EDUCATION FOR THE GOOD SOCIETY - Support

1 See for example B. Simon, ‘Caneducation change society?’, in B.Simon, Does Education Matter?,Lawrence & Wishart, 1985,pp.13–31; and chapter 4 in G.McCulloch, The Struggle for theHistory of Education, Routledge,2011.2 Simon, ‘Can education changesociety?’, p.28.3 See for example J. Purvis,Hard Lessons: The Lives andEducation of Working-class Womenin Nineteenth-century England,Cambridge: Polity Press, 1989; andC. Dyhouse, Students: A GenderedHistory, Routledge, 2006.4 I. Grosvenor, AssimilatingIdentities: Racism and EducationalPolicy in Post 1945 Britain,Lawrence & Wishart, 1997.2. Historical perspectivesJane Martin and Gary McCullochIdeas about education for the good society havebeen expressed and debated for thousands ofyears. It is vital that current discussions abouthow to develop these ideas for the future recognisetheir historical significance, and that they shouldseek to build on the legacies of the past in aconstructive but critical way. In this short chapter,we aim first to discuss some general issues abouthistorical perspectives on education and then todevelop some specific historical examples of theways in which education can seek to promote thegood society.New perspectives on education historyHistorical perspectives should remind us that weshould not idealise the past. The work of BrianSimon a generation and more ago documentedthe social inequalities and differences that havebeen endemic in our modern system of schoolingsince the nineteenth century, rather than simplythe last three decades. These inequalities wereinitially framed mainly in terms of social class,and these remain well entrenched today. Simonobserved that in the English context, the nationalsystem of schooling had been established inorder to reinforce existing social and economicrelations, but had itself become a site of conflict. 1He did not expect education systems with sucha historical background ‘to act directly andimmediately to transform that society – sayin a socialist direction’. 2 Such initiatives ascomprehensive education should not be judgedor evaluated by their success or otherwise inachieving such a change. Rather, according toSimon, it was the long-term outcomes overdecades and even centuries that were of greaterimportance, and in this sense he was confidentthat education could change society.The research that has followed over the past40 years has extended this analysis furtherto reveal other types of inequality based forexample on gender, ethnicity, locality, urbanityand disability. It has highlighted the educationalstruggles of working class girls and women andthe historical aspirations of women for accessto higher education. 3 It has also increasinglydrawn attention to the inequalities surroundingeducation for ethnic minorities 4 and otherdisadvantaged groups in society such as disabledpeople. 5 No prescription for change can bemeaningful that fails to understand and takeinto account the historical features of the issuesinvolved, because it will mistake the problemsof the current period as the causes rather thanthe symptoms of deeper and highly resilientcharacteristics of our education and society.At the same time, historical perspectivesshould also remind us that ideals of educationfor the good society have been embedded intheory and practice in this country throughoutthe past two centuries. We have a rich heritage ofexamples for us to draw on and to build on fromour own history, which reach across the politicaland social spectrum. These should be a vitalresource for us in visualising potential changeand developing route maps for the future.In the nineteenth century, for example,educators advanced ideals of ‘liberal education’,which were intended to promote humanevalues and civic awareness. Drawing on theideas of the ancient Greek philosophers Platoand Aristotle, these sought to emphasise themoral and social relationships of education andexpressed profound ambitions for education andits implications for the good society. Thomasand Matthew Arnold, Cardinal Newman, JohnStuart Mill and T.H. Huxley were among thebest known of these educators, and their keyworks remain relevant to today’s debate. Theyneed to be understood in their historical context,in relation to the inequalities and divisions ofnineteenth century society, which encouraged theemergence of a group of privileged and powerful‘public schools’ while delaying the developmentof a national system of compulsory schooling.Nevertheless, the ideals of these educators arefundamental to education for the Good Society;indeed, education for the Good Society cannot beadequately understood without reference to them.In the twentieth century, too, progressive idealsof education for the good society were widelyexpressed in a changing social and political contextby educators including R.H. Tawney, A.S. Neill,Fred Clarke and Bridget Plowden, among manyothers. Again there were many compromises14 | www.compassonline.org.uk