Bolton Data for Inclusion

The Action Research Centre for Inclusion

(Sponsored by: The Barrow Cadbury Trust)

at

Bolton Institute of Higher Education.

Data No 36 :

January 2002

Author(s) :

Simone Aspis

Title :

One Award for All

Abstract :

This paper sets out to examine why past and present attempts to change and extend the range of educational accredited courses have failed to ensure both Disabled and Non Disabled Young Peoples educational attainments are equally recognised when they are enrolling onto further / higher education courses or applying for jobs.  I have written the “One Award For All” to demonstrate there is a real possibility that the educational accreditation system can be adapted so that everyone’s differing attainments can be equally valued and recognized.

One Award For All

Summary

Since the beginning of schooling, we have seen more and more young people having the chance to pass exams and get certificates.  It started off with young people who were labeled as being very clever doing and passing exams.  Soon after young people who were labeled as being “normal” and now young people labeled as having learning difficulties are also doing exams and getting certificates.

This lead to many Bosses asking for young people to pass harder examinations with higher grades whilst more and more young people got certificates.  This means the more certificates young people gain, the more certificates bosses want all young people to have.

In the past exams were not there to help people get jobs.  Exams were there to see who were and who were not clever enough to learn at university or college.  However bosses liked exams because it was an easy way of choosing who may be clever enough to do their jobs,

It started off with bosses only needing people with exams to do very hard jobs like accountancy, law or becoming a doctor.  It then moved onto jobs which needed a lot of physical skills and some special knowledge such as being a Plumber or a Hair Dresser.

And now job training courses are offered in shop work, child-care and catering.  Bosses have never asked for certificates in the past to do these jobs.  This is because the training can easily be given whilst the young person is doing the job.

The Government has tried to make it fairer for everyone to leave school with school exams which bosses and colleges want.  The old O Levels and Certificate of Secondary Education Exams were replaced with General Certificate of Secondary Education exams.  The number of GCSE grades grew from A, B, C, D, E, to A, B, C, D, E, F, G.

It was thought having a large number of grades would make it easier for students to show how well they have done in their examinations.  Grad A meant that the young person did very well whilst a Grade G meant the student did just okay.

However having more exam grades did not mean that exams were fairer.

Everyone must learn the same things in the subject area.  Everyone will have the same set of questions and will need to give their answers within a set time (usually in 2 or 3 hours).  This allows Examiners to see how good a young person’s answers are against other young people.

“Some young people expressed frustration with the limitations of examinations and academia as “giving a false impression of what they can do…”” *9

Having more GCSE/A Level grades do not say more correctly what young people can do.  Some examples can show this for both Disabled and Non Disabled People. 20 out of 100 (20%) of students get a higher grade after they wrote to the GCSE and A Level Exam Board asking for their exam to be remarked.

Bosses also do not think that exams tell them what students can do.  Many shops will give their shop workers a Maths test.  The Maths tests are much easier than GCSE Maths.  Bosses wanting students with University Degrees will still test their workers skills during an assessment day.

No longer do bosses for example, thing students having a Computer Studies Degree mean they can write and test computer programmes.

For young people who are labeled as being clever will not get extra marks or a higher grade for what they have learnt outside the classroom.

Disabled People with severe Physical Impairment may only get a lower grade because they are unable to do the amount of work needed to get a grade which shows their ability.  For example, a young person may only be able to get a Grade C instead of a Grade A in English because she or he can not physically type enough words to get a higher grade.

At the same time of having more GCSE Grades, the Government introduced a range of job training courses like the General National Vocational Qualifications.

The Government told everyone that GNVQs were equal to GCSE and A Levels.  However, young people and their teachers did not believe this!  This is because young people who were not clever enough to do GCSE and A Level school subject exams did the GNVQ job training courses

The problem is that the Government has always thought about new courses with certificates for different groups of young people.

For example the GCSE Top Papers and A Levels are for young people who are seen as being very clever by their school teachers.

GNVQs/NVQs and GCSE Bottom Papers are for young people, including people with learning difficulties, who are not seen as being clever by their school teachers.

Certificate of Achievement and Entry Level Certificates are mainly for young people with learning difficulties who would be seen as not being good enough to do GCSE and GNVQ courses.

All the government is trying to do is separate people in doing different courses and then do different jobs rather than thinking about having one certificate for everyone.

If Job Training Courses like the GNVQ and NVQs are aimed at young people who are not clever then what will be taught and how it will be learnt will show this.

Bosses believe that young people who do the job-training courses are not either clever or have not worked or have not worked hard enough at school.  Some bosses feel there may be something wrong with young people choosing to do job-related courses.  Some bosses thought there is something wrong if a young person did not get a GCSE Grade A, B or C.  For many bosses there is no difference between a GCSE Grade D and A GCSE Grade G or failing to get a grade or certificate at all!!

A job applicant said “if you go in there (job interview) and say I haven’t actually got the GCSEs but I have the equal vent (GNVQ Intermediate or NVQ Level 2) they (Employer) still look at you down their nose as if to say well why didn’t you bother to do the originals in the first place”.

Some bosses do not like GNVQs because it is just giving someone a certificate for doing the same and simple tasks which they could just learn on the job!

The learning is more about teaching young people how to do single tasks rather than learning about the whole job and the business.

The Government is now going to make GCSE and A Level job training courses.  This is in the hope that clever young people will want to do job training courses if they re GCSE/A Levels rather than GNVQ.

The French did the same by having one certificate for both job and school subject courses.  This did not work for young people who were taking mainly job-training courses.  The French found that young people doing the school subjects had more choices on what they could do after leaving school.  The French found that young people thought job training courses were for young people who could not pass school subject exams.  And the young people doing job training courses felt they were unable to do school subjects exams.

In the UK, the Government tried to do the same thing as France by bringing one certificate for everyone who was doing school subject exams or job training courses.  The certificate was called The Record Of Achievement.   All young people leave at 16 with the same certificate, which included their achievements both within school subject exams, job training courses and other activities.  Unfortunately the Record of Achievement was being mainly used for young people who were not very clever and would leave school without any school subject exam grades.

What is Achievement?

It does not say that achievement is about how well you do against other people doing the same things/completing the same tasks.

Achievement is to do something successfully with effort.   Achievement is something you say when you are happy with what you have done.

Can there be one award which allows everyone to take part in?

There are some tests which allow everyone to take part in, for example the Driving Test.  Everyone must pass at a set standard needed for safe driving.  The test is aimed at everyone who wants to be told they are safe drivers and this is why bosses trust the Driving test.  The Driving test is not aimed at people with clever, “normal” or learning difficulties labels.

The test is aimed at anyone who think they are safe drivers.

The Driving Test is one award which anyone can get if they pass all the driving tasks.  Driving Testers can pass everyone if they think everyone is good enough to drive safely on the roads.  No one says there are too many people which would include people with learning difficulties passing their driving tests.  There is no grading either, the student is told if she or he has passed or failed.  The student will be told which driving tasks she or he has failed on.  Most bosses who want car drivers only want to know if they have passed their driving test.  I have come across a boss who will test their car drivers driving skills as part of their interview.

However, there is one general award which can include everyone which is called The Duke of Edinburgh Award.  It is open to everyone between 14 and 25 years old who wants to take part.  It started off giving young people who are clever a chance to get certificates for what they have done outside passing school subject exams.

The DoE grew to include young people in and out of work and now Disabled young people with learning difficulties are also taking part.

The main things about the DoE is that

Young People are not competing against each other for the award.

Young People will only be told if they have passed.  There will be no grades given.

Young People will be involved with setting their goals and working towards them.

Each young person will work at his/her own pace, and will be able to show what she or he can do using different ways.  Some young people may want to do exams whilst other young people will want to show what they know and can do through project work or taking part in activities.

The DoE has three awards.  The Bronze Award takes 6 months; Silver Award takes 12 months and 18 months for the Gold Award.

Young People must give service, take part in a physical activity and learn a skill for at least 6, 12 or 18 months.

Also young people in teams must take part in a country-side project or complete a long journey and take part in a five day team project away from home.

How does it keep its worth (Integrity)?

It relies on young people who want to work in an honest way and want to reach a challenge.  The young person chooses to get involved.

The assessors must be honest and not just be prepared to pass anyone.  Assessors must have enough knowledge about the subject area.  The same goes for both University Course and GCSE/A Level Assessors.  Like with examinations there are always cross-checks.  At University there will always be examiners from other Universities checking that the exams have been set and marked fairly.

The same happens with the DoE Award Assessments.  The DoE states there must be Independent Knowledgeable Assessors who have not worked or trained with the young person. This should mean the teachers can not just give out DoE awards in the same way as School, College and University teachers can not just give out certificates.

Complete A Country-side Project (Exploration) or Complete A Long Journey (Expedition)

Also young people must complete a country-side project or complete a long journey over 2, 3 or 4 days.  Usually everyone must journey for at a fixed number of hours or miles.  Also young people must take part in a shared activity over 5 days away from home if they are doing their Gold Award.

Everyone must show how they can look after themselves in the country-side.  This would include reading a map, carrying out First Aid, cooking and putting up and taking down tents.

Disabled People can ask to do less physical activity if it will be too hard for them.  This may be doing less miles or carrying out the activity for less hours.  Disabled People will spend more time on their project work.   Everyone must give a report about their exploration or expedition.

Assessment

The Assessor will allow the report to be given in different ways. The report does not need to be written.  The report can use pictures, drawings or be spoken onto tape.  It may include collections, drawings or poems.  The Assessor can just ask questions about the project.

The Assessor will not be seeing how good a young person’s work is against another young person.  However the Assessor may want to speak with a young person’s teacher to check what she or he can be expected to do.

Skills Section

There are over 200 skills which young people can choose from.  All skill are skills.  There is no split between school subjects and job training skills.  If a young person finds the skill easy to learn then she or he will need to learn more to pass.  If the young person finds the skill hard he will need to learn les to pass.

The good thing about the DoE is that all courses are equally valued.  For example, some young person may choose to do A Level or GCSE Computer Studies, whilst other young people may choose to do Computer Studies Beginners, Intermediate or Advanced course without any exam.

Assessment

The teacher or an independent Assessor who knows a lot about the skill will be seeing how well the young person is doing.  The teacher/Independent Assessor will pass the young person if she or he has tried to learn the skill usually on a weekly basis.  A young person will not need to show she or he has reached a fixed standard.

Service

Young people will train and give a service of their choice to other people.  Some young people will learn on the job and then give their service.  Other young people will train and then take tests before giving their service.  Again there is no difference between someone who picks up rubbish in a school playground and someone who runs a youth club.  All service is equally worthwhile.

There is no difference between a young person doing on the job training or studying and passing exams before giving their service.

Assessment

Young people will be assessed on how well they gave their service or if they have passed the exams to offer the service.  It will include the young person keeping a diary on the service, how well they have given the service and what they have gained.  A young person will give report, which includes what service was offered, reasons for the service and how it will benefit the community as a whole.

Physical Activity

Everyone must take part in a physical activity of their choice on a weekly basis.  There is no need to show that the young person is getting better at the activity but she or he will need to do the activity usually on a weekly basis.

Assessment

A person who knows a lot about the physical activity will pass the young person if she or he has put the effort into the activity on a weekly basis.

Residential Project

A young person can choose any activity she or he wants to do over 5 days.

The young person must not be paid for taking part.  The young person must stay away from home an live with other people whilst taking part in a shared activity.  This may include holidays, courses or doing charity work.

Assessment

A young person must show she or he is a good person, able to get along with other people, take responsibility, be able to take part and show she or he is learning and getting better in their chosen activities.

The DoE allows young people to find the best way of showing they have the skills.  Some young people may like exams whilst other young people may like project work or just taking part in the lesson.

Bosses have given young people jobs after listening to what they have achieved on the DoE award during their job interviews.  Bosses are happy for young people to show in different ways how they would be able to do their jobs during interviews.  This shows that bosses are not always looking for young people with GCSE and A Levels or National Vocational Qualification Certificates.

Bosses do find it hard to judge what young people can do just on their grades or marks.

In the DoE Award report books information often includes what the young person has done.

There is no reason why school certificates can not do the same, just state what the young person can do.

The DoE is good but there are few problems with it.   Who says what achievements are?

Will there still be some achievements which will be so small that they will not count towards getting the DoE Award?

It can be hard to set a goal with a Disabled person.  Some people may set really easy or really hard goals for the Disabled People.

The Expedition/Exploration needs young people to have some learning, thinking and physical ability.  One of the requirements is for young people to show they can cope on their own in the country-side.  This may go against the outcome, which is about young people as a group showing they can rely on each other during the trip.  This should mean the young people as a group should have the skills BETWEEN themselves to be safe in the country-side.

For some young people giving a report will not be possible.  For some young people they will only be able to show how they feel during the journey.

Why does the DoE see the Expedition or Exploration within the country-side as the only way to give young people a challenging team project to do?

What is needed is one certificate that everyone can aim to get.  It is not enough for everyone having the chance to do the course or certain activities together.  The activities must allow young people to show their knowledge and skills in different ways.  For example a team project does not mean having to plan and do a journey without using any form of transport.

Any certificate that is rewarded must not have path-ways.  This means students should not do school subject or job training courses.  There should not be any grades to show how well students do against non disabled people.  This is because it is society that tells students if they are clever or not.  For each subject, what students actually know and can do should be included onto the certificate.

Universities can still choose people who know a lot about a subject before allowing them onto the course.  For example Doctor training schools would want to see their students have an understanding of Human Biology topics written on their certificates, before doing Doctor training courses.  Many University courses now allow students to get marks for course work, work experience, project work and exams.  Some University courses do not have exams at all.

The Duke of Edinburgh Award allows students to learn a lot about themselves and the world they live in, to work alone and to work as part of a team, to do simple tasks and to solve small and big problems.

Both students who are labeled as being very clever or having learning difficulties can show what they can do which would be recorded.  There are hundreds of choices which young people can make and different ways of how they can show what they have learnt and what they can do.

School, College and University certificates can be changed to work in the same way as the Duke of Edinburgh Award does.  The certificate would have the subject on it and what the student knows and can do.  There will be no marks or grades.

Simone Aspis

Changing Perspectives

Further information is available from:

Karen Barton (k.barton@bolton.ac.uk)
Bolton Institute
Chadwick Street
Bolton, BL2 1JW
England