'The Blue Corner' - Afleitch's commentary thread.

[afleitch]

And why not A little balance is needed. I hope to comment on politics and current affairs including my two areas of interest at the moment, poverty and constitutional affairs. There will also be a few 'historical' pieces and critiques. It won't be a blog, but it will

Coming up (before I disappear on holiday) are a few pieces I have written recently and in the past

'The Curious Case of Miranda Grell' In progress
'Croslands Legacy: Comprehensive education and the death knell of the working class' Written
'How measured tax cuts can benefit the working poor' Written

[Filuwaúrdjan]

'Croslands Legacy: Comprehensive education and the death knell of the working class'

If that title is anything to go by, I have a suspicion that I will disagree with just about every word in it. But I look forward to it anyway; the education issue in the '60's and '70's is an interesting one.

[Peter]

As a teacher on the front line of a comprehensive school I look forward to reading that article, and then rebutting it.

[afleitch]

'Croslands Legacy: Comprehensive education and the death knell of the working class'

If that title is anything to go by, I have a suspicion that I will disagree with just about every word in it. But I look forward to it anyway; the education issue in the '60's and '70's is an interesting one.

It is, I hope fairly balanced. It's not really a party partisan thing. It really harks back to the Butler reforms previous to the comprehensive experiment, the goodwill of both parties and the stubbornness of the trades unions in not supporting technical colleges, through to Jim Callaghan's admission that the process of school conversion had been seriously flawed; a 'rolling ball' that even Mrs Thatcher could not halt (but should have). Short sighted education reform had a starkly negative effect on the skilled worker pool in the UK, significantly more-so than in Western Europe. The 'coming of age' of those who should have been the next generation of skilled workers co-incided with economic downturn and Thatcherism and was a contributing factor to the downturn and in many regards still is.

The finger of blame isn't on Crosland per say, more of the fast and loose ideology of the time within both mainstram parties and the drive towards a 'scientific' Britain that Wilson wished to carve as PM. Politicians were aware that our future may not have lain with heavy industry but were unaware that it lay with a stifling, low skilled service sector.

As a teacher on the front line of a comprehensive school I look forward to reading that article, and then rebutting it.

Your more than welcome to But it's not really an attack on the system, but the implementation of it. It's a historic piece more than anything.

[afleitch]

Local Zero

In a rare case where public sympathy does not lie with 'the little guy' the Liberal Democrat councillor Martin Ford, whose casting vote saw Donald Trump's plans for a £1bn golf resort in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire rejected has been sacked today as the committee's chairman by 26 votes to 10. Ford's casting ballot, which came after a tied area committee vote led to an unprecedented angry reaction from many business and tourism leaders and from locals.

Councillors sided with local opinion (which has came out strongly in favour of the resort) but with the planning process now 'dead' the decision rests with the Scottish Government
Councillors have also decided, rightly that future planning applications of regional or national significance will go to the full council for a final decision.
This is 100% the right result for Aberdeenshire. The Councillor was no noble Local Hero, he stood against the interests of the local community and caved into the 'green' lobby. Locals who lived and worked locally were in broad favour of the plan during the consultation period and expressing support throught the local press. Non local second home owners and the self indulgent green lobby stood against it. Hopefully the Government will vote to allow planning consent.
A £1bn investment is needed in Aberdeenshire. The days of the oil boom are fading and the economy needs to diversify. Attracting growth and investment into the area to replace oil revenue has been the priority of Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City and Moray Councils. We need to send a signal to the world that Scotland is open for business. 'But it's Donald Trump!' is not an excuse to reject investment.

[afleitch]

I've decided to re-structure the article and lengthen it. It's still historical but I want to bring somethin into it, something that has only just struck me about Cameron's education reforms and 'Grammargate'

Crosland to Cameron – completing the circle

PART I

The roots of the decline in skilled labour in the UK are not always to found within the immediate aftermath of the oil crises or the excesses of Thatcherism. A political and economic argument for economic decline should not be standalone, societal changes whether brought on by the concept of the market or through government initiative. It lay too within education. In the 1950’s and 60’s, the Labour Party came over a little ideologically ‘obsessive’ when it came to education spurred on by Tony Crosland, a champion of comprehensive education taking inspiration from some of the ‘trial’ schools established in the 1950’s and 60’s. At the time, these ‘dummy comprehensives’ were the exception rather than the rule and they were extraordinarily successful. Like any social experiment they were guided with time, resources and energy invested in their success. A nationwide roll-out with a lack of attention and a centralised approach was not a successful replication of the success of the pilot experiment. The 1966-70 government began the process to convert thousands of grammar schools and secondary moderns into comprehensive schools in a fit of ideological vigour. While the government effectively targeted grammar schools and secondary moderns in it’s drive to establish a comprehensive education system true to it’s in vogue 60’s scientific socialist credentials, technical colleges, or the trade and craft apprenticeships that these colleges provided either despite institutions along these lines creating generations of skilled and educated Labour voting workers and craftsmen.

The project in itself was poorly planned and inadequately given with little overall agreement on what it took to provide a high quality education for all pupils off all abilities once they were inside the school gate. With centralisation within local authorities schools tended to adopt a single model. This was not directly Mr Crosland's fault. He had not only a mission but a plan. Within his book The Future of Socialism he called for 75 per cent of all places within private schools to be given to a range of pupils from all backgrounds. A radical idea and one that was neglected within the initial 'wave'. Many grammar schools resisted conversion and many struggled through to mid to late 70's. Some attempted to, and were successful in 'buying' themselves out and wrestling control from the Local Education Authority and as a result the Grammar school soon became the Independent School. To those families who couldn't afford the tuition fee, the independent day school and the educational environment within in which many bright and shy pupils could flourish became a closed world. The 75% target was never met and Mr Crosland never lived to see it, yet one attempt would be made by a rather unlikely woman.

Mr Crosland also planned that comprehensive schools should be based on streaming by ability though this  may make the heart of a present social democrat jump! Somewhat retiring, Mr Crosland was however not as persuasive in his mission as he could have been when he became education secretary in 1965. His infamous circular 10/65, which "requested" local education authorities to move toward comprehensive education, is today recognised as disasterous. His junior minister Reg Prentice, a man more resilient and experienced tried to persuade Crosland to make the verb and therefore the action 'required' and not 'requested.' Crosland refused and so began the long and drawn out movement towards comprehensive education. One of the biggest problems facing many comprehensive schools as the 1970's progressed were their own catchment areas. The ability of middle class parents to move home to secure their children's placement within the catchment area of a 'good comprehensive' created a class divide within the comprehensive education system that would have made Mr Crosland uncomfortable.

It should be noted that many educational institutions were structurally finalised in the pre and post war by the Conservative’s Rab Butler, (The 1944 education reforms especially) including the provision of well funded technical colleges. Technical colleges were not as popular as had been envisioned, not due to a lack of will on behalf of the Conservative government and its immediate Labour successor, but due to trade union opposition to the state provision and monitoring of craft training and apprenticeships, which the unions believed was their responsibility. Without their support (and yes the Conservatives did reach out to them) it was very difficult to establish technical colleges with links to local industry.Yet despite the lower numbers of these schools, those that existed were exceptionally successful often contributing skilled workers and technicians to the local economy.

With the comprehensive system, it was envisaged that schools would offer every choice of educational path available literally 'all under one roof'. As noted the reality of course was very different; governments, education authorities and individual schools cut back on crafts and apprenticeships from the very start or simply did not include them. Students with minds and desires suited to that career instead found themselves diverted onto a path resulting in a handful of academic qualifications and little satisfaction. New build comprehensive schools were simply not equipped with the facilities to provide these skills. The school leaving age was also raised, preventing an early ‘escape’ from an ill suited education and into apprenticeships or college. Schools had simply stopped churning out skilled workers or through education delayed the entry of many teenagers into apprenticeships unlike their European counterparts and many industries suffered as a result.

In 1970, with Labour out of office, Margaret Thatcher became the new Education Secretary. While many within the Conservative Party had a desire to halt the spread of the comprehensive system, Mrs Thatcher was more cautious. She was after all the 'new woman' who risked her position to save other institutions such as the Open University bequeathed from Harold Wilson from the axe. She even voiced dissent with the cabinet and supported the retention of free school milk in primary schools. When it came to comprehensive education system, the speed of Crosland's reforms had led to thousands of schools had already converted and thousands more were in the process of doing so. In 1971, even Jim Callaghan also called into question the implementation of the comprehensive system, voicing concern that much was ‘lost’ in the transition. However Mrs Thatcher herself pushed for the continued conversion particularly amongst the resistant grammar schools.

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To be continued, through Callaghans 'Ruskin' speech, the 1981 Act and to 'Grammargate' and beyond.

[afleitch]

Interesting graph from ConHome. Not that these things matter as much here as they do in say the US.

Of note - Majors ratings from 1990-1992. He stays in the positive.