Is there a case for a national eleven plus curriculum? The
theoretical case is that there would be a common standard throughout England. But
there could be problems!
The anthropologist Alexander Goldenweiser found that there
were remarkably few occupations universally practiced by one sex or another. In
some cultures hunting was done by women. Men did the cooking and the house
keeping. According to Goldenweiser there were some African tribes where sewing
was traditionally a male activity. Efforts to encourage women to sew were
greatly resented!
We need to go back to Lewis Terman who did so much to
promote intelligence tests because schools and the business world needed some
methods of measuring ability. Other tests grew out of the need to screen men
and women during the Great Wars.
I used to enjoy watching the film Cheaper by the Dozen’ –
and watching the Galbraith family of twelve adjust and develop to different
surroundings. The parents used time and motion studies with their children to
help with learning. Could we learn from them?
Now if the universal eleven plus could take into account the
need for questions to be culture free, accurate in measuring ability and easily
absorbed into a family’s life then the case for a universal eleven plus could
be little stronger.
There may also be a case for `If it ain’t broke don’t fixit!’
