ALL PARTY PARLIIAMENTARY GROUPS REPORT ON SOCILA MOBILITY

ALL PARTY PARLIAMENTARY SOCIAL MOBILITY GROUP-SEVEN TRUTHS ABOUT, AND POLICY RESPONSES TO SUPPORT, SOCIAL MOBILITY

Parliamentarians report publishes a guide to help policymakers support social mobility

Comment

The All-Party group on Social Mobility was formed to “discuss and promote the cause of social mobility; to raise issues of concern and help inform policy makers and opinion formers”. Social mobility in the UK has, we know, stalled, as the Sutton Trust confirms in its research. The Coalition government is committed to improving social mobility. The All Party Parliamentary group has just published an interim report, which flags up some truths about social mobility and some possible policy responses and options. Although much of what it concludes might seem obvious its seventh truth ‘ Personal resilience and emotional well-being are the missing link in the chain’ is striking and reinforces the case being put by reformers that better support for character development , positive thinking and resilience among pupils is both possible and desirable.

The Chairman of the Group is Damian Hinds MP, and one of the Vice-Chairs is Baroness Morris of Yardley, the former Education Secretary.

The Seven Truths and the Policy responses according required:

Truth

1.The point of greatest leverage for social mobility is what happens between ages

0 and 3, primarily in the home

Policy Challenge

A massive premium on ‘parenting’ skills

Truth

2. You can also break the cycle through education…

Policy Challenge

Children must be able to access learning (school readiness; reading ability)

Truth

3. …the most important controllable factor being the quality of your teaching

Policy Challenge

Focus first on quality of teachers & teaching

Truth

4. But it’s also about what happens after the school bell rings

Policy Challenge

Find ways to level the playing field on out-of school opportunities, and participation

Truth

5. University is the top determinant of later opportunities – so pre-18 attainment is key

Policy Challenge

Reinforces importance of school years – but also raises questions about university admissions

Truth

6. But later pathways to mobility are possible, given the will and support

Policy Challenge

Find the exemplar programmes, analyse and demonstrate impact

Truth

7. Personal resilience and emotional well-being are the missing link in the chain

Policy Challenge

Recognise that social/emotional ‘skills’ underpin academic and other success – and can be taught

Link to All Party Group Report

May 7, 2012 Posted by montrose42 | Coalition Education Policy, education reform, politicians and education, Public Services Reform, Research, Youth policy | ALL PARTY PARLIIAMENTARY GROUPS REPORT ON SOCILA MOBILITY, DANIAN HINDS ON SOCIAL MOBILITY, POLICIES TO SUPPORT SOCIAL MOBILITY, RESILIENCE AND SOCIAL MOBILITY | Leave a Comment

About

Patrick Watson provides policy intelligence and analysis, with a range of other public affairs support services, to clients in the education, skills, training and guidance sectors.

He is Managing Director of Montrose Public Affairs Consultants Ltd.

He believes that the best education systems, worldwide, give autonomy to schools, rooted in their local communities, to run their own affairs. Centrally driven interventions should be kept to a minimum, and then only in inverse proportion to success. Interventions driven by short-term political agendas can, too often, be immensely damaging to learners’ interests, imposing additional costs and bureaucracy on Heads, governors and teachers, while failing to add value or to measurably improve outcomes. Sound evidence should inform both policy and practice and the system should be accountable and transparent, driven by learners interests.

Education should not be a state monopoly and there should be mixed service provision, offering a diverse range of service providers from state, profit and not for profit sectors, demand rather than supply driven. The current system too often allows producers perceived interests to prevail.

Good teachers and good teaching are at the core of the best education systems. So, recruit the best, give them throughout their careers the best training and reward their success. If teachers fail to meet the highest standards , help them to improve, or assist their exit from the profession. We owe this to our children.

The Government’s role should be limited to maintaining an enabling environment, to allow autonomous schools to thrive, to ensure proper regulation and accountability for both standards and the use of public funds, while safeguarding the interests of the most disadvantaged, including, particularly, those most at risk of exclusion.

The big question for us ,in the UK , which we have yet to resolve, is why we are so unpleasant to each other and so adversarial and polarised when it comes to educating our children ,when the truth is we share the same aspirations for them.

The views and opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily reflect those of our clients.

This site includes selected Montrose comment pieces for clients (about fifteen per cent of our comment output) extracted from different weekly reports. Our bespoke client reports, apart from the policy analysis element , include monitoring of the media, the web and blogosphere ( Web sites,blogs and Tweets), Westminster, Whitehall, the Think Tanks, Research and Non Departmental Public Bodies and international developments in education. Our reports are designed to suit individual clients’ interests and to support senior managers in making informed decisions. We also undertake commissioned research on education policy issues, domestic and international.

Apart from all this, I have a wonderful wife and family, sing, play the blues harp, tenor sax and ‘penny whistle’.

For further information:

e-mail: montrosepw@ntlworld.com

Tel: 0207 207 1435

Twitter @pwatsonmontrose

Views since 2010- over 138,000

Most popular articles:

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES AND THEIR EFFECTS ON EDUCATION

Over 4,600 visits

http://montrose42.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/multiple-intelligences-and-their-impact-on-education/

ICT AND SCHOOLS

Over 3,700 visits