Asked by: Earl of Dundee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the efficacy of interactive learning programmes, including computer games, using the Socratic dialogue.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Education Endowment Fund's (EEF) metacognition and self-regulation guidance report includes 'Socratic talk' as a common teaching strategy. This can be accessed here: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/metacognition-and-self-regulation.
The EEF's teaching and learning toolkit highlights that for metacognition and self-regulation, "Studies that use digital technology, for example, intelligent tutoring systems that scaffold learning show particularly high impacts on pupil outcomes." This is based on the EEF's digital technology evidence review (2019), which can be accessed here: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/evidence-reviews/digital-technology-2019.
The department does not actively support or mandate individual digital products as we believe that it is up to schools and colleges to decide what technology they need to meet their requirements. Meta-analysis from the EEF shows that digital technologies have the best possible impact when embedded in good pedagogy. This can be accessed here: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit.
Asked by: Earl of Dundee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how academic qualifications are given online to students (1) internationally, and (2) in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The assessment of qualifications in England is managed differently depending on the sector.
As autonomous institutions, higher education (HE) providers are responsible for determining the content of their courses and the manner in which they are taught, supervised, assessed and awarded including determining how online methods are used.
All registered providers in England must meet all the Office for Students’ (OfS) revised registration conditions in relation to the quality and standards of HE, including on course design and delivery, and assessment and award, regardless of how or where teaching is delivered.
The department has made its expectation clear to HE providers in England that all students should be receiving a comparable amount of face-to-face teaching as before the COVID-19 pandemic. While virtual learning is a fantastic innovation, we are clear that it should only be used to complement and enhance a student’s learning experience, not detract from it, nor should not it be used as a cost cutting exercise.
In March 2022, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced he wanted to start carefully considering the potential opportunities greater digital assessment could bring in the qualifications regulated by Ofqual, the independent regulator of qualifications, examinations, and assessments in England.
Ofqual published a report into online assessment in 2020, which included reviewing international examples and identified the key barriers to greater adoption of online and on-screen assessments in high stakes qualifications such as GSCEs and A Levels. Ofqual has also recently announced it will look at whether greater use of technology in qualifications could deliver benefits for students and apprentices in the long term. Ofqual has said it will undertake research into a number of areas as part of its new corporate plan.
The department believes technology has the potential to deliver a range of benefits in the classroom and we plan to work closely with Ofqual as this early exploratory work is undertaken.
Asked by: Earl of Dundee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to support online learning initiatives at local and national level in the UK; and what plans they have to promote online learning at the Global Education Summit on 28–29 July.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Technology in education has been essential for continuing to teach remotely during the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent school and college closures. Technology also has the potential to support teacher workload reductions, flexible working, cost savings, effective teaching and improved pupil outcomes. We are building on the department’s significant investment in devices, platforms, training and digital services to develop a sustainable strategy for digital technology in education.
The department launched the first phase of the EdTech Demonstrator programme in April 2020. The Demonstrators are a network of schools and colleges which were initially funded in the 2020/21 financial year to provide peer-to-peer support on making the best use of technology to support remote teaching during the COVID-19 outbreak.
During phase one of the programme, the Demonstrator network provided bespoke support, meeting the individual training needs of over 4,000 schools and colleges, with over 11,000 more accessing live weekly webinars and tutorials.
The programme will continue into the 2021/22 financial year and will include support to schools and colleges to develop a sustainable digital strategy that supports wider school and college improvement drives. Schools and colleges can request support from the demonstrators via the programme website: https://edtechdemo.ucst.uk/.
From September 2021, we continue to expect schools to provide remote education for pupils whose attendance would be contrary to government guidance or legislation around COVID-19. Schools should, therefore, maintain their capabilities to deliver high quality remote education for next academic year.
A comprehensive package of support continues to be available to schools and further education institutions to help them meet our expectations for remote education, accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-help-with-remote-education.
To support the hard work of schools in delivering remote education, Oak National Academy was very quickly brought together by over 40 teachers, their schools and other education organisations. The department has made £4.84 million available for Oak National Academy both for the summer term of the academic year 2019/20, and then for the 2020/21 academic year, to provide video lessons in a broad range of subjects for Reception up to year 11. Specialist content for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities is also available. Since the start of the spring term 2021, over 98 million Oak National Academy lessons have been viewed.
The department has now committed a further £2.1 million to Oak National Academy, enabling it to operate from the start of the next academic year through to Easter 2022.
My right hon. Friend, the Minister of State for School Standards, has agreed to meet overseas education ministers attending the Global Education Partnership Summit to share policy experience and best practice in raising standards, and discuss approaches for education recovery. These meetings will provide an opportunity to highlight the department’s work such as Oak National Academy, and we expect overseas ministers, particularly from developing countries, to be interested in learning more about our approach.
Asked by: Earl of Dundee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the possible benefits of encouraging good leadership and psychological wellbeing in education, adult and childcare services.
Answered by Lord Nash
School employers are responsible for the health and wellbeing of their workforce, and it is vital that they have systems in place that promote wellbeing, identify and tackle the cause of any stress in their staff, and provide appropriate support. We know that good leadership, together with high quality teaching, is essential to improving pupil outcomes. We have several initiatives and programmes in place to improve the supply of high quality leaders at all levels and phases, from middle and senior leaders to head teachers and system leaders.
With regard to early years, the Early Years Workforce Strategy (published 3 March 2017) supports the development of a well qualified workforce. We know that graduate leaders with specialist early years training have a positive effect on children’s outcomes. Leadership at graduate level is associated with narrowing the quality gap between settings in deprived and more advantaged areas. The strategy is attached.
We want to expand the graduate early years workforce and are undertaking a feasibility study into developing a programme that specifically seeks to grow the graduate workforce in disadvantaged areas.
With regard to adult social care, the Care Act 2014 promotes people’s wellbeing and is intended to support people to live independently, including supporting them with employment, education and volunteering, that will help them to fulfil their potential.
Wellbeing is a legal duty of councils when carrying out any of their care and support functions in respect of a person.
Asked by: Earl of Dundee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of studies which conclude that there is a correlation between early direct maternal care and adult stability.
Answered by Lord Nash
Research, such as the Early Years Learning and Development Literature Review 2009, and the January 2013 WAVE Trust report on early years, suggests that children need secure attachments with adults in order to feel safe and happy. Good home care can provide this support, which is a real benefit to children as they learn and develop.
The Department has extensively assessed the impact of formal early education compared to home care, through its longitudinal research programme Effective Pre-School, Primary & Secondary Education Project (EPPSE). EPPSE followed both groups of children through preschool and school ages, examining their cognitive and social behavioural development up to their AS and A Level exam results in 2015. The EPPSE results show that young children benefit from formal childcare, go on to have better GCSE results and, as a result, are more likely to enter A Level exams.
In recognition of the crucial role that parents and carers play in children’s development, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) requires childcare settings to form strong partnerships with parents. The EYFS also requires settings to allocate each child a key worker to help ensure that every child’s learning and care is tailored to meet their individual needs.
Asked by: Earl of Dundee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of studies which show that children benefit most from home care provided by close family members rather than from that available in children's day centres.
Answered by Lord Nash
Research suggests that children need secure attachments with adults in order to feel safe and happy[1]. Good home care can provide this support, which is a real benefit to children as they learn and develop.
There is also a wide body of evidence, including evidence from abroad, which demonstrates that early education delivered by childcare providers can play an important role in children’s early development and later attainment. For instance, the Effective Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education (EPPSE 3-16) Project showed that children who had experienced a good home learning environment and attended a good quality childcare setting went on to obtain better grades in English and maths, and to earn more than those who received little or no pre-school experience.
Additionally, the ongoing Study of Early Education and Development (SEED) shows that the chances of disadvantaged children becoming high achievers by the end of primary school were doubled when they had attended any pre-school, compared to those of disadvantaged children who had not attended pre-school.
In recognition of the crucial role that parents and carers play in children’s development, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) requires childcare settings to form strong partnerships with parents. The EYFS also requires settings to allocate each child a key worker to help ensure that every child’s learning and care is tailored to meet their individual needs.
[1] Early Years Learning and Development Literature Review 2009, and WAVE Trust report ‘Conception to age 2: the age of opportunity’ January 2013.