education policy | Schools Week

‘If I were education secretary…’

The education system must change so that knowledge gives way to wisdom, emphasising the application of knowledge as a source of power for living that leads to individual happiness and success. I would create a system that enables students to develop a questioning mind and put in place systems that produce a new generation of […]

Wanted: home-grown teachers of Mandarin

The Conservatives are promising more Mandarin teachers – and in an ideal world every young person should be able to learn it as a language of their choice. But is this a manifesto pledge that can be implemented? Tucked away in the Conservative manifesto is the pledge: “increase the number of teachers able to teach […]

‘If I were education secretary…’

Over the past few years, there has been a grassroots professional rejection of bogus ideas within education, coupled with a wellspring of enthusiasm for more credible alternatives. New ideas — such as direct instruction, spaced and massed practice, curriculum sequencing, and mastery learning — are gaining popularity amongst certain teachers and schools. However, the 65 […]

‘If I were education secretary…’

Integrating private schools would bring down the Berlin Wall that grossly favours the 7 per cent on one side of it, and that remains an ugly, disfiguring scar on our society. Our private schools — and I use “our” in the loosest sense — are for the most part excellent institutions. The fundamental problem is […]

Free schools: what to ask

Labour’s views are based on a reality that has long dissolved; free schools are no longer for white middle-class parents in areas where they are not wanted It’s nearing the end of the general election campaign and time to get down to the detail in education policies. But there’s one thing we know for certain: […]

‘If I were education secretary…’

I would ask to stay in my job for the rest of the government’s term and in that time seek to make myself largely redundant. I would start off with a big conversation about the purpose of education, with a view to recognising that it should make the world a better place. I would consider […]

‘If I were education secretary…’

Secondary education is too exam-focused. There is also too much specialisation too early (after GCSE), too little variety between schools and within curricula, too many reforms with every change of government, too little practical preparation for life after education, and too great a jump between school and university. If I were secretary of state, I […]

‘If I were education secretary…’

Differences between children’s performance at school are not just due to differences in parenting and home life or differences in teachers and school life — to an even greater extent, they are due to DNA differences between children. These differences account for more than half of the differences in performance from reception through to GCSE. […]

If we can’t take politics out of education, can we at least minimise it?

“Get politics out of education” is a heartfelt cry heard in many forms. But can it work? A general election makes the removal of politics from education policy all the more attractive. It is easy to sympathise with the idea given the toxic mix that results when we combine the two. The ideal political education […]