VIEWS & OPINION
Where should the new ideas in education come from?
Comment by LIZ ROBINSON, Headteacher and CEO of Big Education
Last year, Rishi Sunak stood on the steps of 10 Downing Street and promised to deliver ‘Better Schools’. He wrote on Twitter that ‘A good education is the closest thing we have to a silver bullet when it comes to making people’s lives better’ - I agree. With all the challenges of the 21st century, education is one of the few things within our control to improve. Education offers a possibility of hope – if we make the right investments and changes, we can and will improve things significantly for the next generation.
It’s no secret that the current system is struggling – teachers are striking; the UK’s schools are facing funding deficits; an exodus of demoralised staff and young people feel that the current system does not adequately prepare them for the future. Recent data from charity Big Change found that 73% of UK adults say that the ‘one size fits all’ approach to education is failing too
many young people. Covid-19 has exacerbated the chronic gap in achievement between more and less advantaged pupils, as recently reported by the Education Policy Institute. If we keep on doing what we have been doing, we will keep getting what we have always got. So how can we bring about long-term, significant change in education?
It is perhaps in the nature and mindset of central Government to function with a top-down approach to change, within education and elsewhere. This has been the case for many years with successive governments. Despite the rhetoric of greater freedoms through the Academy movement, in reality schools remained constrained by standardised testing and inspection. However, those closest to the problem - in this case teachers - often already have the solution, or at least, powerful insights about the nature of the change that is needed, with a growing voice from the sector about the need for more ‘bottom up’ change.
Where good ideas exist, as they do in schools and classrooms across the country, we need to recognise them, test them and share them so that we amplify what’s working well. We need to use disciplined approaches to research and innovation which include and engage with teachers and leaders in school rather than bypassing them. In turn, we must encourage teachers and schools to engage with parents and the wider community to develop their thinking on these new ideas. The insights from user-centred design suggest those closest to the problems are often most able to help solve them.
Ofsted and other school accountability measures have a significant negative impact on the capacity within the system to innovate. There are issues in both what they inspect and value, with a strong emphasis on particular outcomes and approaches, as well
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as the nature of the inspections themselves; exceptionally high stakes. The effect is, all too frequently, to stifle the innovation of talented and motivated teachers and leaders - through leaders feeling they have to adopt particular approaches to school improvement in order to ‘tick the Ofsted box’. This pressure is amplified throughout the system, including at MAT level, where the stakes are exceptionally high for individual leaders, reducing an appetite for anything perceived as a ‘risk’. My view is that the biggest risk is that we keep going with the same approaches that are causing so many of the issues in the system. The relentless focus on standardised academic assessments – often at the expense of vital life skills - risks leaving young people unprepared for the realities of adulthood and creates a narrow definition of a school’s purpose and potential. In a constantly-evolving modern world, we’ll need to equip our children to be resilient and adaptable – so we must prepare them mentally and emotionally to
take on the challenges of the future and find a sense of purpose in a turbulent world.
With many good ideas already circulating amongst teachers and students alike, it’s great to see organisations supporting and seizing opportunities to make change where they can. I am continuously inspired by individuals and organisations, many on our Big Leadership Adventure programme, who are boldly disrupting the system, often in extremely challenging circumstances. I am also pleased to support Big Change’s Big Education Challenge, which has invited both young people and seasoned innovators with bold ideas to develop and test out initiatives that could change education and learning for the better. The fund (which totals £1 million in prize money and support) aims to catalyse and accelerate grassroots change, helping reach more diverse people and new ideas. We founded Big Education to support teachers and leaders from the bottom up to make change and we’re delighted to see organisations like Big Change coming forward with new ways to support this. In the face of all our current challenges, education might not be the number one issue for doorstop campaigners in the run- up to the next election. It is however an issue that affects us all, and will shape our future society. I firmly believe that if we get this right and put more good ideas into action we can improve schools, outcomes and opportunities for millions of children. With 30% of children leaving schools without GCSEs having been at school for 12-13 years, we have to acknowledge that we’re forcing children through an education system that doesn’t work for everyone. Rather than imposing ideas on schools, let’s give those in the know a chance to show us what works.
March 2023
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