I have again been thinking about education, and some of the frustrations built into our systems. It would seem as school teacher or school leader in Scotland and the UK, and I am sure elsewhere, we can be easy targets for other sections of society, especially when they are looking to score political points, sell newspapers or deflect from deficiencies elsewhere. I think they can also take advantage of our inability or unwillingness to push back too much, lest it impacts directly on our learners.
Education is crucial to the wellbeing of all societies, to mankind and the planet as a whole. It is right that education systems, and their schools reflect the best parts of the societies and cultures in which they exist. Schools and education cannot exist in some sort of vacuum, independent of the context in which they are located. Education systems are a reflection of the wider society they represent. It is also crucial that such education systems look to keep developing within their context, and as that context develops itself, but it is also important that this happens in a way that is critically informed, and is able to ask questions of both itself and of that wider context.
Schools, and education, do not function solely to train individuals as a preparation for work, or the sustenance of the societal status quo. We have a responsibility to help develop critically informed, and critical, individuals, who are equipped not only to solve some of the problems created by previous generations, but who can envisage, shape and create new ways of being, that provide wider benefits and opportunities for all, as well as protecting the planet on which we all depend.
All schools and all systems are busy, with lots of apparent change taking place. I have long questioned the impact of much of this busyness, and the constant change driven agendas schools and education have endured for the last sixty years or so. Can deep, meaningful change really occur in our pedagogy, curricula, understandings and practice, when we still operate within structures little changed since their inception during the industrial age? This is a question I have considered for a while now, especially in Scotland where we introduced a 'new, innovative and creative' curriculum (Curriculum for Excellence) nearly twenty years ago. This began by asking teachers to think and act in differently, yet did nothing about the structures of the system under which they were expected to conduct this new way of being.
Developing a creative and exciting curriculum, and encouraging teachers to be creative by helping to co-create that new curriculum as they went, was possibly doomed from day one, because they were still expected to do this within the structures and organisation that had pertained, with little change, since at least the 1960s, and some even earlier. I believe that a lot of the changes that have occurred in education have ended up as 'window dressing' as the structures and systems have determinedly maintained the status quo. On the surface, or from outside, it may look as though lots has been happening, and a lot has, but deep down, is the system any different to what it was sixty years or more ago? During that time lots of fantastic teachers, school leaders and schools, have addressed many of the issues that were identified as barriers to education and learning for so many more of their learners. But, they have achieved this despite the system and society they were having to operate in.
For too many years now, teachers and schools have been charged with tackling the symptoms of school and learning improvement, but little has been done to tackle the cause of all these. In many cases, the causes have deepened or widened, along with some of the persistent divisions across society.
When schools are criticised by politicians and others for low attainment, increasing gaps (of all kinds), poor discipline, inequitable outcomes, disadvantage, lower exam results, narrowing curriculums, not preparing learners for the world of work, neglecting the three Rs, and so on and so on, the response has often been to wring our hands and look for more change and demand more from our teachers and schools. How are they going to put all this right? Once again, we start focusing on how we can address these 'symptoms' that are being identified, usually by people outside of the system itself. Governments will show how strong and stable they are by making sure education is key in their manifestos, policy agenda and the statements they make, detailing how they are going to make sure schools address whatever the latest failure in the education system is.
None of this, or the actions that follow, address the real causes of any of these issues, the majority of which lie outside of schools. It is my contention that until our Governments start addressing the root causes of these problems, anything our schools can do is much like the little boy putting his finger in the dyke. The difference we can make will be minimal and eventually we will be overwhelmed or swept away by ta tsunami of increasing demands.
I saw a Twitter conversation the other day, where someone was asking why are so many teachers leaving the profession? It was pointed out that teachers have always been busy, so it can't just be the workload. The responses from teachers who had left hinted at the point I am trying to make. What they indicated was they didn't leave because of workload, but more because of the increasing demands and expectations they were expected to fulfil, with little hope of seeing success, or before the next demand came along. Squaring what they wanted and expected to achieve when they entered teaching, against what they were told they had to do, was another major factor. It would seem that many school leaders still pass the pressures they feel directly, or indirectly, onto the staff they lead.
Teachers are intelligent, thoughtful people, and if you keep asking them to deliver more and more, whilst doing nothing to address the underlying causes of the challenges they face, is it no wonder more and more are voting with their feet? Youthful enthusiasm and idealism has a limited shelf life in the face of an immoveable object presented by Government, society and system structures, which are always demanding 'more!'.
Alma Harris Tweeted this last night, 'No grandiose policy promises will suffice if children come to school hungry, afraid or neglected. Leading for equity is more than just a strap line. In those schools where the level of challenge is palpable, leadership matters more than ever.' This was from an editorial 'Leading for Equity' written by Stephan Lam, and for me reflected many of my own thoughts. But I also think we risk leaders working in such schools and contexts, if we expect them to deal with the consequences of such issues, without the support of Government and society beyond the school gates. Hunger, neglect, fear, poverty, equity, fairness in any society have to be addressed by Government policy, before schools have any hope of addressing the symptoms exhibited by learners. Pithy soundbites and 'straplines' have to be followed by concrete action by all, starting with politicians and policy.
Ten years and more of austerity have disproportionately impacted on the poorest and weakest members of our society, and their children. The UK is a society riven by class and privilege, which has been sustained by successive Governments of all persuasions, but most severely by Tory ones. The current one of privilege and vested interests is not a good one. As a school leader I saw first hand the impacts of austerity and reduction of resources. We were told 'the status quo is not an option' when our Director addressed headteachers early in 2009. The mantra became 'Do more for less' or 'We needed to work more efficiently or differently.' This was all driven by a squeeze on finances, not a creative curriculum or the needs of learners. Eventually it actually became 'doing less for less' and the pupils and families who were affected first and most, were those who were already facing the most challenges. Those who needed additional specialist support, in education, from health or through social services, were impacted first and foremost. Budgets were trimmed, before they were cut, staff redeployed or reconfigured, which meant not employing new people when people left, and headteachers were expected to lead more than one school. Cuts were made at local authority level too, with those remaining having ever expanding and undeliverable remits.All of this was dressed up as 'efficiency savings'. In addition other 'below the line' savings and cuts were applied to school and local authority budgets. I know that I, as a headteacher, never felt we were awash with resources before these austerity measures begun to bite, but now we had less of everything, except issues we needed to be tackling. I wonder how bankers, financiers and Hedge Fund managers felt at those times, and how they are feeling now?
Add to what was going on in education, social services and health to the changes that were occurring in family credits, disability payments, care provision, unemployment regulations and benefits, and a raft of other support our most vulnerable families and individuals had received, and we had a perfect storm for these families and their children. Is it any wonder we began to see the impacts in our schools?
When issues began to rise and develop over time, despite the warnings many were giving about the impacts of all this, and what we were seeing and hearing from families, parents and other sections of the community, it was to education that governments turned to, solve the crisis in education. Attainment gaps were widening, exams were getting too easy, levels of literacy and numeracy were stalling or falling, schools were not taking the impacts of poverty and equity of opportunity into enough consideration, discipline was getting worse, attendance levels were dropping, schools were not utilising every minute of teaching time effectively, I could go on. Lots of government and local authority policy and statute was aimed at addressing all these identifiable and emerging issues through a focus of education and what went on in schools, and lots of fantastic work has gone on in schools to help ameliorate some of these.
My whole point however is that all of that work and effort is yet another example of how we are spending so much time in our schools addressing symptoms and consequences of government action, or inaction, in regards to the root causes of so many of the issues we face. If we go ahead with a no-deal Brexit, then the prognosis for our poorest and most disadvantaged sections of society look even worse, leading to more pressures on schools to keep plugging the holes in the dyke.
I have no doubt that schools, teachers and leaders will continue to do the best the can for all their learners, striving to improve in ever more demanding circumstances. This has always been the case and always will be. But I would ask of our politicians and governments to consider their own roles and actions, and how these impact and ripple through all sections of society, before they jump on the next educational bandwagon coming along. As any doctor will tell you, treating the symptoms of an issue is a stop-gap or short term measure, until you identify and address the root cause generating those symptoms. Just taking paracetamol for a headache, without investigating the cause, might well lead to the death of the patient.
Education is crucial to the wellbeing of all societies, to mankind and the planet as a whole. It is right that education systems, and their schools reflect the best parts of the societies and cultures in which they exist. Schools and education cannot exist in some sort of vacuum, independent of the context in which they are located. Education systems are a reflection of the wider society they represent. It is also crucial that such education systems look to keep developing within their context, and as that context develops itself, but it is also important that this happens in a way that is critically informed, and is able to ask questions of both itself and of that wider context.
Schools, and education, do not function solely to train individuals as a preparation for work, or the sustenance of the societal status quo. We have a responsibility to help develop critically informed, and critical, individuals, who are equipped not only to solve some of the problems created by previous generations, but who can envisage, shape and create new ways of being, that provide wider benefits and opportunities for all, as well as protecting the planet on which we all depend.
All schools and all systems are busy, with lots of apparent change taking place. I have long questioned the impact of much of this busyness, and the constant change driven agendas schools and education have endured for the last sixty years or so. Can deep, meaningful change really occur in our pedagogy, curricula, understandings and practice, when we still operate within structures little changed since their inception during the industrial age? This is a question I have considered for a while now, especially in Scotland where we introduced a 'new, innovative and creative' curriculum (Curriculum for Excellence) nearly twenty years ago. This began by asking teachers to think and act in differently, yet did nothing about the structures of the system under which they were expected to conduct this new way of being.
Developing a creative and exciting curriculum, and encouraging teachers to be creative by helping to co-create that new curriculum as they went, was possibly doomed from day one, because they were still expected to do this within the structures and organisation that had pertained, with little change, since at least the 1960s, and some even earlier. I believe that a lot of the changes that have occurred in education have ended up as 'window dressing' as the structures and systems have determinedly maintained the status quo. On the surface, or from outside, it may look as though lots has been happening, and a lot has, but deep down, is the system any different to what it was sixty years or more ago? During that time lots of fantastic teachers, school leaders and schools, have addressed many of the issues that were identified as barriers to education and learning for so many more of their learners. But, they have achieved this despite the system and society they were having to operate in.
For too many years now, teachers and schools have been charged with tackling the symptoms of school and learning improvement, but little has been done to tackle the cause of all these. In many cases, the causes have deepened or widened, along with some of the persistent divisions across society.
When schools are criticised by politicians and others for low attainment, increasing gaps (of all kinds), poor discipline, inequitable outcomes, disadvantage, lower exam results, narrowing curriculums, not preparing learners for the world of work, neglecting the three Rs, and so on and so on, the response has often been to wring our hands and look for more change and demand more from our teachers and schools. How are they going to put all this right? Once again, we start focusing on how we can address these 'symptoms' that are being identified, usually by people outside of the system itself. Governments will show how strong and stable they are by making sure education is key in their manifestos, policy agenda and the statements they make, detailing how they are going to make sure schools address whatever the latest failure in the education system is.
None of this, or the actions that follow, address the real causes of any of these issues, the majority of which lie outside of schools. It is my contention that until our Governments start addressing the root causes of these problems, anything our schools can do is much like the little boy putting his finger in the dyke. The difference we can make will be minimal and eventually we will be overwhelmed or swept away by ta tsunami of increasing demands.
I saw a Twitter conversation the other day, where someone was asking why are so many teachers leaving the profession? It was pointed out that teachers have always been busy, so it can't just be the workload. The responses from teachers who had left hinted at the point I am trying to make. What they indicated was they didn't leave because of workload, but more because of the increasing demands and expectations they were expected to fulfil, with little hope of seeing success, or before the next demand came along. Squaring what they wanted and expected to achieve when they entered teaching, against what they were told they had to do, was another major factor. It would seem that many school leaders still pass the pressures they feel directly, or indirectly, onto the staff they lead.
Teachers are intelligent, thoughtful people, and if you keep asking them to deliver more and more, whilst doing nothing to address the underlying causes of the challenges they face, is it no wonder more and more are voting with their feet? Youthful enthusiasm and idealism has a limited shelf life in the face of an immoveable object presented by Government, society and system structures, which are always demanding 'more!'.
Alma Harris Tweeted this last night, 'No grandiose policy promises will suffice if children come to school hungry, afraid or neglected. Leading for equity is more than just a strap line. In those schools where the level of challenge is palpable, leadership matters more than ever.' This was from an editorial 'Leading for Equity' written by Stephan Lam, and for me reflected many of my own thoughts. But I also think we risk leaders working in such schools and contexts, if we expect them to deal with the consequences of such issues, without the support of Government and society beyond the school gates. Hunger, neglect, fear, poverty, equity, fairness in any society have to be addressed by Government policy, before schools have any hope of addressing the symptoms exhibited by learners. Pithy soundbites and 'straplines' have to be followed by concrete action by all, starting with politicians and policy.
Ten years and more of austerity have disproportionately impacted on the poorest and weakest members of our society, and their children. The UK is a society riven by class and privilege, which has been sustained by successive Governments of all persuasions, but most severely by Tory ones. The current one of privilege and vested interests is not a good one. As a school leader I saw first hand the impacts of austerity and reduction of resources. We were told 'the status quo is not an option' when our Director addressed headteachers early in 2009. The mantra became 'Do more for less' or 'We needed to work more efficiently or differently.' This was all driven by a squeeze on finances, not a creative curriculum or the needs of learners. Eventually it actually became 'doing less for less' and the pupils and families who were affected first and most, were those who were already facing the most challenges. Those who needed additional specialist support, in education, from health or through social services, were impacted first and foremost. Budgets were trimmed, before they were cut, staff redeployed or reconfigured, which meant not employing new people when people left, and headteachers were expected to lead more than one school. Cuts were made at local authority level too, with those remaining having ever expanding and undeliverable remits.All of this was dressed up as 'efficiency savings'. In addition other 'below the line' savings and cuts were applied to school and local authority budgets. I know that I, as a headteacher, never felt we were awash with resources before these austerity measures begun to bite, but now we had less of everything, except issues we needed to be tackling. I wonder how bankers, financiers and Hedge Fund managers felt at those times, and how they are feeling now?
Add to what was going on in education, social services and health to the changes that were occurring in family credits, disability payments, care provision, unemployment regulations and benefits, and a raft of other support our most vulnerable families and individuals had received, and we had a perfect storm for these families and their children. Is it any wonder we began to see the impacts in our schools?
When issues began to rise and develop over time, despite the warnings many were giving about the impacts of all this, and what we were seeing and hearing from families, parents and other sections of the community, it was to education that governments turned to, solve the crisis in education. Attainment gaps were widening, exams were getting too easy, levels of literacy and numeracy were stalling or falling, schools were not taking the impacts of poverty and equity of opportunity into enough consideration, discipline was getting worse, attendance levels were dropping, schools were not utilising every minute of teaching time effectively, I could go on. Lots of government and local authority policy and statute was aimed at addressing all these identifiable and emerging issues through a focus of education and what went on in schools, and lots of fantastic work has gone on in schools to help ameliorate some of these.
My whole point however is that all of that work and effort is yet another example of how we are spending so much time in our schools addressing symptoms and consequences of government action, or inaction, in regards to the root causes of so many of the issues we face. If we go ahead with a no-deal Brexit, then the prognosis for our poorest and most disadvantaged sections of society look even worse, leading to more pressures on schools to keep plugging the holes in the dyke.
I have no doubt that schools, teachers and leaders will continue to do the best the can for all their learners, striving to improve in ever more demanding circumstances. This has always been the case and always will be. But I would ask of our politicians and governments to consider their own roles and actions, and how these impact and ripple through all sections of society, before they jump on the next educational bandwagon coming along. As any doctor will tell you, treating the symptoms of an issue is a stop-gap or short term measure, until you identify and address the root cause generating those symptoms. Just taking paracetamol for a headache, without investigating the cause, might well lead to the death of the patient.
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