The Education Continuum

Schools for the Future Europe: Values and Change beyond Lisbon - Guest Post by John Sayer

Two lively meetings in Oxford and London marked the launch of this timely and challenging book, with panels of chapter writers joined by a hundred colleagues to share proposals and initiatives for the European dimension in schools, across a spectrum of cultural heritage, knowledge, school curriculum and language learning. The book is particularly critical of English habits of narrowing learning and throwing away the right to a general education throughout school, and commends broader European alternatives.
 
Speakers were united in condemning the current drift in English schools towards fearful competition for survival, mechanistic box-ticking for the measurable, and confining education to the dictates of successive governments which have seized control of every aspect of schooling without knowing what to do with it. They insisted on the common underlying values which have brought together the 47 countries of the Council of Europe, to co-operate on democratic citizenship, human rights and responsibilities, on reducing xenophobia, on the rôle of language learning and exchange opportunities, the tracing of a multicultural heritage, and above all on initiatives starting from home and school and not waiting for national government requirements.
 
On both occasions, speakers then fielded a lively wide-ranging debate which continued informally and was seen as a prelude to concerted efforts to ensure that young people have access to the common heritage on which to build their future together. 
 
‘Many thanks’ writes one of many, ‘for such a stimulating and useful discussion about our shared commitment to ensuring schools across the country are taking advantage of the enriching and creative international dimensions of language’.
 
The book, introduced with the purpose of being sound, informative, readable and challenging, is perhaps the first to start from and focus on the European dimension of school education, with recommendations for an achievable programme of good practice. It features in the current magazine of the European School Heads Association, and the panel discussions will be taken to forthcoming conferences.
 
Schools for the Future Europe is edited by John Sayer and Lynn Erler and was published on 8th March. 

Anna Fleming, Publisher

Leading the Sustainable School

Since the powers that be have announced yet another delay to the new Curriculum, we are faced with another wait, and the frustration is palpable. But it is at times such as this that we are reminded of the importance of strong leadership and shared vision in our schools, to keep things afloat when the seas are rough and the skies are looking foggy. I for one hope that our Education Secretary will be reading Debra Massey’s book Leading the Sustainable School over his morning coffee in Whitehall. The story of Howe Dell’s journey from failing to fantastic does make you wonder how it could ever be in any doubt that real change comes from those working in the schools themselves. Howe Dell’s relevance comes not only from its Education for Sustainable Development curriculum as the government pledges to make this the ‘greenest government ever’, but also because it serves as an example of a flourishing modern school whose success has grown from a shared vision and belief in multi-agency working, where Heads facilitate the skills and talents of their staff, and leaders can be found at every level.

Complete with companion website, Leading the Sustainable School is both a source of inspiration and practical guidance for sowing the seeds of change and growing leadership from within, and its lessons will be enduring whatever the future might bring…

Rosie Pattinson
Editorial Assistant

Born to Learn

A source of constant frustration for many teachers, are the reams of guidelines, inspection criteria and advice which lapse into lengthy, indecipherable discourse. Information is more available now than in has ever been – the latest research is disseminated within minutes via online newspapers and comment is free. How are we to devise and implement an effective model for education amidst so many conflicting findings and views?

This was the question on John Abbott’s mind when looking back over 20 years worth of research from the 21st Century Learning Initiative into the relationship between format schooling and informal learning outside of the school gates. The answer has come in the form of a series of short, thought-provoking animations, narrated by British actor Damian Lewis and aimed, quite simply, at getting straight to the point on educational issues.

For John Abbott, the “crisis” of education has not arisen simply from bad teaching, but from the failure of the wider community to engage and nurture the imaginations of young people. It is rather more a crisis of society’s committment to young people and their individual idiosyncracies and spiritual needs. The result is an education system in desperate need of finding ways to ensure creative energy is nurtured, and young people come out with confidence, a forward-thinking attitude and the ability to think outside the box and adapt to an ever-changing world in which following in the footsteps of your parents and teachers might just leave you floundering.

But John Abbott needs little help in stating his claim. Born to Learn - http://www.born-to-learn.org/ - takes the theories behind Abbott’s best-selling book Overschooled but Undereducated: How the crisis in education is jeopardizing our adolescents, and turns them into short and accessible nuggets of thought. No legislative provision, he argues, which is not fully understood by the people, will ever effectively reform an outdated system. The animations are aimed at summing up years of research and turning them into a Call to Action – a creative solution for unlocking the creative potential of future generations.

Rosie Pattinson

Editorial Assistant

TES Education Show 2010, Friday 1 & Saturday 2 October, London Olympia

If you are speaking at the show or attending as a delegate, please come and say hello! We will have a stand this year (B42 in the National Hall), and it would be lovely to put some faces to some names, and receive some feedback on our books.

I'll be there on Friday and Saturday, although on Friday I won't be on the stand much. On Friday you can meet our new Editorial Assistant, Rosie Pattinson; our new Marketing Executive, Kayleigh Chalcroft; and David Avital, who is covering Anna Fleming's list while she is away on maternity leave (Anna had a lovely healthy little boy last week). David and Kayleigh will also be there on Saturday.

We'll have a range of books available to buy at a special discounted rate, including the brand new edition of Getting the Buggers to Behave by Sue Cowley, and we'll be giving away some promotional USB sticks and teddy bears, so get there quick to avoid disappointment!

Some Continuum authors will be speaking at the show: Brian Male, CEO of the Curriculum Foundation will be leading a seminar called 'A Curriculum for the 21st Century' at 12.30 and one entitled 'Curriculum Creativity' at 3.30 on Friday; Patrice Baldwin, Chair of National Drama and International Director of Drama for Learning and Creativity (D4LC) will be talking about 'Drama in and Across the New Primary Curriculum' also at 12.30 on Friday; Fintan O'Regan, Behaviour Management Consultant will be discussing 'SF3R: A Formula for Behaviour, Learning and Life' at 11 and 'The Language of Learning' at 2 on Friday; and June O'Sullivan, Chief Executive of London Early Years Foundation will examine 'Leadership in the Early Years: Making a Difference' at 11 and 'Why Intergenerational Practice is the Way Forward for Children's Centres' at 3.30 on Saturday.

I hope to see some of you there!

Melanie Wilson
Commissioning Editor (Professional Education)

Tomorrow's Primary Schools

Following last week's announcement that the new primary curriculum for England is now available online, it is great timing to be publishing Richard Gerver's new book Creating Tomorrow's Schools Today: Education - Our Children - Their Futures.  Following his experience in leading the now internationally recognised Grange Primary school, he outlines his vision of a creative and dynamic learning community best able to prepare our children for their futures. A paragraph from Ken Robinson's foreword sums up his approach: "Each school is different and every child is unique. Consequently there isn't a single model of this new paradigm of education that will work everywhere. That's the whole point of this book. The task for educators is to apply these principles creatively with their own communities, to find what works best in their own here and now. It's the only approach to education that really works, and the only one that ever has. In this passionate, first-hand account of one teacher's and one school's journey, Richard Gerver shows both why and how this is true."  Read Sir Ken Robinson's foreword, the preface and first chapter here.

Anna Fleming
Publisher