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An audit for educational disadvantage

By Valerie Yule - posted Friday, 15 August 2008


"No parents beyond this point" was a common notice even in the 70s. Many American schools now have guards, metal detectors and appear like prisons with their high security. This increases educational disadvantage, and makes quality of school life impossible. We must never copy.

We could restore resident caretakers with people-skills; somewhat similar to the past before the uninvolved and changing contract cleaners. Many had a role in informal companionship and mentoring with the lads, including informal workshop tuitions. Making pigeon-cages was one popular apprenticeship, and mending desks could be fun.

We could experiment with teacher-aides who are cheery ex-sergeant-majors with the voice and presence to monitor highly structured "Dragon Classes" that students could choose to be in on days they felt disruptive. I bet it could be popular with quite a few boys when they are reacting badly to perceived "sissiness" of kindly teachers.

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Gardens in Schools is a great movement. All young people respond well to beautiful grounds, and this is one of the great psychological advantages of many private schools. Children who have personal interests in their gardens learn to hate vandalism as well as learning resilience when it happens.

Community working parties to help with maintenance can include the children themselves. Disadvantaged children with not much academic natural ability often flourish when they can learn and show manual and trade skills.

Children with no roots or sense of belonging need schools which can provide some. This feeling is fostered by entrance halls and corridors that celebrate former students of the school implicitly saying: "See what you too can do". No school should be designed like a factory, with no child-friendliness anywhere, and no main building and entrance that proclaim, "We think schooling and these children are important".

Furthermore, students need more care to preserve the best work they do, and be able to revisit the work they have been taught. Leaving each year with a "book" of what they have done and learned, and finally leaving school with a record like that as a "citizen's handbook" could help prevent the common amnesia for all school learning, and we might not need so many ephemeral "social" TV campaigns.

The privileged private schools in leafy suburbs should be twinning, and sharing resources and experiences with schools in dusty streets that are at the bottom for students' progress and adult outcomes.

These are some of the community aspects of getting rid of educational disadvantage. Two other requirements, however, are about the questions of:

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  • why do children arrive at school already disadvantaged? How can this be stopped? and
  • what goes on in different classrooms so that it can be potluck whether a pupils learns to hate learning, or to love it?

In all three areas of a disadvantaged child's life, there is so much that could be done - 500 disadvantaged children could have a better chance for the cost of one Olympic athlete.

This change requires being ready to accompany all moaning and whingeing, and all dignified levels of discourse, with practical nitty gritty and openness to trialling innovations.

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About the Author

Valerie Yule is a writer and researcher on imagination, literacy and social issues.

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