Guest post: Lessons from the crisis
The education system has exploded and with so many of the old certainties in tatters it is vital that we learn the lessons and begin to think about a better future.
We have learned where power really lies – it lies with parents. Families have shown a willingness to ignore the decisions by central government. And the government has revealed its inherent weakness. From now on decision making must move to the local community.
We have learned that the fetishising of testing and the use of metrics to measure progress is a sham. Inevitably, test results are linked to the socioeconomic character of the community served by the school. Coaching affects scores but it has seriously ill effects upon the true quality of children’s learning. We must aim for a more effective balance between the needs of the learner and the needs of the system.
We have learned that the system’s use of algorithms is likely to distort the human element of learning and to harm the interests of individuals. We know now that people are more important than the centralised systems which endeavour to control them.
We have learned that the two thirds of the cabinet who attended private schools cannot be trusted to take decisions which affect the lives and learning of the 93% of children whose future depends upon state education. We must move towards the achievement of education quality which is not related to the family’s ability to pay the fees charged by elitist schools.
We have learned that we must never go back to the days when the system divided the community into the haves and the have nots.
John Coe