Episode 1

In the first of three debates to mark the most dramatic reforms in education in decades, John Humphrys asks leading education thinkers what we should teach.

Whether it's to get to university, to launch a fulfilling career, or to be a useful member of society, what our children learn at school today will profoundly shape their lives, the society we live in and the health of our economy in the 21st Century.

The web gives today's schoolchildren access to previously unimaginable amounts of knowledge - and yet across Europe there has been social unrest among young people who are angry and terrified that what they know will be meaningless in a future with no jobs.

At home, Government reforms have led to big changes in the national curriculum, increased university fees and parents running their own schools.

Has there ever been a more important time to come back to the fundamental questions of education? In this first programme, leading educationalists including Anthony Seldon, Estelle Morris and Rachel Wolf debate what we should teach.

In programme two, John Humphrys asks a panel including union leader Mary Bousted and cognitive scientist Prof Guy Claxton.

And in the final debate, Schools Minister Nick Gibb, Shadow Education Secretary Stephen Twigg, local schools champion Melissa Benn and Prof James Tooley, an expert on private schools for poor children, discuss who should teach.

Produced by Karen Pirie
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.