Academisation failing to boost miserable standards in the North

My last post - and I'm going to be controversial here - I think it's actually somewhat abusive to try and indoctrinate teachers (and society) into the belief that schools alone can reverse the effects of socio-economic deprivation.

The dynamic is similar to that of an abusive relationship and the actual, real effects are quite abusive, with (quite often) actual, real bullying.

And not just of teachers, either, but children, too. Anyone seen the interview with the Northern academy Head who espouses a 'Zero Tolerance' policy? He lays his cards on the table and comes out against SORAs.

There's something really strange about this 'Breaking News', though.

Teachers have been pretty much beaten over the head with the propaganda that they - all by themselves - can counteract massive socio-economic effects.

The result of that is that real teachers in these academies will have been set unreachable targets for their pupils and almost certainly had to endure meetings where they were asked to explain what they were doing to help the children meet them - or, more probably, what it was they weren't doing because the children weren't reaching those targets.

Gaslighting on a massive scale. Those teachers, being real people, knew (we all know) that schools and teachers alone can't counteract massive socio-economic situations but they were being asked to go along with a crazy propaganda that they - and they alone - could make the difference.

Ambition for your students is great, drive to improve the outcomes of your pupils is great - but a propaganda that ends up holding schools (and teachers, actually) as the means of change ends up being punitive in the extreme.

Maybe the wheels are finally falling off the propaganda machine?

Kazzy Investment in those areas - the wide-ranging economic and infrastructure investment needed - would be massively, massively expensive and I doubt you'd ever see self-sufficiency (the investment ceasing to be needed because the areas generate enough in corporation tax, etc.). It's been left largely to the private sector, with minimal incentives to encourage firms to set up.

Economically, the direction of travel has been to the South East for a very long time. If you were a business, would you set up where other businesses are, where you can recruit easily, etc., or somewhere where all of that is difficult?

A change of policy in this area would require a massive shift in mindset and massive funding - which is not going to be available post-Brexit.

Personally, I think I'd quite like it but ... it would require a huge level of taxation, for a start. That's why government interventions have been so ineffective, so far. There is a real unwillingness to discuss the real cost (and then the benefits) of such a policy decision being undertaken with any kind of effectiveness.

And there is also a big issue about setting up business centres in economically deprived areas. Coventry is an interesting example of this. It has managed to build quite an industry based on Higher Education and car design. It's quite a specialised centre for that - and the specialisation is part of the success. However I suspect a lot of people in Coventry possibly feel alienated by this, even colonised. Does it lead to an increase in their employment and educational opportunities? Well, yes, but very indirectly, and in ways that aren't as obvious as the influx of students from around the world, who seem privileged, and the sight of the university buying up a lot of buildings (for the education of these students).

A really imaginative approach to investment needs to be undertaken, so that people understand and want that 'regeneration' - rather than feel oppressed by it.

Mind you, I don't know why I'm even discussing it - it's so utterly unlikely to happen. Particularly on the scale that is necessary.

Noble, Justine Greening may be from Rotherham, but she now lives (I assume) in Putney. I'm from the north-east, but I now live in London too. And that is the problem. There is a well trodden path of graduates moving from north to south, which drains the north of teaching talent and aspirational parents. Academisation was never going to fix that.

So, fix the north-south economic divide and education will improve in parallel. It's a bit chicken and egg, but at the moment a large proportion of the eggs are being transported south before hatching.

It's interesting, for sure.

An immediate thought is that perhaps it indicates that schools alone cannot do all the heavy lifting. Wider socio-economic circumstances play a huge role in attainment. So, not only do wider socio-economic circumstances impact on educational attainment, schools (all by themselves) cannot ameliorate that effect.

I'll bet attainment is higher in patches of the North and Midlands where there are employment prospects and investment.

And I really am a firm believer in 'throwing money at the problem' - don't care what the data says! I don't believe in pulling educational funding from areas that are doing well (if it aint broke, don't fix it) but a massive educational investment in the areas that aren't doing so well (and creative investment, so that teachers aren't ending up with incredible attainment goals and a punitive workload) would be a start.

Is it that no one knows what to do about the North or that no one cares?

It's not just education. It's also transport, healthcare, business & enterprise - everything really. Govt is London-centric and seem to have given up on "the north" except for the vanity projects in Liverpool, and certain other "preferred" Northern cities. Govt ministers simply don't understand the problems which is exactly why the North voted for UKIP and Brexit - i.e. voting for a change of the ping-pong between London based main parties.