View all newsletters
Sign up to our newsletters

Support 110 years of independent journalism.

  1. Long reads
11 May 2007updated 09 Sep 2021 8:31am

Education

Dr Paul Ellis and Dr Ambrose Smith give us their views on the last ten years under Tony Blair.

By Paul Ellis and Ambrose Smith

Dr Paul Ellis is Head of English at University College School, Hampstead, London. Below he gives his view.

So what has Blair done with “education, education, education”? Well, in a word, an awful lot of “testing”.

Students have been examined as never before. Teachers and schools have been held accountable by a culture of “performance and assessment management”. More school-leavers have got paper qualifications. Grades are higher.

But there is too much teaching to the test, too much judgement by spreadsheet. Many teachers have – in effect – become managers of curriculum delivery, marketing skills as commodities (just as the Conservatives wanted).

While saying “education, education, education”, Blair has really meant “education: economics, economics”. Blair’s policy experiments – Sure Start, Every Child Matters, Beacon Schools, Education Action Zones, City Academies, and so on – have all been about turning us into productive capital.

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU

But who can blame him? How else can Britain give its young people the skills they will need to compete in the global twenty-first century economy?

For literature-loving humanists like me, the independent sector – or one particular school, even – has been an enlightened refuge from this brutal redefining of education. And, to Blair’s credit, I suppose, he has at least seen some good in the independent sector.

Dr Ambrose Smith is the principal of Aquinas College, an open-access Catholic sixth form college in Stockport. Below he gives his view.

I think that running a modern country is a very difficult task and, overall, I think that Tony Blair has made a pretty good job of it.

Inevitably, he has made some mistakes – most notably on Iraq. Concerning the field in which I work – education – I think that “education, education, education” has actually meant something, and there has been a substantial improvement in the resources that have been available in the further education sector and consequently in what we have been able to achieve.

Early in Blair’s period in office he was the most popular Prime Minister of modern times – according to opinion polls etc. This was in marked contrast to Thatcher who in her parallel period was the least popular. Thatcher’s later popularity was underpinned by her war in the Falklands: Blair’s popularity was undone by his war in Iraq.

I think he has been an honest leader with generally worthy motives. Iraq has been the big exception, where, possibly influenced by Thatcher’s experience, he judged that Iraq would make him more popular, not less. I think his basic instincts were less war-like and he should have followed them.”

Content from our partners
The promise of prevention
How Labour hopes to make the UK a leader in green energy
Is now the time to rethink health and care for older people? With Age UK

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU