EDUCATION FOR THE GOOD SOCIETY - Support

IntroductionEducation for the Good Society is part of theGood Society project of Compass: Direction forthe Democratic Left. In contrast to Cameron’sprivatising, anti-state Big Society, the concept ofthe Good Society is rooted in equality, democracy,sustainability and well-being, providing a visionand path of transformation capable of drawingsupport across different groups in an increasinglyfragmented society.However, envisaging education as a force forprogressive change is a difficult mission because,since its formation in the late nineteenth century,mass state education has served to reinforceprevailing economic and social relations. But, atthe same time, it has contained within it visionsof a better world, not only for individuals but alsofor communities and wider society. Education forall was born out of a wide social and ideologicalstruggle and this continues to be the case today.The starting argument of this ebook is thatthe present condition of English educationresults from a hegemonic defeat of 30 years ago.Despite some rises in achievement, more teachersand the improved school buildings of the lastdecade, education suffers from an impoverishedvision, particularly in the popular psyche. BothConservative and New Labour governments,albeit in different ways, reduced education tothe search for family and personal advantage,performativity and bureaucracy.If there was ever a time for a fundamentalreappraisal it is now. In some ways New Labour’s2010 general election defeat was the ultimateignominy. Despite the opportunities offered to itin 1997, the unwillingness and inability of NewLabour in government to transform public understandingof education and other public servicesmeans that the quantitative gains of those yearsare easily reversed. The Coalition Governmenthas been setting about this at lightning speed asit imposes a traditional curriculum and extendsschool autonomy.Education for the Good Society is a vehiclefor this reappraisal because it is starting fromvision of a different kind of society to inspireour approach to educational reform. At the sametime, as Chapter 1 argues, it remains groundedbecause of a recognition that the Good Societywill emerge from the conditions we create now,building on the best we have and an educationexperience as part of a ‘life well led’. In this sense,Education for the Good Society can claim to be a‘serious utopianism’.The chapters that follow articulate in theirdifferent ways a unifying thread – the idea ofa more expansive and comprehensive visionof education as togetherness, building on andrearticulating cherished traditions. In Chapter2, ‘Historical perspectives’, Jane Martin andGary McCulloch suggest that building Educationfor the Good Society requires a long politicalmemory (not just from the 1960s onwards),which acknowledges the contribution of pastideals of liberal education, freedom, universalismand ‘educability’ to today’s struggles. A longerhistorical perspective can help with the renewal ofthe comprehensive vision, as part of a long-termprocess of change.In Chapter 3, ‘Education and fairness’, RebeccaHickman uses international research to argue forthe principle of the ‘spirit level’ – that fairnessshould be a deliberate educational act because itwill allow all children to prosper and as a resulteveryone will gain. Becky Francis in Chapter 4also addresses issues of fairness when lookingat education and gender. She reminds us thatthe education system still reproduces dominantsocial relations and has a long way to go to reflectthe agenda of equality and respect required forthe Good Society. Echoing themes from Chapter2, however, she asserts that research shows thata less differentiated school environment helpsthe progress of both girls and boys. A similartheme is taken up in Chapter 5, ‘Well-beingand education’, where Charles Seaford, SorchaMahony and Laura Stoll suggest that a profoundconcern with well-being in education helpsimprove educational achievement for all learners.Similarly in Chapter 6, ‘Education for sustainability’,Teresa Belton argues for a much moreconnective and holistic approach to educationfor all, which has as one of its central concernsclosing the gap between ourselves and the Earth.Elsewhere we have argued that democracydraws together the fundamental pillars of theGood Society – equality, well-being and sustainability.In Chapter 7, ‘Schools for democracy’,6 | www.compassonline.org.uk