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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 410] 1114. Primary education is exacting in its demands on teachers' skill, training, intellectual ability and their concern for, and understanding of, children. The importance of the job matches its difficulty. Yet, in visits to schools and from evidence from associations and individual teachers, we have gained the strong impression that primary school teachers feel that their work does not receive the appreciation it deserves, and that their standing both in the educational system and in the community at large ought to be improved. In this country their status and working conditions have improved greatly since the war: the main source of discontent is their treatment compared with that of other professions. 1115. This feeling is not confined to English primary school teachers. In most western European countries, in the USA and indeed in most parts of the world, primary school and elementary teachers feel inferior to secondary teachers and to members of other professions. Primary education is sometimes regarded as a stepping stone to 'promotion' to work in secondary education. Our own country is, indeed, unusual in having a uniform basic salary for all school teachers no matter in what type of school they teach. Elsewhere primary teachers are often recruited from different sources and trained by different methods for shorter periods of time. Salary scales are lower and emphasise a distinction which is always to the disadvantage of primary teachers. Some of the Evidence 1116. Evidence from associations and from individual teachers has been confirmed by three larger scale enquiries. Sixty-five per cent of the head and assistant primary school teachers to whom we sent our questionnaire (Appendix 1, Table G.39) thought the status of primary education lower than that of secondary education. A study by the Social Survey of undergraduates' attitudes to school teaching as a career (1) showed that less than a third of those interviewed were able to think of anything attractive about infant or junior school teaching. While the largest factor was the belief that the standards of work would make insufficient intellectual demands on graduate teachers, some held such opinions as 'you would be more like a nursemaid than a teacher with the five year olds'. (2) There was also a general underestimation of the financial rewards of teaching. The great majority believed, inaccurately, that basic salaries - as opposed to those actually earned - were different in primary, grammar and non-selective schools. 1117. We have tried to examine the strength of, and reasons for, this feeling amongst English teachers, which compares oddly with the good general reputation of primary education in this country. This has not proved easy but our attempts to answer four main questions may throw some light on the problem. The questions are: (a) What is the standing of primary school teachers in the community at large? [page 411] (b) What is the standing of primary school teachers compared with that of teachers in secondary schools?Standing of Teachers in the Community 1118. First, we believe that there ought to be improvement in the standing of teachers generally. We have undertaken no systematic enquiry in connection with this question, but we are clear that many teachers, particularly those in charge of younger children, think that their work is widely regarded as demanding meagre qualifications, or skill or application. The fact that teaching in maintained schools generally, with the possible exception of grammar schools, ranks lower socially than teaching in many independent schools or in universities and than many other professions, has effects which cannot be denied or ignored. Whether primary school teachers are particularly affected is difficult to say. There is a feeling that attendance at a university is socially as well as academically more desirable than at a college of education, and that to teach young children is less exacting than to teach older ones. Higher status may, indeed, go with membership of professions which are less accessible to the general public. This may in part be due to the generally higher esteem placed on more specialist work in the whole of society - irrespective of the level of skill and responsibility that the work itself involves. (3) The Standing of Primary Teachers Compared with that of Secondary School Teachers 1119. Although there is no difference in formal status between those qualified for work in primary or secondary education and the same basic salary scale, primary teachers sometimes feel that they are regarded as poor relations. Some of the factors which create this impression can be quite easily identified. 1120. As we show in Chapter 28, school building programmes since the war have favoured the secondary schools. Although nearly a third of primary school children are being taught in buildings completed since 1945, there are large numbers of teachers in rural primary schools and in the older parts of towns who are very conscious of the sad difference between the conditions in which they work and those enjoyed by their colleagues in the new secondary schools nearby. This may be a transitional problem, although whether the transitional period will be further prolonged will depend on the ways in which extra buildings are provided for the extended period of compulsory education. Primary education has been universal for a long time, secondary education only since the war. More new secondary schools have been necessary to permit this revolutionary change. The design of new primary school building has often been superb. But a rapid programme of improvement is needed, as we argue earlier in our report. 1121. Secondly, and perhaps most important of all, there is the size of classes, which we consider more generally in Chapter 20. Here we are concerned with the fact that the statutory figure above which classes are described as 'oversize' is 30 for secondary schools and 40 for primary schools. This is [page 412] deeply deplored by primary school teachers. The fact that if the maximum for primary classes were reduced by Regulation to 30 tomorrow it would have no immediate consequence because of the shortage of primary school teachers is not the whole point. The Regulations are taken as an official confirmation of the view that teaching a class of secondary pupils is more exacting than teaching the same number of primary school children. No educational justification for the difference in maximum size has been or, in our view, could be advanced, and it appears in no other country of which we know. 1122. Thirdly, there are big differences between the capitation and equipment allowances made by local education authorities to primary and secondary schools. (See Chapter 28.) The range of capitation allowances varies widely between authorities but the differences in range between primary and secondary schools is what is significant. While some difference between the allowances for primary and secondary schools is to be expected, the order of the difference appears to us to be quite unreasonable and to be a cause of low morale. This kind of disparity could be removed with small cost and virtually at once. 1123. The distribution of teaching posts carrying higher salaries is a matter that keenly concerns primary teachers. While the basic scale is the same, the method of calculating unit totals (described in the Annex to this chapter) affects both the scales and the numbers of teachers holding posts above the basic scale in primary and secondary schools. For example, in most cases the head of a primary school has a lower salary than the head of a secondary school of identical size, and there will be more responsibility allowances in the latter, because children of primary school age count as one unit each and children over 13 as more than one unit. 1124. The career structure favours teachers in secondary schools. It is true that the chances of a headship are four times as great for primary as for secondary teachers, but other posts above the basic scale attract more pay in large schools: primary schools tend to be smaller than secondary, while many are so small that the head teacher has to take full charge of a class. The prospects for advancement to posts carrying the highest salaries are certainly brighter for teachers in secondary schools. While less than half of primary teachers receive a salary above the basic scale, in the secondary schools about three quarters have additions to salary. Differences in the number and value of allowances reduce the attraction of primary school teaching, particularly for men who might add more stability to the primary schools. 1125. There is an unquestionable difference of status, to which we have already referred, between a degree and a non-graduate teaching qualification. The former is associated mainly with secondary and the latter with primary schools. The teachers' associations made this point in their evidence. There is a danger that the gulf between primary and secondary teachers will be widened if secondary schools are increasingly staffed by graduates from universities, and primary schools by teachers from colleges of education. The institution of the Bachelor of Education [BEd] degree may accentuate problems of status if only a minority of those taking it are training for primary education. The point is not that there is no academic difference between a degree and certificate, although as the three year course gets under way and larger [page 413] numbers enter university courses the difference in standards may be reduced. But even a good degree is no measure of teaching ability; and a qualified non-graduate may be a more useful member of the profession than a graduate. Primary teachers need reasonable academic ability and must have a thorough knowledge of such subjects as child development. Other qualities such as perseverance, ingenuity, intuition and the ability to get on with people, are also needed. It is not easy, therefore, to see what differences in salary are justified. 1126. In a period of idealism at the time of the 1944 Education Act a unified salary structure was created. It was not the unified basis but the level of salaries which could be afforded if all had to have the same rate which affected the outcome. It proved difficult to recruit graduates with good honours degrees for advanced work in sixth forms, and although differentials have been gradually reintroduced in the form of allowances, they are still insufficient, many would think, to compete with scales offered in industry to those with similar qualifications. It is particularly difficult therefore to say where the right answer lies in the matter of salaries. But the present differences between primary and secondary schools in size of class, equipment allowances and expenditure per place on school buildings seem too large. They relate in part to differences in need, but also to differences in standing. The fact that such differences are far more marked in the foreign countries that our members visited than in England does not alter the need to narrow the gap here. The Standing of Primary School Teachers in their Dealings with Local Education Authorities 1127. We made a brief survey of the status and responsibilities of teachers as interpreted by their employing authorities and exhibited by the rules made by these authorities. A straightforward analysis of the returns revealed relatively little variation between different areas, yet our observations have convinced us that substantial variation does exist. It is not so much the rules themselves that matter as the interpretation of them and, more subtly, the tone and quality of the relationship between local authorities and teachers. We are certain that these relationships have improved greatly in the last 20 years, but there is room for further improvement. We therefore put forward a number of propositions which ought to govern the relationship between authorities and their teachers. 1128. First, it is important that teachers should be represented on education committees and that primary school teachers specifically should be represented on sub-committees and advisory committees that concern primary education. Members of a committee who vote on expenditure of public money should not, of course, have a vested interest in the matter on which they are voting, but in practice it is unusual for teacher representatives to be full voting members. Apart from committee membership, it is desirable that consultation should take place whenever changes are made affecting the profession. Regular consultative machinery should be established for this. 1129. Officials of local education authorities, both administrative and advisory, should be easily accessible to head teachers and to assistants for the discussion of anything that may affect the life, work and morale of the [page 414] schools. While most head teachers who answered our questionnaire on teacher opinion thought that officials were accessible to both head teachers and assistants, only half the assistants thought that they themselves had access to officials (Appendix 1, Table G.40). 1130. Authorities should use every means to bring the knowledge, experience and ability of the profession to bear on the work of their education committees. Many authorities already do this: representative committees are consulted, and not just as a matter of form, on all major issues of educational policy such as the reorganisation of secondary education. Teachers take a leading part in in-service courses and educational experiments. We should like to see these practices extended to all areas, particularly as our proposals, such as those for the establishment of middle schools, come into effect. To realise these principles it will be necessary to ensure that administrative and advisory staff are adequate in quality and quantity: in some parts of the country they are too overburdened to do more than keep the system going. Management of schools 1131. The whole subject of school management requires reconsideration. Great care should be exercised in the appointment of school managers who should be persons genuinely concerned with education and prepared to devote time and trouble to it. There is good reason to be disturbed when only 41 per cent of the head teachers and assistants think managing bodies helpful to primary schools, while nearly 30 per cent think they are not. The rest are undecided (Appendix 1, Table G.41). A study* still in progress shows that practice in the appointment of managers for county schools varies greatly between different authorities and between rural and city areas. In the succeeding paragraphs we refer only to county schools since the research study quoted did not cover voluntary schools. While it is reasonable for some managers to be appointed on a political basis, the first aim should be to find good managers irrespective of party allegiance. In at least one area recommendations for appointments are sent back if the education committee believes that insufficient regard is being paid to relevant experience. This is the right attitude to appointments. Most authorities appoint for a specified term of office, but these are too often renewed and care is needed to ensure that there is a reasonably good flow of new appointments. 1132. In 1944 the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education expressed a strong hope that managers should be chosen so as to ensure at least some representation of parents of children attending the individual school. While the great majority of authorities believe that parents should be represented, most believe, particularly in the rural areas, that their present procedure allows for this. Only a small minority make specific provision for parent representation - usually of a parent-teacher association. The majority of chief education officers in county areas welcome the contribution which parents make. They tend to be younger than most managers and more directly *A study of school management and government in county schools is being undertaken by the Research Unit on School Management and Government, University of London Institute of Education. These paragraphs draw on their preliminary findings which are given in Appendix 13, Vol. 2 to this Report. The areas studied to date comprise of 25 county boroughs (including most of the larger ones), 27 counties and 18 Outer London Boroughs. [page 415] concerned with the issues discussed. We favour the appointment as managers of parents who have children at the school. The rules should make it clear that they must not vote on issues involving their own children. Two thirds of the managers of county schools in country areas are appointed by the local education authorities and one third on the nomination of minor authorities. Authorities at both levels should try to select managers representative of those who are most concerned with the schools. 1133. In most rural areas, individual primary schools have their own managing body. This should be the aim everywhere, although it may not always be easily achieved. In a minority of urban areas managers are appointed for a group of primary schools which may vary from 3 to 12 schools. This is permitted by Section 20 of the 1944 Education Act. We are clear that the needs of schools are best met when each has its own body of managers. But where large numbers of managers are needed, there may be a danger that many who have the time to serve will have retired from work and thus be too old to have direct experience of the problems confronting the school. There may be strong administrative arguments for grouping primary schools under a stronger body of managers than would be available to each individually. If so the groups should be as small as possible. The majority of urban areas (16 out of a sample of 25) make the primary sub-committee of the education committee the body of managers for all primary schools. This arrangement makes nonsense of the conception of school managers as friends and neighbours of a school who give it their constant interest and help, sometimes arguing on its behalf in dealings with the education authority. We deplore this practice which sometimes leads to a succession of head teachers having to wait outside the door of the room in which the managers are meeting. As a general rule, meetings of managers should take place on school premises, so as to ensure that the managers see the buildings regularly, and the condition for which they carry responsibility. Most parents, we are sure, have not the slightest idea who are the managers of their children's schools. Although the appointment of managers is a matter of public knowledge in as much as they must be confirmed by the education committee, few parents can have any idea as to their functions or of their right of access to them. The names of managers, and the nominating bodies, might be posted in a prominent place in each primary school, and also be published in the leaflets giving general information about the school which we suggest in Chapter 4. 1134. Articles of Government under which secondary schools function have to be approved in the case of county schools and made in the case of voluntary schools by the Secretary of State, while the Rules of Management for primary schools are made by local authorities without reference to the Department. The formal powers of governors are in practice greater than those of managers. These differences are largely historical in origin. (4) Since the reasons for them no longer hold, authorities should give managers the same powers, and perhaps the same title, as governors. This last change would involve legislation. Enquiries show that there are considerable differences between the function of managers and governors in most cases. The appointment of head teachers is usually made on the recommendation of joint committees of governors and the education committee in the case of secondary schools. This is less often the case with primary schools, except where managing bodies are sub-committees of the education committee. Many governing [page 416] bodies prepare annual estimates of expenditure for their secondary schools: few managing bodies do so, probably because there are many more primary schools and they are smaller. While governing bodies have the 'general direction of the conduct and curriculum of the school' (a phrase appearing in the Department's model Instrument and Articles of Government), few managing bodies have the same status or power. This may not be a bad thing for the head teacher who is then freer in his control of the school. In most Rules of Management either the reference to curriculum or the entire clause is omitted. 1135. An active and knowledgeable body of managers can be a great support to a head teacher and a useful interpreter of a school to the community it serves and vice versa. Their powers should not be exercised in such a way that they limit the professional judgement of the head teacher, and there are matters that must be left to the local authority. They can act usefully as a bridge between the Education Committee and the school, putting the case for the school where this is needed, explaining through its councillor members to the teachers and parents what the authority is getting at by some new line of policy. If local authority areas become bigger, some local representative body will be even more necessary. It will be even more important to appoint men and women of the right calibre - but if they are to be found, more power will have to be given them. It is worth noting that none of the countries we visited have anything like our system of managers, though several - the USA and Denmark, for example - have other ways of enlisting community support. 1136. Most managers are given little or no guidance about their functions, the informal aspects of school management and the general work of the school. Some are not even given copies of the Instrument and Rules of Management. Some authorities, however, produce handbooks and arrange conferences, and one even publishes a regular news letter for managers. 1137. It is laid down in the Instruments of Management produced by the Department of Education and Science for voluntary schools and by the local education authorities for county schools that a teacher may not be a member of the managing body of the school at which he teaches. This is reasonable as a head teacher could be placed in an intolerable situation if one of his assistant teachers was on the managing body of the school; but the head teacher should be fully conversant with the managers' views on the running of the school and attend all their meetings, as he usually does in rural areas, unless he is himself the subject of discussion. The managers should consult him on all points and should understand his views on the running of the school. 1138. There are a few areas where a joint governing body and managing body is established. In practice, while it might contribute to continuity between a secondary school and its contributing primary schools, the device might prove too cumbersome if there are a large number of contributing primary schools. It would be far better if these bodies had overlapping memberships. Appointment of Staff 1139. In the case of county and voluntary controlled schools the appointment of head teachers is the responsibility of the local education authority, which [page 417] may act on the advice of joint committees of managers and the education committee. The head teachers of voluntary aided schools are appointed by the managers. This is as it should be, but in both cases the merits of the candidates cannot be effectively assessed unless professional advice is sought from officials who are in a position to give it. 1140. The interviewing of candidates should not be a mere formality but a genuine part of the selection process. In one area, managers receive written guidance on the ways in which interviews should be conducted, and managers should be given some instruction in, or have some knowledge of, the techniques of interviewing. It is common practice for the chief education officer to give interviewing committees detailed advice on the appointment of a head or deputy head teacher. We do not believe that the promotion lists favoured by some authorities, on which the records and assessments of their own teachers are noted, result in the best applicants applying for posts or encourage the interchange of ideas and good practice between different parts of the country. All posts should be freely open to talent wherever it is found. 1141. Every head teacher should be given the opportunity of saying what qualities and qualifications he wants in his staff and the specific duties attached to every post of special responsibility. He should also be shown, and be able to comment on, the list of applicants and should be present at all stages of the selective process. While there will be cases in which the head cannot have the applicant he wants, his wishes should always be seriously considered. He should also be able to recommend members of his staff for graded posts, though the final decision must remain with the authority who alone can consider the claims of all applicants. As far as probationary teachers are concerned, we recognise that the authority must have some control* over first postings. Supply problems apart, the authority are in a favourable position to know which school is best able to help teachers in their first post. But the basic principle of giving teachers choice of school should be followed wherever possible. Head teachers should be consulted before first appointments are made to make sure that the newcomer fits, as far as possible; and heads should have as much notice as possible of the appointment of a probationary teacher to their staff. Powers of Head Teachers 1142. There is a good deal of evidence that heads are sometimes ignored or by-passed by authorities where they clearly ought to have a say. We give four instances. First, heads and their staff should always be consulted by local education authorities about major or minor capital works involving an alteration to the school, and be free to make comments and suggestions, not only about furniture and colour schemes, but also about basic design and layout. The most imaginative and exciting design has usually emerged when architects, with the help of the local authority, take great pains to discover how the teachers and children will use the building. *Direct control applies to county schools and, to a large measure, controlled schools: voluntary aided schools appoint their own staff (subject to certain conditions laid down in sub-section 24(2) of the Education Act 1944). [page 418] 1143. Secondly, although it is not always possible for head teachers to have complete control over the use of their schools out of school hours, particularly when dual use is common and unavoidable, they should always be consulted and kept informed. 1144. Thirdly, head teachers should always have a fund at their disposal for the immediate purchase of small articles. We are unconvinced by the arguments put forward by some authorities against this practice, and convinced by the success of those authorities who have embarked on it. 1145. Fourthly, head teachers should be allowed proper discretion in deciding the circumstances in which they themselves and members of their staffs may be occasionally absent from school. The authority is justified in laying down the general limits of this discretion, but within those limits no unnecessary formalities should be required. Similarly, educational visits need not be restricted if insurance policies are taken out which allow reasonable discretion to heads. A man or woman who cannot be trusted to use discretion about visits should never have been appointed to a headship. 1146. We have already mentioned the need for secretarial help. Some such help, together with a telephone, a typewriter and duplicating equipment, should be available in every school so that the head can devote himself to the work for which he is being paid and not use valuable time on work which would be better done by someone else. Many authorities are generous in these respects. But occasionally restrictions are of a comic triviality. In at least one area a typewriter can only be used in an educational establishment on the approval of the Finance and General Purposes Committee, except in a college of further education or for teaching purposes in secondary schools. Relationships of Heads and Assistant Staff 1147. Just as head teachers should be treated with proper respect by their employing authorities, assistant staff should be drawn as much as possible into the planning and organisation of school life. While the great majority of the head teachers and assistant teachers answering our questionnaire (Appendix 1: Table G.37) thought that assistant teachers were allowed sufficient freedom to organise work in their own classes, a substantially smaller number (though still the majority) of assistant teachers thought they were consulted sufficiently about the running of the school. The authority of English head teachers is considerable, yet there are many schools in which a free interchange of ideas exists between the head and his staff without his essential leadership being impaired. Assistant teachers should have access to managers and to local education authorities. But the important things cannot be achieved by regulations no matter how liberal. They depend on the trusting, charitable and decent human relations which characterise the majority of primary schools today. 1148. Most of what is here recommended will be taken for granted by local education authorities and teachers in areas where enlightened practices are already well established. But there are areas in which there is great room for improvement. We hope that here, too, the practices we recommend will be commonplace before long. [page 419] General 1149. Grievances about status are often strongly felt but ill defined. Many of the points discussed in this chapter, however, reveal inequitable or even downright shoddy treatment. Primary education seems always to get the worst treatment - the largest classes, the oldest buildings, poor career prospects and the most restricted professional autonomy. We want two changes. The first is the elimination of all unjustifiable differences in treatment between primary and secondary education. The second is to see the primary school take on a new status as a centre of community activity. This may not lead to an improvement in status in the conventional sense, but parents will appreciate more clearly that the education of their children is in the hands of people with professional training who need and welcome their help. The last thing we want is a status based on social distance and superiority. The status of the primary schools and their teachers should rest on the respect of those who know what they are achieving. Recommendations 1150. (i) Primary school teachers should be represented on local education committees and on the sub-committee and advisory committees that specifically concern primary education. Machinery for consultation with teachers on policy changes affecting them is desirable. [page 420]
1. Undergraduates' Attitudes to School Teaching as a Career. The Social Survey. 1965. Section X.
[page 421] Annex to Chapter 29 1. The allowances for head teachers, deputy heads and holders of posts of special responsibility are determined on the basis of the school's or department's 'unit total' or 'review average', which is a figure assessed by reference first, to the number of pupils on the roll of the school or department as on 1st January of the year concerned, and secondly, to the ages of the pupils as at 31st March following. The unit total is calculated as follows:
2. The review average of a school or department, which is calculated every three years, is the mean of the unit totals for the year of the review and the previous two years. Tables 33 and 34 show the amounts of allowances paid to holders in the different groups of primary and secondary schools. Since 1st April 1965 the following salary scales have operated for head teachers:
Source: Bumham Primary and Secondary Schools Report, 1965, Section K.
*The commencing salary of a head teacher in Group 0 and 1 schools is the salary payable to him as an assistant teacher prior to his appointment including any allowance or additional payment in respect of a post of special responsibility, other than that of acting head teacher, but excluding London allowance to which, subject to the maximum of the new scale, a promotion increase of £200 where the appointment is to a Group 0 school and £250 where the appointment is to a Group 1 school shall be added. [page 422]
Source: Bumham Primary and Secondary Schools Report, 1965, Sections M and 0.
*The l.e.a. must appoint a deputy head with an allowance of a £120 in a primary school or department in Group 2 where there are both infant and junior children.
Payments to holders of graded posts.
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