Imagine the UK education system is a necktie. Our students arrive to receive their education and some are wearing a shirt and smart trousers. They put on the tie and it works, it’s great for them.
But what about the ones who turn up in board shorts and flip-flops? We put the same tie on them, and it just doesn’t work with the look. It’s a little bit absurd. But instead of saying to those students, “maybe this tie just isn’t right for you”, we say “sorry, but you have to change who you are to adapt to this system”.
Just like the necktie, our current education system is rooted in the rigidity of the Victorian era. At that time, those of high birth or high office took it upon themselves to set the standards and expectations of the masses, in accordance with their own social and cultural values.
As schooling became more widely available, it was these same great and good who wrote their own narrow definition of what constituted a high-quality education, prescribing the texts and knowledge that in their eyes would bring about the required edification and improvement of young Victorian scholars.
“Those of high birth or high office took it upon themselves to set the standards and expectations of the masses.”
Of course, many of these texts still appear on exam syllabi two centuries on. But today, when thankfully the vast majority of the population can now read and write by the age of about eight, is making it to the last page of Wuthering Heights still a useful measure of intelligence?
Does that experience develop the understanding and the skills needed for success and happiness in the current age? When you take a closer look, so much of our current education system is based in stereotype and an outmoded social and cultural value system that is about as absurd today as pairing a necktie with board shorts.
The way forward is to take a more individualised approach to education, to ensure that each student develops the knowledge, skills and attributes that will prepare them for their own version of happiness and success in future life.
“The job of the educationalist is to dismantle the barriers to learning and development that have been built over centuries.”
This requires a delivery that is sensitive to every student sitting at every desk in every classroom — the blend of culture, ethnicity, gender identity, family circumstance, economic background, characteristics, talents and interests, strengths and weaknesses, that blend together to make each one the unique, complex and valuable person they are.
With this in mind, it is the job of the educationalists to dismantle the barriers to learning and development that are built by centuries of bias, unconscious but systemic, and born out of a lack of empathy and consideration for the needs and sensitivities of others.
For teachers, this means moving out of your comfort zone and critiquing yourself and your teaching. This can be a challenge, particularly for those who are used to their methods being praised and many of their students succeeding within the current system.
Rather than colleagues seeing this as negative criticism, they can be encouraged to see it as a positive — the aim is to become self-reflective and to put a magnifying glass on areas of the system where unconscious bias is shutting the door on some students; or even one.
My colleagues at Felsted School are making small but significant changes, and the students see those too. The first slide of a PowerPoint presentation introducing a creative writing project previously showed the covers of books that all focused solely on white characters, before being amended to represent more of a range of ethnicities. You could say it was only an insignificant holding slide, but it may be significant to one student.
“To create an education that is truly welcoming to every individual requires the whole school to be on board.”
Teaching staff are now less likely to make generalised assumptions about prep or homework expectations. They give greater consideration to each student’s level of organisational skills, the resources available to them, or their home life — boarders whose parents are separated may have three homes. So being more conscious of that student’s personal challenges — even remembering where the right books are — is important.
To create an education that is truly welcoming to every individual requires the whole school to be on board — students, parents, teaching and non-teaching staff, governors and the wider community. But it’s a very positive message — it’s about taking care of each other, putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and considering how even small changes can make a difference.
Erasing the unconscious bias that currently sends some students the message that they are not integrated, not successful, will enable them to feel comfortable in an education system that finally fits them, and allows them to come up with their own definition of success in education, and succeed.