POLICY AND PRACTICE Levers of change
Managing change – The relationship between education and politics
In October Estelle Morris gave a keynote speech at the Inaugural IEE Conference to practitioners and policy makers. Here, she summarises her views
the Second World War, with the need to rebuild industry and society and advances in technology. For the fi rst time, the economy needed a signifi cant number of well-educated people, and society wanted a country of greater opportunity. The 1944 Education Act and the tripartite system that followed were designed to deliver that.
Estelle Morris speaking at the Inaugural IEE Conference last year.
TOO OFTEN WE UNDERESTIMATE the importance of partnerships between different parts of our education system. There are a wide range of different skills, but everyone who plays a part is committed to doing the best they can for the next generation. This extends to politicians as well. They are frequently thought to be the cause of problems and although, like all other parts of the education system, they make errors and misjudgements, they are no less motivated to do well than anyone else. The relationship between education and politics is important; they are players in the same game and the two are interdependent. However, the debate between politics and education is often destructive rather than constructive, and displays a misunderstanding of the contribution each can make.
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Politics and education in the past Historically, the relationship between politics and education has worked well. Politicians offer a vision of the sort of society they want, and education has been one of the major means of achieving it. When the vision of politicians and society (or at least those who had the vote) was to have wealth concentrated in the hands of a small number of people and a social structure that didn’t change, the education system delivered that. Only the children of the rich and powerful received a formal education. When the vision of society needed more highly educated people, the school system was changed to deliver it. Then, when formal education for girls was introduced, the curriculum still refl ected the role society expected of women. Perhaps the biggest change to the education system was in the years after
Better: Evidence-based Education winter 2012
Politics and education today Now, we face the need for even greater change. We need even more highly skilled people so we can compete in a global economy, and we understand better the social consequences for individuals and society when children are failed at school. Across the political spectrum there is a view that we need an education system that has universal high standards and is inclusive, and the public have far higher expectations than used to be the case. However, politics has always been better at gate keeping than gate opening. It is well practised at building education systems that allow a few to reach the top, but it is much less sure of the levers it needs to use to deliver high standards for all. Yet there seems to be emerging agreement across the political parties as to what those levers might be.
Political levers Despite political differences, all political parties have used four key levers, to different degrees, to bring about the changes they want. The challenge is that although each lever can point to success, each also has disadvantages in the way it affects education. Structural change takes the focus away from teaching and learning. It is too frequently used as a lever for change. Structural change is unlikely to bring about progress in the time frame that politicians want, so the temptation is to continually amend or change structures. Choice and the market. We need choice and competition. We need people to have a voice
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