Review by Stan Pinsent

Everyone wants to change education. Every headteacher has an angle; every parent has an opinion; even our shortest-serving education ministers enter the role with some sort of vision. Most of us, however, think in incremental terms: if we could just fix the backlog in SEN diagnoses, or use cognitive load theory to inform lessons, things would be much better.

The conference at Addey & Stanhope School last weekend laid down a major challenge to such piecemeal thinking. James Mannion, co-founder of the Rethinking Education movement, describes it as “education’s critical friend”. But this is no institutional love-in. What sets the movement apart is its willingness to question the very core of our education system.

So just how radical was it? For some at the conference, rethinking clearly meant ripping up and starting again, while for others it merely meant a change of direction.

The first keynote speaker was Naomi Fisher, a clinical psychologist specialising in trauma. Her talk, The side-effects of school,closed with an incendiary conclusion: children should have the choice to leave lessons or even leave school; only when school is somewhere children choose to be can it be a healthy environment.

Meena Kumari Wood, ex-HMI and author of Secondary Curriculum Transformed, struck a more conciliatory tone. Her call for a values-led curriculum included plenty of nuggets that school leaders could implement tomorrow – although to adopt her full suite of suggestions would be tough while GCSEs cast a long shadow.

As might be expected in a community of outsiders, the beating heart of the conference was away from the main stage. Most events were intimate, interactive, collegial. There were no big-name corporate sponsors, no visionaries flogging their ‘simple trick’ to fix everything. There were unschoolers, home-schoolers and founders of ‘democratic learning communities’. There were disgruntled parents and jaded teachers. There was a panel of young people laying out What we want OUR education to look like.

The only thing that was missing was conflict. Months ago, I put out an open call for a debate opponent, suggesting that we choose a topic to disagree on at this conference. But nobody expressed an interest, and in the end only one of the 70-odd events used a debate format. It’s certainly a missed opportunity: speakers found a receptive audience, but I worry that without the chance to defend their ideas against criticism they won’t get so far in the wider world.

Of course, the day was always more about community-building than arguing. There had been whispers about whether Rethinking Education was the right flag to rally around, with some fearing that the movement was becoming “that James Mannion group”.

As Mannion took to the stage at the end of the day, he seemed to understand this was a critical moment. Rather than grandstanding, he stepped aside so that the young people could give their hot takes on the day. Asma Maloumi, an activist who had taken part in the youth panel, got up to speak. “Thank you all for everything you are doing,” she said. “I just wish that when I was at school I could have had teachers like you.”

Duly flattered, the conference erupted in cheers. One woman was in tears. Whether or not the moment was planned, it was clear: Mannion had, for now, silenced the sceptics.

Rethinking Education is not education’s only critical friend. Teachers, leaders and parents have been willing to criticise the system, even as they do the necessary work to keep the wheels turning. Now, however, those who want to see more urgent changes know where to turn.

There should have been more debate and disagreement, but the speakers at the Rethinking Education conference brought a breathtaking array of ideas. They don’t yet share a vision for what the new education system should look like, but they are finding the power of their collective voice. I sense this won’t be the last you hear from Rethinking Education.