Selecting schools – Not all children are academic, so why pretend they are?
Instead of forcing all students down the same narrow academic paths, let’s realise the true potential of school choice, urges John Lawson…
- by John Lawson
If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that every child is a unique individual with their own set of needs. So it surely follows that parents deserve at least some measure of choice when selecting schools for their children to attend.
One size never fits all – especially in secondary education, when teens are about to embark on distinct career paths that will shape the rest of their lives.
Our task must be to identify and nurture children’s natural strengths and challenges as soon as we can. Leaving it to KS4 is far too late.
Loaded assertions
The ability to choose between secondary schools was the metaphorical baby thrown out with the bathwater amid the education reforms that took hold in the 1970s and beyond. I’d maintain that comprehensive schools – even excellent ones – are not best suited to all children. That’s a loaded and fiercely defended assertion tied to an ‘egalitarian’ ideology.
It’s perhaps more accurate to observe that those who excel in comprehensives would better suited to grammar schools. If they went to grammar schools instead, would that not enable other comprehensive students to place higher in their classes and gain greater confidence?
I’ve also yet to see any hard evidence of teenagers in regions where grammar schools flourish being irreparably traumatised by their ‘failure’ to be academic high-fliers. If indeed they are, then how are these children going to cope with daily setbacks that challenge us all once they reach adulthood?
We have to remember that teenagers can be incredibly resilient. Though we must also dismiss the demeaning ‘smarties vs. dummies’ mentality that some adults carelessly perpetuate. Speaking personally, I’ve never encountered a talentless child.
“We must also dismiss the demeaning ‘smarties vs. dummies’ mentality that some adults carelessly perpetuate”
Token choices
Yet even now, after decades of governments promoting the importance of parental choice in selecting schools for their children to attend, the picture can be bleak.
Two close friends of mine, with children currently in Y6, have complained to me of the token choice they have between two barely distinguishable comprehensives in their area. They apparently both provide a ‘broad and balanced curriculum’.
I would wager that their experience echoes that of many other parents across the country who are selecting schools. What if they’re uninspired by their choice of local schools because the test scores of both are historically low and their record on behaviour is troubling? What if these parents – who, after all, will know their children better than anyone – believe they’ll never find a predominantly academic timetable stimulating?
This has been, and always will be the case for thousands of teenagers. What can their local school offer them? For many teens, learning how to study, acquire skills and build self-confidence will always be more critical than grappling with GCSEs. Nothing should take precedence over learning how to love learning.
Rejuvenated schools
As a country, do we have the courage and vision to embrace change? Italian teenagers get to choose between artistic, scientific or classic styles of schooling. Germany provides opportunities to pursue apprenticeships at a far earlier stage than here. In the USA, around 70% graduate without taking public exams. Our private and outlier state schools attract plaudits aplenty; our comprehensives, less so.
I have a neurodivergent nephew, Richard. He spent four years at a reasonably good state comprehensive, yet he still can’t read. With specialist support becoming ever rarer as the years go by, he unsurprisingly became frustrated, bored, angry, and disruptive in his mainstream classes. Some students naturally enjoy scholarly endeavours. Richard didn’t.
Entering him for GCSEs was pointless, yet the school was obliged to waste valuable resources by doing so. He rarely showed up for Y11, and the LEA’s threats of legal action created unnecessary stress. For too long, narrow schooling obstructed Richard’s wider education. Despair consumed all the hopes and dreams he should have had.
Happily, he is now a respected and trusted tradesman, but only because friends and family loved and supported him. He can’t read, but loves learning. Many teens would excel in rejuvenated schools that enthusiastically embrace the arts, trades or sports. Academic work doesn’t have to shape every child’s life.
Teenagers always fare better when they appreciate and enjoy school. It’s time to boldly rethink secondary education and offer families more meaningful choices.
John Lawson is a former secondary teacher. He now serves as a foundation governor while running a tutoring service. He’s the author of the book The Successful (Less Stressful) Student (Outskirts Press, £11.95); find out more at prep4successnow.wordpress.com or follow @johninpompano
