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Michael Gove's reform agenda: some good school work, but must do better Michael Gove's reform agenda: some good school work, but must do better
(7 months later)
'Being a clever child isn't the best preparation for being a good teacher." The master of Magdalen College school's verdict on Michael Gove captures the problem with the education secretary's reform agenda. Last week, the Conservatives' star pupil was forced to about-turn on a key plank of his radical programme of education reforms, the replacement of GCSEs with the English Baccalaureate certificate.'Being a clever child isn't the best preparation for being a good teacher." The master of Magdalen College school's verdict on Michael Gove captures the problem with the education secretary's reform agenda. Last week, the Conservatives' star pupil was forced to about-turn on a key plank of his radical programme of education reforms, the replacement of GCSEs with the English Baccalaureate certificate.
Just days before, in a characteristically witty speech worthy of an A* for oratorical flourish, the education secretary numbered among his intellectual heroes Antonio Gramsci. Presumably he had in mind the Italian Marxist's famous reflection: "My practicality consists in this: in the knowledge that if you beat your head against the wall it is your head which breaks and not the wall…" At any rate, it was advice he appeared to have heeded. Gove, the fiercely academic overachiever, seems to have learned the painful lesson that reforms dreamed up in the Department for Education's ivory towers are forced through the system at peril.Just days before, in a characteristically witty speech worthy of an A* for oratorical flourish, the education secretary numbered among his intellectual heroes Antonio Gramsci. Presumably he had in mind the Italian Marxist's famous reflection: "My practicality consists in this: in the knowledge that if you beat your head against the wall it is your head which breaks and not the wall…" At any rate, it was advice he appeared to have heeded. Gove, the fiercely academic overachiever, seems to have learned the painful lesson that reforms dreamed up in the Department for Education's ivory towers are forced through the system at peril.
How much of a reversal is this for one of the most radical and controversial education reformers of recent years? And just what sort of an education system is Gove, a divisive figure who attracts loathing and admiration in almost equal measure, trying to fashion?How much of a reversal is this for one of the most radical and controversial education reformers of recent years? And just what sort of an education system is Gove, a divisive figure who attracts loathing and admiration in almost equal measure, trying to fashion?
There are gems among the blizzard of initiatives pouring forth from his department. The pupil premium shifts the funding system further to the advantage of schools with poor intakes. Schools will be judged in league tables, not just by basic threshold targets like five A*-Cs at GCSE, but on a more complex measure that counts the progress of all children. The government is taking a tougher approach to teacher recruitment, already paying dividends: last year, 71% of trainee teachers had a 2.1 or above, six percentage points more than the year before. Ofsted's "satisfactory" category has been replaced with "requires improvement" in recognition that no child deserves anything less than a good or outstanding education.There are gems among the blizzard of initiatives pouring forth from his department. The pupil premium shifts the funding system further to the advantage of schools with poor intakes. Schools will be judged in league tables, not just by basic threshold targets like five A*-Cs at GCSE, but on a more complex measure that counts the progress of all children. The government is taking a tougher approach to teacher recruitment, already paying dividends: last year, 71% of trainee teachers had a 2.1 or above, six percentage points more than the year before. Ofsted's "satisfactory" category has been replaced with "requires improvement" in recognition that no child deserves anything less than a good or outstanding education.
But the commonality running through these reforms is not that they are a radical break from the past. They are, instead, a welcome continuation of an education reform programme that has spanned the last quarter-century.But the commonality running through these reforms is not that they are a radical break from the past. They are, instead, a welcome continuation of an education reform programme that has spanned the last quarter-century.
It is Gove's more radical plans that suggest he is in danger of succumbing to the curse of the overzealous reformer. At heart, the problem is that Gove is trying to make an education system fashioned out of his own education experiences, while holding up as straw man a caricature of a 1970s progressive education movement, which, while it did tragically ruin the lives of some, does not grip huge swaths of the modern state education system, as he would have us believe. This is undoubtedly a project that makes for brilliant after-dinner speeches. But as a reform agenda it has a fundamental flaw: it is rooted neither in the reality of where our school system is, nor where it needs to be.It is Gove's more radical plans that suggest he is in danger of succumbing to the curse of the overzealous reformer. At heart, the problem is that Gove is trying to make an education system fashioned out of his own education experiences, while holding up as straw man a caricature of a 1970s progressive education movement, which, while it did tragically ruin the lives of some, does not grip huge swaths of the modern state education system, as he would have us believe. This is undoubtedly a project that makes for brilliant after-dinner speeches. But as a reform agenda it has a fundamental flaw: it is rooted neither in the reality of where our school system is, nor where it needs to be.
There are two key planks to Gove's agenda. First, on qualifications, Gove wants to expand what he regards as the key features of an elite system to all children. Hence his stress on knowledge over skills; academic over vocational; exams over coursework; traditional over creative; linear over modular: a long line of false dichotomies.There are two key planks to Gove's agenda. First, on qualifications, Gove wants to expand what he regards as the key features of an elite system to all children. Hence his stress on knowledge over skills; academic over vocational; exams over coursework; traditional over creative; linear over modular: a long line of false dichotomies.
Of course Gove is right that there is no greater educational crime than writing off a child because of his or her class. But it is perhaps just as unforgivable to judge all children by an elite academic standard under which many will thrive, but which for others will be a millstone of educational failure that will forever hang round their necks. It is a fallacy to contend robustness must imply tradition and this government, like the last, has failed to set out a plan for a vocational gold standard that can sit alongside GSCEs and A-levels. This is a huge failure. It is bizarre to insist that the school system must assess children and young people in a way that bears no relation to how they will go on to be appraised in the labour market.Of course Gove is right that there is no greater educational crime than writing off a child because of his or her class. But it is perhaps just as unforgivable to judge all children by an elite academic standard under which many will thrive, but which for others will be a millstone of educational failure that will forever hang round their necks. It is a fallacy to contend robustness must imply tradition and this government, like the last, has failed to set out a plan for a vocational gold standard that can sit alongside GSCEs and A-levels. This is a huge failure. It is bizarre to insist that the school system must assess children and young people in a way that bears no relation to how they will go on to be appraised in the labour market.
The second plank is academisation. No education secretary can ever be faulted for wanting to drive improvements in the nation's schools. But Gove's obsession with academisation as the nirvana of school improvement is a dangerous one. The evidence could not be clearer: great schools have consistently great teaching and this can only flourish under great leadership. The only way to improve failing schools is to bring in the best leaders. This is what Labour's academy agenda was about: a tightly focused programme that aimed to bring in new leadership, energy and investment into some of our most dismal schools.The second plank is academisation. No education secretary can ever be faulted for wanting to drive improvements in the nation's schools. But Gove's obsession with academisation as the nirvana of school improvement is a dangerous one. The evidence could not be clearer: great schools have consistently great teaching and this can only flourish under great leadership. The only way to improve failing schools is to bring in the best leaders. This is what Labour's academy agenda was about: a tightly focused programme that aimed to bring in new leadership, energy and investment into some of our most dismal schools.
Under Gove, academisation has taken centre stage, leaving little room for anything else. It has become a drifting, bloated, one-size-fits-all programme that is simultaneously about freeing up schools from local authority bureaucracy, parental choice, establishing a network of private-style schools funded by the state, and new leadership. Its loss of focus means it can no longer do what it was designed to do. While academies remain a small but significant presence, they are able to attract the charity and business leaders who might bring new discipline and energy into the most lethargic schools. Gove's vision of a system dominated by academies has at its heart a lazy "private sector good, public sector bad" logic. Results show just as there are good and bad local authority schools, there are good and bad academies.Under Gove, academisation has taken centre stage, leaving little room for anything else. It has become a drifting, bloated, one-size-fits-all programme that is simultaneously about freeing up schools from local authority bureaucracy, parental choice, establishing a network of private-style schools funded by the state, and new leadership. Its loss of focus means it can no longer do what it was designed to do. While academies remain a small but significant presence, they are able to attract the charity and business leaders who might bring new discipline and energy into the most lethargic schools. Gove's vision of a system dominated by academies has at its heart a lazy "private sector good, public sector bad" logic. Results show just as there are good and bad local authority schools, there are good and bad academies.
And just as there are good and bad local authorities, so there will be good and bad academy chains that move in to replace them. But whereas with local authorities there is a notion of democratic accountability, academy chains are accountable to no one other than the secretary of state. Thus the paradox of a reform talked up as a massive decentralisation of power in reality being one of the most centralising reforms in recent decades.And just as there are good and bad local authorities, so there will be good and bad academy chains that move in to replace them. But whereas with local authorities there is a notion of democratic accountability, academy chains are accountable to no one other than the secretary of state. Thus the paradox of a reform talked up as a massive decentralisation of power in reality being one of the most centralising reforms in recent decades.
Some particularly enthusiastic councils are strong-arming schools into becoming academies – by telling them they will be switching off the school improvement and back-office services they have provided for decades. In these areas, small primary schools are spending energy and time figuring out how to recreate these economies of scale. This is a distraction from the business of improving standards.Some particularly enthusiastic councils are strong-arming schools into becoming academies – by telling them they will be switching off the school improvement and back-office services they have provided for decades. In these areas, small primary schools are spending energy and time figuring out how to recreate these economies of scale. This is a distraction from the business of improving standards.
The eloquent construction and demolition of a straw man based on the worst features of the 70s education system makes for clever speeches. But it does not make for a mature and evidence-based reform agenda. The verdict must be "requires improvement". As Gove's reforms have recognised, our children deserve better.The eloquent construction and demolition of a straw man based on the worst features of the 70s education system makes for clever speeches. But it does not make for a mature and evidence-based reform agenda. The verdict must be "requires improvement". As Gove's reforms have recognised, our children deserve better.
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