You can listen to this post here:
Or read on for a little introduction to this first article on “The Trouble With Schools”
Who I am and what I believe in
If you are listening to this post, then you’ll have to get used to the Scottish accent. I was born in Scotland (to Italian parents), live in England and until recently worked in Wales. I was a secondary school teacher and then Principal/Headteacher for 34 years, based almost entirely in very deprived areas. Last year I retired from Headship, had a book published by Crown House Publishing called “A Head Full Of Ethos” and now doing a little educational consultancy as well as continuing to write and research educational practice.
I have always been frustrated with the systems, processes, content and culture in schools. Although there is an enormous amount of amazing practice carried out by so many fantastic staff, I don’t believe the system ‘works’ for every child. I’ll say from the outset that I believe young people should be educated in schools, but I can fully understand why the number of those being home-schooled was growing steadily before Covid and has accelerated since (E.g. in England in 2018 the number being home-schooled was roughly 52,500 but by early 2022 had increased to around 80,000, representing 0.9% of the school population).
I’ve always believed that the prime purpose of schooling above all else is to enable young people to flourish in life, equipping them with the knowledge, skills, approaches, attitudes and habits to do this. I’ll elaborate more on this in future articles, but for now, it’s enough to know that everything we do in schools should put the best interests of every young person first. Sadly, while this might be the intent of most involved in schooling, it doesn’t happen in practice. Other stakeholders such as the state, employers and unions have their own agendas and needs, and this all too often prevents us from achieving this goal
I am quite sure as I begin to explore home-schooling more, I will find many fantastic examples of young people flourishing, but at the moment my thoughts and opinions about home-schooling are not fully formed. While I have no concerns about the quality of specialist provision, I continue to have a (possibly ill-informed) concern that young people being educated at home, are not experiencing and learning from the full range of day-to-day human/social interactions.
This brings me to the purpose of “The Trouble With Schools”.
These newsletters will be primarily for parents who are either home schooling or who have children in school or soon to begin the journey. I’d also hope educationalists who have similar views also join. It’s worth mentioning that I have a separate blog page for teachers and school leaders that shares the same name with this Substack, which has similar aims. You can find it at: www.thetroublewithschools.com
I have tried to bring about systematic change in all of the schools I have led, but it has been difficult and the appetite for change has not been there, and this seems to be the case across the profession (We’ll look at this issue in future newsletters). However, I can’t ignore the obvious dissatisfaction that exists amongst parents and so I hope to empower and inform parents to apply pressure on their local schools, local authorities/trusts or government. I’ll do this in future newsletters through the following:
Carry out interviews with parents and organisations who home school to find out the reasons why parents choose not to send their children to school
Carry out interviews with some parents whose children go to school. I will endeavour to highlight a range of parents who are both satisfied or dissatisfied with formal schooling
If possible interview young people who are not attending school to find out why
Highlight the global context within which the curriculum sits
Explore the blocks to change
Explore alternative models that already exist in the world and that have existed, but for various reasons no longer do.
All of the above will provide a rationale for:
a possible curriculum content
Alternative ways to deliver this curriculum (The ways our children should learn)
The ethos and culture that ought to exist in schools
The way we assess progress and capabilities (if we want this) when young people finish their schooling.
We will also explore possible ways parents can apply pressure for change, in their local school, local authority or trust, government.
These are my initial thoughts which I am sure I will develop further as the newsletters develop and hopefully become a collaborative forum for debate. Above all I hope it empowers parents to insist (with confidence and with an informed voice) on a change to schooling which results in an education system (which ever country you are in), truly relevant, and which enables every child to flourish in life.
Looking forward to your forthcoming articles!
Great to see this blog series is now available on Substack!