Achievement in education is not an exciting subject. It certainly does not attract media headlines in a world that seems obsessed with business and political drama. The little analysis that we see often relates to why children fail to make the grade after years in the mandatory period they have to spend in education. We need to start asking the question as to why some schools fail.
There is little meaningful material at the local level to help us answer this question. The local educational information available to the general public relates to micro-level initiatives taken by the educational authorities that often are no more than public relations tactics.
But our educational system is not so different from that of some other European countries. For historical and cultural reasons, I find that studies on the UK’s educational system particularly interesting. Ofsted – the Office for Standards in Education – is the government’s inspectorate entrusted with the oversight of the UK’s schools. It issues regular reports on its views on how the educational system is being run. In a recent study, Ofsted expressed some strong opinions on why some schools in the UK are failing.
Its findings are not surprising. One fallacy that is challenged in this report is that specific schools fail to reach acceptable standards because they are deprived of sufficient funding or that they faced ‘challenging circumstances’ when compared to other schools. Ofsted argues that successful schools that face similar funding and social challenges attribute their success to other factors.
The better schools’ recipe for success is holding teachers to high standards, tackling bad behaviour and getting the right leadership in place. I am sure that these critical success factors apply to all organisations, whether for profit or not. A fundamental objective of every school is to improve social mobility in a world where the gap between the haves and the have-nots is getting wider.
The quality of teachers will always be a fundamental determinant of educational success. We need to ask ourselves whether our system of rewarding teachers for academic qualifications rather than an ability to motivate children to love learning is the right strategy.
The long-term vision is what matters to ensure that schools do not fail our children
Pay, of course, will always be a critical factor to attract the right kind of graduates to the teaching profession. We need to ask ourselves whether the light touch performance management system of our schools is compensating for the low remuneration and public esteem for those who enter the teaching profession.
The question of discipline is also a critical issue in any school’s function. Consistent behaviour policies that do not tolerate unacceptable conduct by students are characteristics of s strong school culture. This requirement can only be satisfied when schools have good leadership underpinned with management skills.
The UK teachers’ trade union, the National Education Union, understandably partially blames the management-by-fear culture that prevails in some schools for their failure. The general secretary Mary Bousted argues that “Fear of Ofsted is a key in school leader and teacher flight from schools that fail”.
An overrated concern about the importance of transparency and accountability in the educational system in the past few decades has led to a harsh system of inspections and performance tables that often serve no other purpose than to stigmatise failing schools.
What schools need is tailored advice to identify weaknesses and propose pragmatic solutions. For too long failing schools have been inundated with textbook solutions by consultants sent by the central educational authorities to find a quick fix for underperforming schools.
One lesson that should have been learnt in the past few decades is that we also need to challenge the way that schools are inspected. The educational authorities will do well to inject new blood in the management of schools. Headteachers should have management qualifications that are as robust as their qualifications in education.
The education profession needs to be more respected in society. This respect is not just about improving working conditions. It is more about making sure that teachers are held to high standards and compensated accordingly. Teaching should no longer be a flexible option for those who need to juggle home responsibilities with a career commitment to excel in their profession.
The political cycle and the educational cycle have different durations. A politician’s vision span is never longer than five years. Real educational reform will take a generation to bear fruit. As always, the long-term vision is what matters to ensure that schools do not fail our children.