Pathways To Inclusion

“As with almost everything, the impact will be felt most by low-income communities and families, and we as a nation will have to ask ourselves how we view our role as a society. Is it to support those in need? Is education a public good or a positional good?” (Akil Bello) Now is patently not the right time to be putting children through the 11-plus. While all other exams have been cancelled, schools will be ploughing ahead mercilessly with the 11-plus tests in September as planned. These are exams which will determine the path of these children’s education, their friendships, their careers, their lives. The highest of stakes, the greatest of pressures, and a level of stress most 9-10 year olds probably don't need in their lives right now, let alone their parents. What's more, this year will inevitably see the widest gulf between those children fortunate enough to live in comfortable, well-resourced homes, and those who do not share these advantages. Between those who can offer ...

In the 1940s, Americans were encouraged to smoke Camels as an aid to digestion. The ‘increased alkalinity’ was particularly good for you, apparently. Smoking wasn’t just regarded as innocuous, it was seen as positively beneficial . Light up on any street today, and you become a social pariah, polluting the air and draining the NHS of resources, selfishly taking doctors away from the sick kid who needs a heart transplant and making them tend to your odious blackened lungs instead. My point is, social attitudes change over time. And what one generation regards as harmless, even a force for good, future generations may come to view as socially undesirable. Last night I attended a debate put on by the Private School Policy Reform (PSPR) group, who are valiantly trying to establish some kind of meaningful direction for future reform of the independent education sector. Six speakers offered their proposals for how they would level the playing field. There was a brief discussion, follo...

"Society needs an educated elite" (Roger Scruton, 2019) Roger Scruton (1944 - 2020) - philosopher, writer, conservative Portrait by Alan J Lawson It is difficult to remain right wing if you are in education. It relies on accepting that there is a ‘natural’ hierarchy in society, with some at the top and others at the bottom. Such a view falls apart when you spend every day with the people at the bottom, routinely exposed to the fact that in no fair and good world do they deserve to be there. The belief that there exists a reasonable and defensible hierarchy of citizens is rarely spoken of these days. Which makes it all the more fascinating when it is. The death last month of Roger Scruton prompted a new wave of reflection on his views on everything from islamophobia to fox-hunting, aesthetics to nationalism. For me he is a particularly useful figure in deconstructing the Conservative view of education. As well as being a nuanced and articulate writer, he is als...