Damien Phillips has an interesting Centre Write piece on how the Schools Bill reflects Labour ideology of control and centralisation over more effective international approaches achieved via greater autonomy and accountability.
The Schools Bill ignores international best practice
Labour’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill has returned to the House of Lords for final scrutiny before Royal Assent and will soon be inflicted on the country. Eroding both independence of schools and their accountability, this deeply regressive package turns its back on international best practice in favour of parochial interests and dogma...
The whole piece is well worth reading as yet another indication that the current UK government does not understand the limitations of its antique ideology. Or it doesn't care, which seems just as likely.
Indeed, if you look at the countries that have seen the most dramatic turnaround thanks to school autonomy reforms — Estonia, Poland, Portugal and England — it is clear that accountability and consequences for failure are essential for driving up standards. All these now high-performing systems are united by an ability to replace failing school leadership, withdraw contracts or close schools that are letting down their pupils.
Labour would do well to heed the lessons here. Their Schools Bill turns its back on this global education revolution by not only reducing the institutional autonomy and innovation that freedom for schools brings but also weakens the ability to replace failing school leadership quickly. Their Bill will leave England in the worst of all worlds, with schools that are simultaneously more centrally controlled and rule-bound but also less accountable to parents and the pupils that attend them.
Labour often flaunts its internationalist ethos. But, when it comes to education, they have chosen the narrow interests of teaching unions and their ideological opposition to the rigours of competition over changes that have been proven to work wherever in the world they have been tried. England’s pupils will be the poorer for it.
Labour would do well to heed the lessons here. Their Schools Bill turns its back on this global education revolution by not only reducing the institutional autonomy and innovation that freedom for schools brings but also weakens the ability to replace failing school leadership quickly. Their Bill will leave England in the worst of all worlds, with schools that are simultaneously more centrally controlled and rule-bound but also less accountable to parents and the pupils that attend them.
Labour often flaunts its internationalist ethos. But, when it comes to education, they have chosen the narrow interests of teaching unions and their ideological opposition to the rigours of competition over changes that have been proven to work wherever in the world they have been tried. England’s pupils will be the poorer for it.
I loathe the phrase "best practice". A university administrator once tried to engage me on the subject. In reply I asked her in what sense could anything be best practice both for teaching fresher Russian, say, and fourth year Thermodynamics? I mean apart from trivia such as "speak up" and "write legibly"?
ReplyDeleteI can believe in good practices and am confident that bad practices exist. But really, "best"? Best both for Dr Sharp teaching thermo to Cambridge undergraduates and Dr Slack to a class at the University of South East Luton?
dearieme - I agree, it grated with me because it wasn't necessary. Something like "international good practice" could have been better. A pity because the piece is worthwhile in what it says about the Schools Bill, but for all the writer knows, the digital world may change things anyway.
ReplyDeleteLooking at Scotlands PISA scores trend over the past 20+ years, its conclusive that everything theyve done has been negative for the younger generations.
ReplyDeleteWe could do a lot worse than just resetting everything to 1980 or earlier.
Nessimmersion - that's my impression from the other side of the border, the SNP has not been good for education. I'm mildly surprised the issue hasn't destroyed them as a party, but so many voters are absurdly loyal.
ReplyDeleteEverything that the scum party does is bad for traditional English families and their children.
ReplyDeleteMike - and oddly enough they make sure they send their kids to good state schools or private schools.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many do what Toni Blair did? Get tutors from Westminster School round in the late afternoon to coach his nippers.
Deletedearieme - it's a guess, but quite a few I imagine. I've heard from local experience that some paid home schooling is done by moonlighting teachers from state schools. Maybe that's common.
ReplyDelete