Pathways To Inclusion

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...

"Charity is No Substitute for Justice Withheld" (Augustine of Hippo) 'St Christina Giving her Father's Jewels to the Poor' by Evelyn de Morgan Why bother paying for a public good through taxation, when you can just get it from charities instead? John Edward, the director of the Scottish Council of Independent Schools (SCIS), has responded to the 'heightened political interest' in the charitable status of independent schools by listing their myriad charitable achievements . Some private schools allowed less fortunate children to, at certain times, make use of their playing fields. Others raised money for mental health charities, or the Royal National Lifeboat Association. All appear to contribute towards a substantial fund providing free places at their schools to carefully selected students who wouldn't otherwise have been able to afford one. There is therefore no doubt, in his mind, that they should and indeed would pass the 'rigorous scrut...