 |  |
| www.dg.dial.pipex.com | 2410 readers since 25 Oct 2004 |
| |
| www.dg.dial.pipex.com | 2410 readers since 25 Oct 2004 |
Plowden (1967) Notes on the text Volume 1 (page numbers in brackets) Preliminary pages (i-xxii)
Part 1 Introduction
Part 2 The growth of the child
Part 3 The home, school and neighbourhood
Part 4 The structure of primary education
Part 5 The children in the schools: curriculum and internal organisation
Part 6 The adults in the schools
Part 7 Independent schools
Part 8 Primary school buildings and equipment; status; and research
Part 9 Conclusions and recommendations
Notes (486-495)
Research and Surveys about Plowden |
The Plowden Report (1967)
A Report of the Central Advisory Council for Education (England) London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1967
[page 377 (unnumbered)]
[page 379] 1056. Any discussion of independent primary schools soon comes up against questions which derive not so much from the nature of the education provided as from the fact that the schools exist at all. It has been urged, for example, that the existence of independent primary schools takes away from maintained schools the interest and support of some of the more articulate and intelligent parents; and that a society seeking to remove inequality in education and to create 'one nation' ought not to allow children, least of all in their early years, to be taught in schools that are cut off from the common neighbourhood school.** Against this it is argued that society should not *Independent schools cannot be classed into primary and secondary in the same way as maintained schools because they often cover different age ranges. We refer to those schools which do not provide at least a four year course after 11 (for example preparatory schools with a normal leaving age of 13) as primary schools. Those covering the primary age range and educating children to 16 or over are termed primary and secondary schools.
**Those who hold this view often quote a former Minister of Education, Sir David Eccles, who said:
'Recently I repeated that ... it would be a good thing if all, or nearly all, parents sent their children to maintained primary schools. I never gave the slightest ground for thinking that the Government would use compulsion or that any form of legislation to achieve this was in our minds ...
... It has always been the confident expectation of the maintained system that in time more parents would choose, for their own reasons, to send their children to primary schools because they themselves were satisfied that that would be the best school for their child. We have always held that as our objective.
On the other hand, if parents feel - and some of them always will - that they can secure a better education in a private school, they are absolutely right to send their children to such a school. Of that I have no doubt, if they can get a better education. My experience, however, has led me to think that a good many parents do not know how excellent some of our primary schools are. I do not think they reckon them within their field of choice. That is a pity, because when a child can get a really good education at a primary school - and that is more often so than is realised - there are additional and valuable social advantages in sending him there. I said at Brighton that small children learn and play together without any sense of difference. They make friends very easily and that this should happen among children from all kinds of homes appears to be highly desirable. I do not think there is any real difference of opinion on that in any part of the House.
It is wrong to think, as some people, I believe, imagine, that if the established middle class send their children to primary schools, that is something revolutionary, almost Socialist. It is not revolutionary at all. It is happening now and it is happening more each year. This is often, but not always, a matter of hard cash. The young salary earner in the professions or in business who has no private means and two or three children simply cannot afford the fees of the independent boarding schools. I am glad to say that one begins to hear of other parents who could afford the fees but who choose a primary school for the reasons which appeal to me.
I have had in mind these two ideas. First, I should like to encourage, for educational and social reasons, a movement that is already taking place. Secondly, I would like to suggest to the public schools that they should give the primary school child as good a chance to pass his entrance examination as a child whose parents are able to pay fees. If the public schools can do this, then the choice of secondary school for many parents will become much wider, and that must be good for the public schools and very welcome to many parents and their children.'
House of Commons, 3rd November 1961. [page 380] remove parents' rights to have their children educated as they think best, nor the right of teachers to create and run a school in which they can follow their own educational theories and practices. 1057. Because these arguments are largely political, we have not tried to draw the balance between them but only to describe briefly the general condition of independent primary education and ways in which it might be improved. Nor has time allowed us to study boarding education. Some of us see advantage in a form of education in which children leam early to be self-reliant members of a community: others are concerned at the separation brought about between the home and school life of children. We hope that the Public Schools Commission will be able to consider the arguments for and against boarding for children of primary age. 1058. Several questions are, however, raised in this chapter. How far have the independent primary schools kept pace with new developments in curriculum, method and knowledge of children's ways of learning? Ought the Department of Education's powers for the supervision of independent primary schools to be extended, or be administered more strictly? Can the central government and local education authorities help the independent schools to keep abreast of new developments? How far would such help divert manpower and other resources from the maintained system? And should staffing restrictions similar to those existing in primary schools be imposed on the independent schools? 1059. The Department of Education have shown an interest in independent education since the beginning of the century, although before the 1944 Act the Department's powers were minimal, and proprietors of a school not in receipt of grant were simply required to supply a brief description of the school in a prescribed form. Under Part III of the 1944 Act - which was not brought into force until 1957 - all independent schools must be registered. In the first instance, provisional registration was accorded to all existing independent schools: this still happens when a new school is opened. A visit of inspection follows provisional registration and if HMI is satisfied, registration is made substantive. If HMI is not satisfied, he reports to that effect to the Secretary of State who may either allow a longer period of provisional registration in order that the school may improve or he may issue a Notice of Complaint on one of four grounds:
The Secretary of State can, subject to the opportunity of an appeal to a Tribunal, close the school if his requirements are not met. 1060. In addition to registration a school may also seek to be 'recognised as efficient'. Recognition, which has existed since 1906, is granted only after full inspection by HMI. Recognised schools are automatically deemed to be registered. Their higher status makes it easier for them to recruit staff, particularly as they are entitled, unlike the staff of other independent schools, [page 381] to belong to the national superannuation scheme. Recognised schools which fall below the high standard required may lose recognition or their recognition may be made provisional for a stated period. The Incorporated Association of Preparatory Schools [IAPS] make possession of recognition a condition of membership. A list of recognised schools (List 70) is published by the Department. In January 1965 it showed that of the total of 2,762 independent primary and primary and secondary schools in England 1,188 were recognised or provisionally recognised as efficient. From now on, we shall follow normal practice by speaking of recognised schools and registered schools to distinguish registered schools which are recognised as efficient from those which are not. 1061. The number of independent schools has decreased progressively over the years. In 1861 the Newcastle Commission estimated that there were 860,000 pupils (of the whole school age range including secondary) in 'private venture' schools. In 1931 it was estimated that there were approximately 10,000 private schools containing 400,000 pupils. In January 1965 there were 256,000 children under the age of 12 (about five per cent of the whole primary age group) in 2,762 primary and primary and secondary independent schools in England. 1062. There are many reasons for the fall off in the number of pupils and schools. Improvements in maintained primary schools often lead to the withdrawal of parental support from neighbouring independent schools, with the result that some of them are unable to continue. In general, independent schools are not now very profitable undertakings and some proprietors on retirement have had difficulty in finding successors. Yet there is an exception to this trend. The number of recognised schools increases each year. In recognised schools the number of children in a given age group becomes greater as the age advances: in registered schools it becomes smaller. Many parents will send their little children to a school near home whether it is recognised or not, but as the children grow older they are transferred to recognised schools. Boys often attend small unrecognised preparatory schools until they are about eight. They then enter recognised schools belonging to the IAPS. 1063. The Department of Education recognise a school as efficient when they are satisfied that it is at least of a standard equivalent to that expected in a maintained school. There may, however, be differences in what is expected in maintained and independent schools. For example, the premises of some independent schools may not be as good as those found in post-war maintained schools but there may be compensations in the smaller size of classes. Credit is given for the competence of teachers in specific situations whether they have qualifications or not. In fact, though there are more unqualified teachers in recognised schools than in maintained schools, the proportion of graduates is much higher. About one third of teachers in all independent schools are graduates. The corresponding figure for the maintained system is about one quarter. 1064. Recognised schools must, by the rules (Rules 16) governing recognition, be of a size to permit adequate staffing, have a reasonable range of subjects and have at least a three year course. They are expected to have positive merits in all or most respects and no really serious weaknesses. Registered [page 382] schools vary from some which are just tolerable on the Department's present standards, to others approaching the standards of the recognised schools. It is often difficult to classify registered schools or to give advice for their improvement. Their fees are usually lower than those of the recognised schools, and the standard of premises is sometimes low. The proportion of qualified teachers is much smaller than in the recognised schools. 1065. Generalisations about independent primary schools are largely meaningless. Not only do the schools vary in quality but they have differing purposes. Some seem almost to exist only to preserve precarious social differences. Others are of quite a different calibre. They include the old established boys' preparatory schools which prepare boys for entrance to the public schools, and they include the preparatory departments of girls' public and direct grant schools. They include schools adopting new methods, some of which have been pioneers in educational thought and practice, and schools which make special provision for the maladjusted and handicapped or for children with special artistic gifts. In curriculum, method and handling of children they vary from the most conservative to the most advanced. Some are in beautiful and well adapted surroundings, others in poky private houses. A growing number are interested in innovation. The IAPS, which has generally represented a conservative educational view, has recently produced two reports which are full of constructive thinking. Many schools are particularly good in the activities and care they provide for their pupils out of school hours. Virtually all, of course, have the great advantage of small classes. The best of them are hard to beat. But the range is wide and many are backward in methods, poor in facilities and do not compare well with the maintained schools serving the same neighbourhood. 1066. Parents may wish to send their children to an independent school for such reasons as different methods of teaching, small classes or a desire or need for boarding education. Sometimes parents are anxious for children to attend an independent preparatory school to help ensure entry to an independent secondary school of their choice. But some parents may base their choice of school on the vaguest of reasons and on slender information and knowledge. Those who choose the independent schools simply because they are independent should realise their varying quality and, in particular, the significance of 'recognition as efficient'. 1067. To help parents decide between schools we should like to see all prospectuses state that it is open to schools to apply for recognition as efficient and what this implies. The prospectus should then state whether the school is recognised or simply registered. Legislation would be necessary to enforce this. We also think that the Department should reconsider the terms 'recognised' and 'registered', and try to devise more informative ones. 1068. So far as we can judge, the Department of Education have used their powers of registration with the right degree of firmness in the eight years since Part III of the Education Act was put into force. They had to apply pressure to the worst schools while at the same time establishing standards for registration. The Independent Schools Tribunals which are appointed by the Lord Chancellor, and not by the Secretary of State for Education, who is an interested party in the proceedings, offer protection for individual schools against arbitary judgements of the Department. A tribunal has three members: the chairman, who is always a lawyer, and two members with educational [page 383] experience. An appeal against Notice of Complaint is heard openly and the appellant may be represented by counsel. Of the 98 Notices of Complaint served between 1957 and 1964 - mainly relating to physical conditions - only 11 have led to appeal and in all of them the Department have been upheld. 1069. The time has now come when standards should be improved and criteria for registration raised. Ultimately, the sanctions available to the Secretary of State are those specified in legislation, and the basis of any Notice of Complaint is defined with some precision in Section 71 of the Education Act. More stringent criteria might require fresh legislation to allow the Secretary of State to serve Notices of Complaint which will not merely exclude the obviously bad schools but which will demand a reasonable minimum standard of premises, equipment and education. We recommend that the construction of 'objectionable' should be widened to include any conditions, physical or educational, in which children's welfare is not thought to be adequately safeguarded. It should include those schools in which the infliction of physical pain is a recognised form of punishment for children of primary school age, after the time when it is prohibited in maintained primary schools (see Chapter 19). We have even considered whether there is not a case for closing all schools which are not recognised* but this would be difficult for several reasons, not least because there are undoubtedly registered schools of higher quality than some maintained schools. Schools are constantly changing and there is a need to retain a grade for those schools which might in time become recognised. Moreover, some feel an objection in principle to extending the Secretary of State's powers in this way. We hope that more schools than at present will work towards recognition. In the meanwhile, the Department should continue to aim at the gradual elimination of poorer schools, and continue the efforts to improve the rest. 1070. As part of the move towards improvement we recommend that all head teachers of independent schools should by law have to be qualified teachers. After a date to be specified, only qualified teachers should be appointed as heads in new schools or where there is a change of head teacher. We are advised that this will have little effect on the supply of teachers for the maintained schools. For this purpose distinction will have to be made between head teachers and proprietors. This requirement, and any other specific requirements, will not themselves ensure quality; the recommendation is directed against the present situation in which any unqualified person, unless declared unsuitable, can run a school. In the longer term we look forward to the time when all teachers in independent schools have qualified teacher or equivalent status. 1071. The quality of education for the primary school child depends in the independent as in the maintained schools most of all on the quality of staff. This in turn is affected by their initial training and their success in seeking in-service training and contacts with institutes of education, HM Inspectors, local authority advisors and professional associations. The better independent schools have for a long time had contacts with those who can help them, *One of our members, Professor AJ Ayer, would like to see the establishment of a strictly enforced minimum standard below which schools would not be allowed to operate. Schools above the minimum standard could be graded accordingly to quality. [page 384] in particular through activities arranged by the Incorporated Association of Preparatory Schools. But the worst schools and teachers, as in the maintained system, are rarely concerned to improve themselves. The one certain and useful point of contact with the outside educational world for all independent schools is HM Inspectors who have the sole right and duty of access and have behind them the sanctions deriving from their power to recommend registration or recognition. HMIs' visits have over the years been increasingly directed towards informal and constructive discussion rather than inspection in the strict sense of the word. We have, however, to recognise that there is a limit to the number of visits that HMIs can make and to the help that can be given by overburdened local education authorities. 1072. We thus return to a conclusion which appears constantly through the report. There must be a major increase in in-service training if all schools are to keep abreast of new developments and if individual teachers are to get the professional and intellectual refreshment that they need. We hope that providers of courses, the Department, the local education authorities and the colleges and institutes of education, will do their best to find places for teachers from independent schools and that these schools will be ready to release their teachers to attend such courses. But the independent schools must develop and strengthen their own resources. We have been much impressed by what we have learned about the schemes of in-service training run by the IAPS, but there is little work of this kind for independent schools outside this body. Many independent schools belong to no association. It is time that this isolation came to an end and that all schools had access to the means of professional improvement. 1073. We would also like to see initiatives taken by individual teachers and schools to break down barriers between schools that often serve the same neighbourhoods. There should be regular interchanges and visits between pupils and staff of the different types of school, joint exhibitions of work, school plays and 'friendly games'. In one area, sports and games associations, a primary schools' choir, orchestra and brass band and many other activities are common to both kinds of schools, and teachers from independent schools attend courses organised by the authority. The local authorities might help independent schools, as the 1944 Education Act permits, by making the School Health Service more easily available to them. 1074. Some of our witnesses suggested that the Secretary of State should take powers to control the number of teachers employed in independent schools in order to align their staffing standards with those in comparable maintained schools. The aim would be to make more teachers available for the maintained schools, particularly scarce teachers of subjects like mathematics. We have considered carefully whether it would be practicable to devise such a scheme and what effect it would have. 1075. Any such scheme would need to take account of the main factors, such as the number and age range of its pupils, which influence the staffing standards of a maintained school. It would also need to allow for the residential responsibilities undertaken by teaching staff in boarding schools, including duty at weekends. Because of the wide variations among the independent schools, the scheme would need to be quite elaborate if it were to [page 385] achieve what was intended. It is almost certain that schools would have to be compelled rather than persuaded into the scheme. 1076. If present staffing standards were aligned in the maintained and independent schools, both primary and secondary, we estimate that independent schools would be required to surrender about a quarter of their teachers - that is about 8,000. If they all found their way into the maintained schools, this would be a useful accession to their teacher force. But they would not all be acceptable for permanent employment in the maintained schools; for this purpose, a teacher needs to hold 'qualified teacher' status, and it is estimated that at present about one third of all teachers in the whole independent sector, that is, about 12,000, would not qualify for this status. There is another implication. The scheme might prescribe, in addition to a total staffing complement for each independent school, a limit to the number or proportion of qualified teachers which the school could employ within that complement. But any such rule would have quite different effects on individual schools, some of which may have no qualified teachers at all while others may have as many as 90 per cent of their staff qualified. It could not be justified by reference to the principle of comparability with the maintained schools, where 97 per cent of the total teacher force is qualified. Nor can it be assumed that all teachers released from the independent schools would take posts in maintained schools even if they were qualified to do so. 1077. In short, while it is possible to envisage a scheme of the kind suggested, it would be administratively cumbersome, would generate much friction and, indeed, hostility between the maintained and independent sectors, and would jeopardise the continued existence of many independent schools - with no guarantee whatever of a substantial staffing benefit to the maintained schools. Such a measure would also be a negative one. The Secretary of State has a responsibility for improving all sectors of primary education and his aim should be to improve maintained schools and to encourage the less good independent schools to improve themselves rather than to establish measures that will merely harm the better independent schools. 1078. We have been conscious of the need to avoid a diversion of resources from the maintained system in order to improve the independent schools. This concern for the state system should not prevent us helping and persuading the independent schools to profit from the benefits of the recent thinking that has done so much to improve the curriculum of the best maintained schools. Our aim, simply, is better primary education, everywhere. Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations 1079. (i) The Department of Education and Science should consider taking steps which would require all independent schools to state on their prospectuses whether the schools were recognised or registered and what this implies. The Department of Education and Science should reconsider the terms 'recognised' and 'registered' and try to devise more informative ones. [page 386] any conditions, physical or educational, in which children's welfare was not thought to be adequately safeguarded. 
|
