A Balkan Journey: Walking through Europe's forgotten region

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Perhaps if there is any consolation from this crushing blow to the education system, it might be the encouragement of schools, and thus their students, to see school as being about more than exam qualifications. That education is sacred and worthwhile for its own sake. That a broad education is preferable on so many levels to a narrow, exam-driven one. It’s something. But I doubt it will offer much comfort to the class of 2020. The publishing industry has become almost entirely focused on catering to that, with books churned out about teaching techniques, or how to deliver a broadly standardised curriculum. More fundamental questions such as the purpose of education or interrogating whether schools are best serving their students are rarely touched upon. Seldon, Anthony (1999). 10 Downing Street: The Illustrated History. HarperCollins Illustrated. p.232. ISBN 0004140737. Schools often assign dubious target grades that label students: this student should get Grade 3 in Year 8 and Grade 6 by Year 11. Keating, too, shows the importance of raising the bar, but he makes the intellectual pursuit not just accessible but desirable to all.

Seldon, Anthony. "Why Schools, Why Universities?". Sir John Cass's Foundation . Retrieved 5 September 2013. Though we champion these themed weeks, we believe kindness should be practiced throughout the whole year – not just a specific moment in time. Kindness and gratitude have such a powerful impact on a school’s culture. They facilitate members of the community - whether students, teachers or support staff - to feel valued, which in turn cements togetherness and commitment to the school, and the people within it. Schools serving more deprived families often have the additional, noble purpose of social mobility: supporting students to get grades so they can advance in society through university and onto jobs in a way their parents might not have. Yet schools cannot do this alone. A recent report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies showed that despite improved schools, there has been virtually no change in the gap between children on free school meals and their peers in the last 20 years. Schools cannot generate social mobility alone. Other factors matter for reducing inequality, such as government investment in public services, the welfare state and other redistributive polices. Britain and the US do particularly poorly for social mobility: there’s been no progress since 1954 in getting working class children into the top US universities. A school is not being honest if it claims that it alone can help students climb up the meritocratic ladder. Education qualifications are not enough: according to Dr Sam Friedman, a working-class student with a 1st is less likely to get a white-collar job than an economically privileged student with a 2:2 from the same university.The more research-informed approach adopted by many schools has heralded many positive impacts, but the cost is a restricted Overton window. The grip of cognitive science means that if contributions do not have some alleged grounding in research or linkage to sacred texts like Teach Like a Champion or Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction, it is harder to get a hearing.

He is the deputy chair and instigator of the Times Education Commission, former chair of the Comment Awards, president of the International Positive Education Network (IPEN), chair of the National Archives Trust and he was the originator of the Via Sacra/Western Front Way Walk. Seldon, Anthony; Finn, Mike (2015). The Coalition Effect, 2010–2015. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1107440180. Online platforms, conferences and books, where there is more breathing space, are exactly where there should be an open and thriving discussion on education in its broadest sense.Educators are often protective of their patch and reports or commissions are frequently dismissed by the sector’s thought leaders and influencers. Daisy Christodoulou recently lambasted Labour’s learning and skills report as referring to “an education system that doesn’t exist”. Willingham suggests that “if school work is always just a bit too difficult for a student, it should be no surprise that they don’t like school much”. A teacher can help students to like school more by ensuring a “student experiences the pleasurable rub of solving a problem”. However, is successful problem solving really sufficient to help students like their school and value the education they receive? The webinar explored how education of certain values plays a pivotal role in creating a fair, just and equitable society. Sharing their vision, learnings and insight was an impressive cohort of experts and authors that included Sir Anthony Seldon, Professor James Arthur OBE and Timothy Metcalf.