Waddell (1978)

Notes on the text

Part I

Preliminary pages Contents, Membership
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Educational matters
Chapter 3 Structure of the examining system
Chapter 4 Cost
Chapter 5 Conclusions
Appendices

Part II

Preliminary pages Contents, Membership

Report of the Education Study Group (ESG)

Glossary, Introduction
Chapter 1 Feasibility of common exam system
Chapter 2 English
Chapter 3 Mathematics
Chapter 4 Science
Chapter 5 History
Chapter 6 Geography
Chapter 7 Modern languages
Chapter 8 Classics
Chapter 9 Commerce
Chapter 10 Social science
Chapter 11 Religious studies
Chapter 12 Craft design and technology
Chapter 13 Technical drawing
Chapter 14 Home economics
Chapter 15 Needlecraft and dress
Chapter 16 Art
Chapter 17 Music
Chapter 18 Further work
Appendix A List of witnesses
Appendix B Questions
Appendix C Statistics
Appendix D Joint examinations

Report of the Cost Study Group (CSG)

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Costs in 1976
Chapter 3 Costing a common system
Chapter 4 Changeover costs
Annexes

Report of the Steering Committee established to consider proposals for replacing the General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level and Certificate of Secondary Education examinations by a common system of examining

Chairman: Sir James Waddell CB

Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Education and Science and the Secretary of State for Wales by Command of Her Majesty July 1978

London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1978
© Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.

Part I: Cmnd 7281-I
Part II: Cmnd 7281-II

Part II - ESG Report

Chapter 15 Needlecraft and dress
[pages 66 - 67]

Introduction

225. Needlecraft is concerned with the knowledge and use of fibres for fabric construction, the scientific investigation into their properties, creative and traditional embroidery, and the use of fabrics in making clothing and furnishings for the home. It involves the development of specific skills, processes and techniques. Designing clothes, pattern drafting and modelling, and the use and adaptation of commercial patterns form a major part of courses. Related to the practical work there is a study of the care and maintenance of clothes, the history of clothes, the social implications of fashion and dress and consumer education. Current developments in the teaching of the subject have provided opportunities for greater freedom of expression and initiative.

The evidence

226. One joint examination was mounted. A discussion was held with the consortium and subject interests.

Table 14

The ability range

227. Initially it was felt that candidates across the whole ability range were present. However, high ability candidates became less well represented and some schools entered their most able pupils for GCE O Level during the more recent examinations, although overall numbers rose.

The syllabus and objectives

228. A number of reservations have been expressed about the syllabus, particularly where it was used with high ability pupils, because it appeared as the amalgam of two existing examinations rather than as a new one. It was felt to be too rigid, neglecting creative/experimental work and at the same time rather too shallow to be a good basis for further work. Its suitability was felt largely to depend on a teacher's interpretation; the implication was that the subject needed to be explored in considerably more depth and detail.

The examination and the ability range

229. The present form of assessment is made up of a theory paper (35 per cent), a practical test (40 per cent) and course work (25 per cent). The particular difficulties in the written paper are those of pitching the language at a suitable level for the least able candidates, and of obtaining a suitable balance of multiple-choice and structured questions so as to make adequate demands on the able pupils. The paper certainly tests the syllabus adequately but there is an element of 'spoon-feeding' in its approach which prevents the most able from fully illustrating their range of achievement.

230. The practical test has a clearly defined structure although it does not offer scope for flair and initiative. There are also concerns voiced about the assessment of course work, which could become more important if an examination of this kind were extended to general availability. The amount of teacher assessment is, however, thought to be appropriate.

231. In summary, although the range of assessment techniques used is fairly wide there remain a number of problems, mostly those of allowing adequately for the potential of the most able.

Conclusion

232. From the one examination used in evidence a number of important difficulties and reservations have emerged concerning the form of the syllabus, the range of assessment techniques and the need for in-service training in methods of assessment. Nevertheless, with appropriate widening of the scope of the examination and further study of assessment techniques a common examination could be feasible. Although the direct evidence from the study is too slender for firm conclusions to be drawn, a useful analogy can be made with the joint examinations in housecraft and other practical subjects. Such an analogy would support the feasibility of a common system of examining in needlecraft and dress.