Forrest Gump is a fictional character with an array of astounding achievements and skills. The eponymous hero of the 1994 film - a film that is 25 years old this year - was a war hero, a table-tennis champion and the founder of a multimillion-dollar shrimping business. Yet, throughout his entire life, he believed that he was stupid. 

With an academically driven national curriculum, are we creating a cohort of children who are unable to recognise and appreciate their skills, and so falsely think they are stupid?

From a young age, Forrest was told he was unintelligent. His mother had to bribe the principal of the local state school to allow her son (who would likely now be considered a SEND pupil) to enrol. The principal states, within Forrest’s earshot, that Forrest is below “normal” and that he needs to go to a special school, owing to his low IQ score of 75.

This meeting, and this concrete assessment of his intelligence, defined his perception of his own cleverness for the rest of his life.

Insensitive treatment

It’s shocking to think of a student being treated in such an insensitive manner today. But are educators indirectly sending the same message to thousands of children each day through what we teach?

With the new national curriculum turning away from coursework and now favouring examined assessments at GCSE level, we are using a one-size-fits-all assessment for a multitude of different learners.

The rigorous 100 per cent examination-based formative assessments at the end of key stage 4 have not been practised nationwide since before the introduction of GCSEs in the late Eighties. It is undeniable that we are stepping back in time, to the archaic assessment styles imposed on previous generations.

With the value that is placed on maths, English and EBacc subjects, other subjects are trivialised and seen as the unintelligent options, deterring students from choosing them as GCSE options. As a drama teacher, I have seen many talented actors reluctantly drop the subject in order to take an “intelligent” subject; I can only see this getting worse under the current system.

If a creative or practically skilled student is only able to explore a fraction of their talents, there is a high chance they will end up feeling unaccomplished. The focus on academic intelligence diminishes creativity and practical skills.

Penalising students

Why is the national curriculum penalising students for being creative or practical? It appears that the “improvements” introduced in 2016 run parallel to the attitudes of mainstream schooling in Forrest Gump: you can’t be successful if you have low academic intelligence.

Through the current national curriculum, we are teaching students warped interpretations of what success is: that it is performing well in an exam, that it is high grades in traditionally academic subjects; that success is being good at reading, writing and arithmetic.

It is clear that Forrest Gump should have not been defined by his IQ. Going by his catchphrase, “Stupid is as stupid does”, a person’s actions define their character, and he did not act “stupid”.

Although his was a success story, it is different in the real world. If we don’t believe in children, it is much less likely they will believe in themselves and achieve their goals.

If disadvantaged pupils are finding the majority of the curriculum hard to access, faced with hours upon hours of exams and have no confidence in themselves, then we have to prepare ourselves for the worst.

Victoria Fenwick is a secondary English and Drama teacher who has taught in the North East of England and internationally