New RSA report ‘Schools with Soul’ report challenges educational providers to take a new approach to Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development. Free download from the RSA website here. What do you think of the report’s findings?
The report’s writers note that SMSC is becoming marginalised in all but the most confident schools, that it suffers from a ‘scattergun’ approach wherein ‘everything and nothing’ counts as SMSC, and that there is a particular lack of understanding of what the ‘Spiritual’ in SMSC might mean. There’s a particular encouragement for education providers to sustain SMSC provision throughout the teenage years, These conclusions chime with research conducted by Andy Haynes into a sample of FE colleges’ understandings of SMSC in 2011 (see our ‘Resources‘ page).
The report contains nine ‘design principles’ for strengthening SMSC and nine key recommendations. What do you think of these? If they challenge you on the provision of SMSC in your college, WM Churches’ FE Council can help you develop this. Get in touch for a conversation.