Education, education, education! In 1997, as I sat worry-free in the careers office at my college, Tony Blair’s words played over and over in my mind. Blair had just promised to make the British state education system the envy of the world, a place where parents would choose to send their children rather than paying for private education. That aspiration and ambition struck a chord with me and, inspired by this call to arms, I decided to become a teacher and change the world.
Three years later, I took up my first post full of hope and enthusiasm. All my dreams were met as funding continued to be poured into education. The young assistant head teacher told us to take risks in our teaching and to embrace change. We were encouraged to break away from the old way of learning, creating activities tailored to students’ abilities and choosing works that captured their imaginations.
At its height, in 2005, we ran three full classes of GCSE Drama. We created learning environments that were industrious, constructive and valuable, with students nurturing worthy skills and personal attributes that would allow them to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people in the future. Fast forward to 2019, and I am told by our new young assistant head teacher to get the students to sit in rows and work in isolation. They have noticed that the most badly-behaved don’t disturb the lesson this way.
How did we get to this? Why are we pushing those who already struggle in school to struggle further, by making them sit and work in silence? How did we go from having an education system that considered everyone and all our differences to the one that we have now? One that is designed around a few and forces everyone to fit that mould. Have we learnt nothing?
Sat in my own office, 22 years on from my careers interview, I have a lot more worries. Will I manage to fulfil basic numbers? GCSE drama needs at least half a class of students in order to be financially viable, and that is becoming difficult. I never worry about those students who graduated in 2005. They left with a GCSE in Drama and a creative education that taught them how to express themselves. But those students I’m teaching now? Those who sit in stifled expressionless rows? What impact will they have on society?
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