THE 1419 DIPLOMA IN HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

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THE 14-19 DIPLOMA IN HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL
SCIENCES

• George MacDonald Ross
• Director, PRS Subject Centre
• A Level Above?, Oxford, 02.07.09

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Programme

• The 14-19 diplomas in general
• The Humanities Diploma
• Strengths
• Weaknesses

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14-19 diplomas

• Attempt to abolish division between academic and
  vocational
• 3 levels
• Foundation (level 1)
• Higher (level 2)
• Advanced (level 3)
• Advanced 3.5 A levels

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Advanced diploma

• Principal learning (540 GLH, of which 50
  applied)
• Generic learning (work experience min. 10 days,
  extended project 120 GLH, Personal, learning and
  thinking skills 60 GLH)
• Additional and specialist learning 360 GLH (e.g.
  one A level)

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Humanities Diploma

• 17 lines of learning (i.e. subject areas)
• 4 phases, first taught in 2008
• Humanities and social sciences phase 4, first
  taught in 2011

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Coverage

• Originally Humanities, then Humanities and Social
  Sciences
• NB in schools humanities means history and
  geography
• This explains biases in the syllabus which might
  seem strange to academics

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Disciplinary footprint

• Archaeology
• Citizenship
• Classics
• Classical Civilisation
• Economics
• English Language
• English Literature
• Geography

• History
• Law
• Philosophy
• Politics
• Psychology
• Religious Education
• Sociology
• World Development

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Timetable

• QCA publishes criteria for Principal Learning,
  Summer 2009
• Awarding bodies develop specifications
• QCA publishes curriculum guidance, March 2010
• Ofqual accredits PL qualifications, Summer 2010
• Qualifications available Autumn 2010
• Teaching begins Autumn 2011

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Progress so far

• Consultation on criteria for PL now complete
• Difficult to assess until awarding bodies produce
  specifications
• Nothing yet known about extended project, work
  experience, or personal, learning and thinking
  skills

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Principal Learning level 3

• Challenging knowledge, argument and evidence
• Understanding oneself and others
• Exploring diversity

• Sustaining environments
• Expressing culture
• Living with rules and governance
• Linking local and global economies

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Strengths

• Unlike A levels, the emphasis is on active and
  applied learning
• Bringing learning to life
• Explicit teaching of thinking skills, literacy,
  and numeracy
• Independent research project
• Will force universities to completely rethink
  first-year teaching

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Weaknesses (1)

• Lack of depth unless additional A levels are
  taken (not a major problem for philosophy)
• Lack of rigour in Principal Learning
• Lack of text-based study integral to arts
  subjects

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Weaknesses (2)

• Lack of staff qualified to cover the whole
  curriculum
• Logistic nightmare of collaborative provision
• Lack of time to train teachers and provide
  learning materials
• Difficulty of persuading admissions tutors to
  accept the qualification

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Resources

• Department for Children, Schools and Families
  http//yp.direct.gov.uk/diplomas/
• Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
  http//www.qca.org.uk/qca_5396.aspx
• Creative and Cultural Skills http//www.humanitie
  sdiploma.co.uk/

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Thank you for participating

• George MacDonald Ross
• Department of Philosophy
• University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
• g.m.ross_at_leeds.ac.uk
• http//www.philosophy.leeds.ac.uk/GMR/index.html
• http//prs.heacademy.ac.uk