On March 20th Jane Davidson, who used to be the Minister of Education,spoke to us about the History of Education.

She states that in 1983 Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. She wanted to develop a curriculum that gave all children the same chances and experiences, no matter what country they lived in or what country they were from. Teachers at the time were not completely happy with this as it meant less freedom for them, as before this curriculum was introduced, they were able to teach the pupils whatever they wanted to. This was the first time in nearlly 50 years that teachers in the United Kingdom were being told what to teach (Baker 2009). The Conservative Government then introduced the SAT tests into the United Kingdom. Every child in the United Kingdom would sit this test when they are at the ages of seven, eleven and fourteen.

In 1997 the Labour Government came back into power, under the leadership of Tony Blair. British Political Speech states that Tony Blair said, after winning the General elections in 1997 "Today, we are charged with the deep responsibility of government. Today, enough of talking - it is time now to do." Jane Davidson said that  Tony Blairs three word quote "education, education, education" gripped the nation, as the majority of the bristish public did not agree with Margaret Thatchers policys within education.
The Guardian (2005) state that Tony Blair said in his Education Campaign speech that "education was, is, and will remain our number one priority". The Labour Government thought that Margartet Thatchers views on Education was to structured and that children and teachers should have more freedom.
Jane Dividson said that in 1999 the Welsh Asembly Government was introduced, and this meant that Welsh education policies were now seperate from the English education policies. To begin with, there were two ministers of education. One was for the Pre 16 comitee and one was for the post 16 commitee.

In 2000 Rhodri Morgan became the first Minister of education and Jane became the Minister. Jane Davidson helped to develop the Learning Country and the Learning country, vision into action. These two documents try highlight the fact that "Education and training are of the first importance for Wales" (WAG 2001).The Learning Country highlights that you have to work in partnership with your community, as it will make the foundations for learning stronger. The Learning Country talks about understanding how important schools are to the community and how they can develop and his people with their confidence (WAG 2001). The Learning Country Vison into Action highlights the fact that there are more job and educational opportunities for all ages. Also, when the Welsh Assembly Government developed 'The Learning Country' they knew that it would take ten yeares to develop and structure properly. (WAG 2008)

This lecture was extremelly interesting as i have always enjoyed history and loved learning about it. I learnt a lot of new things that i didnt know. I believe that it is important to know the History of your own country.

references -

Welsh Assembly Government (2001) The Learning Country, Cardiff: Welsh Assembly Government


Baker, M (2009) retrived 10th April 2012 from Was Mrs Thatcher right about the curriculum? http://www.mikebakereducation.co.uk/articles/48/was-mrs-thatcher-right-about-the-curriculum

BBC retrieved 10th April 2012 from 1997: Labour routs Tories in historic election  http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/2/newsid_2480000/2480505.stm

The Guardian retrieved 10th April 2012 from Tony Blairs Education campaign speech http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2005/mar/03/schools.uk1

British Political speech retrieved 10th April 2012 from General election victory speech 1997 http://www.britishpoliticalspeech.org/speech-archive.htm?speech=222

The Welsh Assembly Government (2008) retrived 10th April 2012 from The Learning Country, vision into action http://wales.gov.uk/topics/educationandskills/publications/guidance/learningcountry/?lang=en