Pupil guarantees must promote student input, urges teaching association chief

Speaking at a conference of teachers last week, Keith Bartley said theguarantees imply students are "passive recipients" of education.

The guarantees include promises such as "every pupil will go to a schoolwhere there is good behaviour, strong discipline, order and safety" and"every pupil will go to a school where they are taught a broad, balancedand flexible curriculum".

But the pledges make no mention of how pupils should contribute to theirexperience of learning.

Bartley said: "We'd like it to include a focus on pupil engagement intheir own learning, as opposed to the concept of pupils as passiverecipients of entitlements."

He added that pupil participation is "an integral aspect of personalisedlearning", which is at the heart of the government's education policy."I'm not at all sure that 'guarantee' strikes the right balance. I feelmore comfortable with the notion of developing a constructive andrespectful relationship between parents, pupils and teachers," hesaid.