Examining in greater depth the challenge posed to the curriculum by changes in society and the nature of work.

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Carmel Gallagher, CCEA
'I think the major issue for the curriculum is really preparing young people for life, and the world in which they're living in at the moment is hugely uncertain, in terms of the changing world of work, the changing values in society, the challenges of the economy and of globalisation. It's simply just pure survival. So unless education really engages with these relevant issues then we're simply repeating a 19th Century form of education, which our young people, because they have changed so much because of technology, are not prepared to put up with.'

Sara Parkin OBE, Programme Director, Forum for the Future
'We have no culture of thinking or learning about the environment, about our economy, about our society at the same time. So at the heart of the curriculum, just as at the heart of everything else we do, we must be making those connections so that people who leave school, indeed who leave university and go into the workplace, is to be able to make decisions understanding the economic, social and environmental consequences together.'

Paula Baddams, Co-ordinator of Vocational Education, Lordswood Girls' School
'I think one of the biggest challenges is to accurately assess and audit local, national, European, global requirements - what do people actually want? There's no point in us, as an educational institution, setting out the key skills that are required if that actually doesn't match what the economies and what societies actually need.'

Susie Parsons, Chief Executive, Campaign for Learning
'One of the major forces for change I think has to be what employers are saying about the kind of skills that they want people to come to work with. They are saying we need people who are good leaders, people who can work as part of a team, people who have got interpersonal and communication skills, those are very important to develop in school.'

Christine Terrey, Deputy Headteacher, Chyngton School
'There are a lot of changes in society and a change in work and what we need for out future community is people who are literate, and they're emotionally literate, they're good communicators, they're forward thinking, they're adaptable, they're flexible. Those types of things are obviously going to be important because they're probably not just going to go to a job for life; they'll change jobs several times, perhaps; they'll move and perhaps live in different countries, they'll be more globally based than we have been in the past. If we want children to grow into those kinds of adults, we need to look very carefully at what we value in school.'

Professor Guy Claxton, Professor of the Learning Sciences, University of Bristol, Graduate School of Education
'Young people are still coming out of school, whether they have the qualifications or not, feeling that they haven't been 'tooled up'; they haven't been given the confidence to face the real tests of life. That, I think, is the problem, which we now are in a position to address, but which we haven't fully implemented.'

Disclaimer: This film is intended to stimulate debate. Views expressed are not necessarily those of QCA.