previously served as an adviser to the House of Commons education select committee, specialises in education inequalities and gender stereotypes in the classroom.

    > She has written dozens of publications, spanning a 30-year career, about how girls are often negatively affected by gender clichés in school, including books called Feminist Critique of Education and Feminism and The Schooling Scandal.

    Yep exactly what I expected..

15. Considering it’s boys underperforming which would demonstrate girls are getting better assistance and generally paying more attention. Hopefully the changes would make it so it helps boys. There’s so much negativity around boys/men and being one that I’d like to she her shock everyone and make improvements for everyone not just girls.

    Add on top boys are having to fight even harder to get places in college, uni and work because businesses have decided they want to employee women in some male dominant industries.

    Imagine being a young man excited about STEM knowing no one wants to help you or give you a job, meanwhile a girl at your school is getting gifted everything because of her sex. Very motivating isn’t it. This is why I hope she shocks people and helps everyone.

16. A lot of the books will need reprinting, someone is gonna make a fortune. Follow the money.

17. She has excellent credentials and this is such a dumb take from the Torygraph if it’s meant to be inflammatory

    EEF and Becky herself have had excellent cross party support

18. Shame that the term feminist has become toxic. We all have a mum and shoukd want the best for them right.

19. Finally, my girlfriend’s degree isn’t worthless anymore.

    Bless you, Becky. The job offers will be pouring in!

20. Looking forward to feminists once again pretending they have men all figured out

21. Uh oh…. Maybe I shouldn’t presume negative intentions, but….

    It’s currently boys who are less likely to do well in high school.
    It’s boys who are less likely to go to university.
    It’s boys who, of those who go to university, are less likely to finish with a grade of any value.

    I REALLY hope she’s not going to frame this in terms of more support for girls, but I suspect she will…..

22. Simple answer to most of the problems, bring back partial coursework and use the old 90’s technique for getting young girls to want to become scientists. Get Gillian Anderson in a ginger wig being awesome and not believing in aliens.

    I’m assuming my knighthood and lordship are in the post now

23. The Torygraph really understands their audience with that headline

24. The dread of all teachers: a new curriculum.

    The pupil in front of me has gaps in their education. Only I know what they are and I am paid to know what they are.

    But an education minister will tell me what they need to learn and at what time and at what pace.

    Labour will be better than Tories, but not much better.

25. Are you telling me they don’t already teach this stuff in English schools?!

26. Yeah, because what our hyper-feminised education system needs right now is more feminism.

    Before you leap on me – go to your local primary, look at the photo board. I guarantee less then 5% will be male.

    It’s a chronic problem, especially in many broken homes where there is no male role model, let alone a positive one.

27. I’ll probably wait to see what she reports before I shit my pants.

28. Most of the morons on this sub have no idea about how the feminist movement started… Becky Fuckwit inclusion…. In case you Didn’t it’s About Getting Two parents to pay taxes and break up the marriage/ family relationship. Nothing to do with Women’s Rights

29. So much for an end to the culture wars then. Full steam ahead, get the culture war ideology right onto curriculum reform on week 2.