Acquiring a set of digital skills is very important for young people and one of the focuses of the educational systems across the UK. However, not all skills are delivered the same way and it appears that there are some serious differences in the computing curriculum in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Views of what is the best educational system that focuses on acquiring of important digital skills differ as much as the delivering process of skills and database across the UK and your standing point depends on where individuals are coming from in this debate. There is one thing for sure – all countries in the UK have a good focus on digital skills and knowledge and developing them in young people. However, the approaches differ significantly and can be spotted all across the spectrum, with England paying a lot more attention to computer science as a dedicated subject on one side and Northern Ireland putting an emphasis on cross-curriculum digital skills development on the other side.
Elizabeth Tweedale is a chief executive of coding education startup Cypher, is one of the people favouring the English system, despite the fact that she believes that every method has its pros and cons. “In my view, the most important thing is to have an understanding of the basics of computer science and computational thinking and to apply that in the real world. So it’s about creating real projects using computer science as the basis, which involves thinking about it as a subject in the same way as maths and English, and then applying it to different problems. The idea is that unless both learners and teachers have a fundamental understanding of computing and its underlying concepts, they won’t know how to apply technology in a functional way in other areas.” says Tweedale.
One more professional agreeing with the opinion of Elizabeth Tweedale is Simon Peyton Jones, computer science researcher at Microsoft Research and chair of Computing at School and the National Centre for Computing Education. He says: “You can’t debate a question, such as, "What is the appropriate use of artificial intelligence?" without knowing how the digital world works. So computer science isn’t just for software engineers – it’s for future lawyers, politicians and plumbers, who all need a fundamental understanding of how computers work.”
As much as it is true that many jobs will be redefined and reinvented by digital competence in near future, James Browning, head of digital platforms at RM Education, shares a different view on the topic: “So the most beneficial thing is to look at raw skills and different ways of thinking rather than knowledge-based stuff. I favour an approach in which computing is integrated across a wider curriculum and looks at the way we use technology rather than thinking about it in a separate way like, say, maths and English.” Browning is sharing his opinion that a lot of the skills young people are learning now will be completely useless pretty soon. He also shares the opinion that there is no need of understanding the internal workings of a computer in order to be tech-savvy and have the needed digital skills. This is why he leans more towards the Northern Ireland’s educational model: “I’d like to see students being taught the basics of how AI works, for instance, but also its defining principles, the direction of travel and what needs to be considered ethically and socially over the next 20 years.”
Computing Curriculum in England
The national computing curriculum in England is taught to all learners and students aged between six (Key Stage 1) and fourteen (Key Stage 3) as a compulsory subject. Currently it consists of three elements:
• Computer science: How digital systems work and how to put this knowledge into practice through programming.
• Information technology: How to create programs, systems, and content.
• Digital literacy: How to use and develop ideas with ICT to make learners workplace-ready and able to actively participate in a digital world.
Additionally, there is a GCSE qualification in Computer Science
Computing Curriculum in Scotland
Computer science is a forming element of the subject Technologies in Scotland. Technologies are one of the key eight areas that make up Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence. The subject aims towards three core goals, including:
• Understanding the world by means of computational thinking.
• Comprehending and analysing computing technology.
• Designing, building, and testing computing solutions.
Other Technologies subjects that are mandatory for all students in Scotland aged between the ages of three and fifteen include:
• Digital literacy
• Technological developments in society
• Craft, design engineering, and graphics
• Food and textiles
It is also possible to take Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework level 4, 5, and 6 qualifications in computing science and cyber security.
Computing Curriculum in Wales
In April 2019 was announced the new draft version of the new Welsh curriculum model that now bears more resemblance to the Scottish model than the English system by drafting away from single subject disciplines and adopting the method of more thematic areas of learning. The entire curriculum is implied to be studied by learners between 3- to 16-year-olds. The Welsh Government added “digital competency” to the already existing core of literacy and numeracy. As a result, computer science will be placed into a new Science and Technology Area of Learning and Experience that is the replacement of the former Foundation and Key Stages.
The new Digital Competence Framework will include the four cores of:
• Citizenship (including identity, image, reputation), health and wellbeing, digital rights, licensing and ownership, online behaviour and cyberbullying.
• Interacting and collaborating (includes communication, collaboration) and storing and sharing.
• Producing (includes planning, sourcing, searching), creating, and evaluating and improving.
• Data and computational thinking (includes problem-solving, modelling) and data and information literacy.
Computing Curriculum in Northern Ireland
The main aims of the computing educational model in Norther Ireland are directed towards developing cross-curricular skills, thinking skills, and personal capabilities. From the Early Years Foundation Stage to the end of Key Stage 3, ICT is one of the three statutory CCS, together with communication and mathematics, which must be included in all lessons.
The three main areas of the Digital Skills subject include:
• Digital citizens: Furnishing learners with the skills to take part in the digital aspects of society safely and easily
• Digital workers: Enabling students to use their digital skills at work or to further their learning
• Digital makers: Providing pupils with the skills, which include programming, computational thinking, and computing, to start their own technology
There is also a GCE and GCSE qualification in Digital Technology.