Out of the Box Thinking: People’s Juries To Address The Crisis in Education

Many people are becoming increasingly disillusioned with how school education operates in this country. This is a meeting to develop new ideas about our education system, which screams for reform and what steps we need to take to do that.

The constraints of a narrow curriculum and the pressure for schools and students to perform well in standardised test and exams are now almost universally seen as being inappropriate for our age and inflicting real damage on young people.

Tonight’s event offers an opportunity for YOU to play a role in defining the steps that can be taken to move towards a far better system of education – one that can enable young people to thrive and flourish in a world in which so many of our traditional assumptions about work, wellbeing and prosperity are evaporating.

We will not be asking you just to sit back and listen to the ideas of a politician or eminent educator. No, we will be asking you to come up with some new thinking/develop your own ideas through discussion in small groups. The evening will start with four very brief presentations, each exploring one of these questions:

1. What does it mean to be a well-educated person in the 21st century?

2. With all information/understanding now available online do we need to redefine the role of the teacher?

3. How could we construct a better student appraisal process?

4. Should we move to multidisciplinary projects lasting, say, a week (eg the environment, music in life, how our energy is produced) rather than having a timetable based on 40-50 min subject lessons?

You will then be invited to join a group of six to eight participants, with each group exploring one of these topics. Towards the end of the evening the main points of the discussion will be summarised and considered by all.

So the evening will be a small-scale project in using deliberative democracy, people’s juries, to solve a big problem. Do come along and have your say!

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This event is in the Brockway Room on the ground floor (accessible, with induction loop audio). For accessibility info: conwayhall.org.uk/about/visiting-us