The tail wags the dog – again

I am ever hopeful that there will be a great national “conversation” about what education is all about and what purposes it should serve. 

How should we balance the right for all children and young people to have opportunities and an agreed core of entitlement, with the benefits of schools and colleges being free to innovate and produce passionate and highly motivated learners and independent thinkers who are ready to be creative and energetic adults who contribute to our society?

Sadly, the level of debate about education in this country rarely seems to rise above structures and qualifications, the structure of the school system, the structure and content of the examination system, and the qualifications of teachers. The latest final pronouncement on the new GCSEs came out in the half-term break (one might cynically wonder why so many education announcements are made during school holiday time).