New(?) ideas in education

The leader of the Scottish Tories wants a major reform of Scottish education. She wants parents to have more of a say in how schools are run, headteachers to have more power to run their finances and local authorities out of the picture altogether. She thinks if we look at what's happening in New Zealand we might get some good ideas.

I don't want to rain on Ruth Davidson's parade, but we already know about this. About 15 years ago, we started hearing in Scotland from colleagues in New Zealand of a major reform taking place there. Schools were run by boards of parents and the headteacher. Finance, curriculum, buildings - all of it was the responsibility of those people closest to the school. There were no inspectors any more to check up on how schools were doing and no local councils to run schools' budgets.

It was music to the ears of a lot of politicians, so money was made available to the local authority I worked in to send a headteacher to New Zealand to have a look. The headteacher selected was a very sharp cookie. Very experienced. Very enterprising. Not likely to be fooled by anybody.

Off she went and came back with an interesting report.

New Zealand schools that had a strong headteacher were doing fine in curriculum terms. In financial terms, even strong headteachers could have problems: being a good school leader doesn't necessarily make you a good business person. And even a headteacher with a head for figures couldn't guarantee there would be enough money to spend on equipping a school with technology like Smartboards, iPads and digital projectors. Buildings in some cases showed signs of neglect with leaky roofs, broken furniture in classrooms and neglected playing fields.

Some schools did very well with a strong board of parents supporting the headteacher but it only took one dominant personality on the board to blow the school off course. Then you got in-fighting and factions developing and grudges being settled through the board.

Where the headteacher was less forceful or not confident in handling finance or the curriculum or even the parents on the board, things very easily went off course. Headteachers complained there was no one they could turn to for advice - no inspectors, nobody in the local council offices.

In communities where there were social problems - maybe a high number of immigrants whose first language wasn't English or a lot of parents unemployed or signs of drug or drink problems - it was often very difficult to get a board of parents together at all. Parents from these backgrounds had other priorities than supporting their kids' school. In many cases, parents lacked confidence in their ability to be part of a school board. Headteachers with no board to back them up and share ideas with felt very isolated.

As a result, headteachers in areas with social problems felt their pupils got a raw deal and were getting worse results than kids in schools in more prosperous areas. Worst of all, there didn't seem to be any way to change things.

So, 15 years ago, we came to the conclusion that, in spite of this radical 'reform' of the education system, the situation in New Zealand was no different from the situation in Scotland: where headteachers are strong and parents are doing well and have time to support their kids and the school, kids do fine. In other schools in other areas, different solutions are needed: more staff maybe or more funding or more support from inspectors or local council personnel.

So, I'm sorry, Ruth Davidson, but the New Zealand model is not the quick fix you were led to expect. And one solution does not work for all.

Besides, after 15-20 years of following this model, someone in New Zealand is probably looking at what has been achieved and planning to change the model. What's the point in copying an old idea that doesn't work very well? In fact, there are models of education that do work closer to home - the Finnish model, for example - but copying these would involve a total change in attitudes by people like Ruth Davidson. They would have to learn to trust and respect headteachers and teachers. And put children first.

In a country where education seems to be first about class and second about ideology, I can't see that happening any day now.