§ Dr. GibsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will take steps to integrate the methods of teaching in secondary education with those in higher education. [159799]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisThe Government recognise that there are significant differences between secondary and higher education and that the approaches to teaching in the two sectors should reflect this. However, we also believe that there are significant opportunities for the sectors to interact with and learn from each other.
The recent Green Paper "Schools: Building on Success" makes proposals which will strengthen the links between the university and school sectors to the advantage of both. These include the idea of joint appointments of teachers to the staff of both a university and a school. The Green Paper also sets out the Government's intention to pilot a university fellowship scheme to allow school teachers with real expertise in their subject to take a secondment to a university, in order to research their subject and perhaps 103W embark on a higher degree. These proposals both recognise the differences between the sectors and the opportunity for each to learn from the other.