Professor Hilary Cremin, the head of Cambridge University’s education faculty, is best known as the woman who fawned over her new hire, Jason Arday, as “the best in the world.” Now here is further evidence that Cremin, and the department she runs, have completely lost their faculties. Cam, the university’s alumni magazine, runs a regular feature entitled “This idea must die.” Last month, in a bizarre, stream-of-consciousness contribution to that slot, Professor Cremin nominated for death….the school system.
“Many schools function a bit like a prison, a factory or the army,” Cremin claims
“Many schools function a bit like a prison, a factory or the army,” she claims. School “has become so much part of our collective psyche that it’s difficult to suggest another way.” Instead, says the professor, we must “rewild” education, “learning in and through nature,” in an “ecosystem of learning opportunities.”
Primary education should still be universal, thinks Cremin, but “from age 12, young people would engage with a mentor on a weekly basis to map out their own learning journey…I’d want education to be happening in science laboratories and art galleries and care homes and startup businesses and farms, while teachers could support students to build up an e-portfolio evidencing their real-world achievements…AI would be used to develop advanced skills and knowledge in ways that are bespoke for every young person.”
