Comprehensive schools became the standard form of secondary education
(other than in one or two isolated areas, where grammar schools and
secondary moderns survived). However, except among the best comprehensives
they lost for a while the excellence of the old grammar schools.
Alongside the introduction of comprehensives there was a move away
from traditional teaching and discipline towards what was called
'progressive' education.-This entailed a change from more formal teaching
and factual learning tc greater pupil participation and discussion, with
greater emphasis on comprehension and less on the acquisition of knowledge.
Not everyone approved, particularly on the political Right. There was
increasing criticism of the lack of discipline and of formal learning, and
a demand to return tc old-fashioned methods.
From the 1960s there was also greater emphasis on education and
training than ever before, with many colleges of further education
established to provide technical or vocational training. However, British
education remained too academic for the less able, and technical studies
stayed weak, with the result that a large number of less academically able
pupils left school without any skills or qualifications at all.
The expansion of education led to increased expenditure. The
proportion of the gross national product devoted to education doubled, from
3.2 per cent in 1954, to 6.5 per cent by 1970, but fell back to about 5 per
cent in the 1980s. These higher levels of spending did not fulfil
expectations, mainly because spending remained substantially lower than
that in other industrialised countries. Perhaps the most serious failures
were the continued high drop-out rate at the age of 16 and the low level of
achievement in mathematics and science among school-leavers. By the mid-
1980s, while over 80 per cent of pupils in the United States and over 90
per cent in Japan stayed on till the age of 18, barely one-third of British
pupils did so.
I. Arguments about the purpose of education.
There is a feeling that the schools are not succeeding - that
standards are too low, that schools are not preparing young people with the
skills, knowledge and personal qualities which are necessary for the world
of work, and that schools have failed to instil the right social values.
These are the criticisms and therefore there have been changes to meet
these criticisms.
However, the criticisms take different forms. First, there are those
who believe that standards have fallen, especially in the areas of literacy
and numeracy - and, indeed, unfavourable comparisons are made with the
other countries as a result of international surveys. For example, the
recent Third International Mathematics and Science Survey (TIMSS) placed in
England and Wales very low in mathematical achievement at 13 - although
very high in science. Therefore, these critics emphasize «back to basis»
and the need for more traditional teaching methods.
Second, there are those who argue for a rather traditional curriculum
which is divided into «subjects» and which calls upon those cultural
standards which previous generations have known - the study of literary
classics ( Shakespeare, Keats, Wordsworth) rather than popular multi-
cultural history, classical music rather than popular music, and so on.
Since there are many children who would not be interested in or capable of
learning within these subjects, there is a tendency for such advocates of
traditional standards to support an early selection of children into «the
minority» who are capable of being so educated, separated off from «the
majority» who are thought to benefit more from a more technical or
practical education.
Third, there are those who question deeply the idea of a curriculum
based on these traditional subjects. Many employers, for instance, think
that such a curriculum by itself ill - serves the country economically. The
curriculum ought to be more relevant to the world of work, providing those
skills, such as computer, numeracy and literacy skills, personal qualities
(such as cooperation and enterprise) and knowledge (such as economic
awareness) which make people more employable.
A very important speech which expressed those concerns and which is
seen as a watershed in government policy was that of Prime Minister
Callaghan at Ruskin College, Oxford, in 1976.
«Preparing future generations for life» was the theme and he pointed
to the need for greater relevance in education on four fronts:
1. the acquisition by school leavers of basic skills which they lacked but
which industry needed;
2. the development of more positive attitudes to industry and to the
economic needs of society;
3. greater technological know-how so that they might live effectively in a
technological society;
4. the development of personal qualities for coping with an unpredictable
future.
In what follows I give details of the different contexts in which
this concern for change was discussed.
a) Economic Context
It is generally assumed that there is a close connection between
economic performance and the quality and context of education and
training, and that therefore the country’s poor performance
economically since the second world war (compared with some other
countries) is due to irrelevant and poor quality education. During the
thirty years from the end of the Second World War not enough pupils
stayed on beyond the compulsory school leaving age. There were too
many unskilled and semi-skilled people for a much more sophisticated
economy. Standards of literacy and numeracy were too low for a modern
economy. There was not enough practical and technical know-how being
taught.
As a result, it was argued that there must be much closer links
between school and industry, with pupils spending time in industry,
with industrialists participating in the governance of schools, and
with subjects and activities on the curriculum which relate much more
closely to the world of work.
Furthermore, there should be a different attitudes to learning.
So quickly is the economy that people constantly have to update their
knowledge and skills. There is a need for a «learning society» and for
the acquisition of «generic» or «transferable» skills in
communication, numeracy, problem-solving, computer technology, etc.
b) Social Context
There are anxieties not just about the future economy but also
about the future of society. Preparing young people for adult life was
what the Ruskin speech was about, and there is much more to adult life
than economic success - for example, living the life of a good
citizen, of a father or mother, of involvement in social and political
activity. Therefore, schools are required to prepare young people for
a multicultural society, to encourage tolerance between different
ethnic groups, to promote social responsibility, to encourage respect
for the law and democratic institutions, to develop sensibilities
towards the disadvantaged and to ensure girls enjoy equal
opportunities with boys. And schools have. Indeed, responded with
programs of social education, citizenship, and parenthood. Moreover,
they have often done this in practical ways such as organizing
projects.
c) Standards
The need for educational change arises partly from a concern
about academic standards. The sense that Britain is declining has been
reinforced by statements from employers. According to them, Britain’s
workforce is under-educated, under-trained and under-qualified! These
criticisms of standards are pitched at different levels. First, there
are worries about low standards of literacy and numeracy. Second,
international comparisons give weight to misgivings about the
performance of British schoolchildren in mathematics and science. And,
therefore, the subsequent changes have tried to define standards much
more precisely, and o have regular assessment of children’s
performance against these standards.
II. Changing Political Control
a) After 1944
The key educational legislation, until recently, was the 1944
Education Act. That Act supported a partnership between central government
(Local Education Authorities or LEAs), teachers and the churches - with
central government playing a minimal role in the curriculum.
The 1944 Education Act required the Secretary of State to promote the
education of the people of England and Wales and the progressive
development of institutions devoted to that purpose and to secure the
effective execution by local authorities, under his control and direction,
of the national policy for providing a varied and comprehensive educational
service in every area.
In the decades following the Act, «promotion» was perceived in very
general terms - ensuring that there were resources adequate for all
children to receive an education according to «age, ability and aptitude»,
providing the broad legal framework and regulations within which education
should be provided (for example, the length of the school year or the
