September 27, 2011
Watershed Media Centre
Melissa Benn: School Wars
Melissa Benn, co-founder of the Local Schools Network, and part of Comprehensive Future, makes an unequivocal and passionate case for quality universal education as the embodiment of common citizenship and a common good in her new book, School Wars. From the poorest comprehensives to the most well-resourced private schools, Benn takes a forensic look at what lies behind the daily headlines: at the inequalities of the current system; the damaging impact of spending cuts; and the rise of free schools.
Making a compelling case for the benefits of a genuine academic and social mix in classrooms, Benn examines the 'politics of selection' of grammar and comprehensive schools, and the resultant 'educational apartheid'. She also explores the dangerous example of US education reform, where privatisation, punitive accountability and the rise of charter schools have intensified social, economic and ethnic divisions..
Melissa Benn is a combatant in the school wars as a mother. The daughter of Tony Benn and the late comprehensive education champion Caroline Benn, she is an energetic campaigner.
Fee: £6.00 full / £5.00 concessions.
7.30pm
Watershed Media Centre
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Bristol BS1 5TX UK
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School Wars
by Melissa Benn
The story of the struggle for Britain’s schools, and a passionate call for education as a public good.
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"Why are we following the US into a schools policy disaster?" — Melissa Benn on the charter school example
Melissa Benn, author of the acclaimed School Wars: The Battle for Britain's Education, has written an article for the Guardian tackling Michael Gove's obsession with using the American charter schools movement as a model for his breakneck paced reform of the British education system, as following a "dangerous template".
The main problem in adopting charter schools as a guide, for Benn, is that while people have heard of the American charter schools, they actually know little about their operational context and the impact they have on state schools. She unveils the true context of charter schools:
The model goes something like this: a set of new schools, apparently dedicated to radically improved education of the poor, is set up in competition to existing public provision. Heavily backed by corporate or philanthropic interests, with some working on a "for profit" basis, they are reliant on high-stakes results, strict discipline, a punitive approach to teachers and unions, and tend to have more control over their admissions, higher rates of exclusion, and to take fewer students with special needs or those for whom English is not their first language.
Meanwhile, public (state) schools, many suffering toxic spending cuts, drowning in often unjustified public and political criticism, must continue to educate anyone who comes through their gates, making the alternative new model look shinier still. Yet many still provide an outstanding education, particularly in deprived areas. Sound familiar?"
"Free schools", or segregated schools?
The creation of a "free school" system has been the lynchpin of the education policies pursued by the coalition government since spring 2010. "But what does this mean for Yorkshire schools?" asks Melissa Benn, author of the acclaimed School Wars: The Battle for Britain's Education, in an article for the Yorkshire Post.
Benn underlines that the budget cuts introduced by the government are hitting Yorkshire schools hard, particularly those situated in the most deprived areas. No fewer than 82 schools in the county have already been forced to drop their refurbishment plans. In Benn's view, government policies are creating a sort of a two-tier system, widening the gap between elite and non-elite schools:
while schools in affluent parts of the county, and selective schools such as grammars and private schools, are, unsurprisingly, doing well, many secondaries and primaries in poorer areas are still floundering.
School Wars: “an important watershed”, and the hidden costs of Free Schools
Melissa Benn's School Wars, a timely exploration of the struggle for Britain's education system, has received yet more positive reviews.
In the Independent, Phil Beadle heralded Benn's "lightness of touch" and deft irony. He concluded:
In terms of future education policy, Benn's book could well be an important watershed. It is a clear-sighted re-statement of why universal, comprehensive education is - obviously - the best option. It should, and hopefully will, be taken as a rallying call to the left
Melissa Benn's School Wars—reviews, debates and interviews
School Wars, Melissa Benn's impassioned exploration of the inequalities of our current education system, has been reviewed in the Guardian by Andy Beckett and in the Observer by Anthony Seldon.
Finding Benn's "measured tone refreshing, in a debate usually full of denunciations", Andy Beckett engaged with her position in the book:
Benn already finds the status quo - if the ever-shifting world of English education can be said to have one - alarming. With the fluent indignation of the committed activist, she writes: "Most state schools occupy an uncomfortable space between public and private; they are neither business enterprises, nor a robust public service ...