Yandell, John;
(2005)
Let's lose the labels.
Radical Education Journal
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Abstract
Right from the start, New Labour made clear where they stood on the issue of pupil grouping. The white paper, Excellence in Schools, published within three months of David Blunkett’s arrival as Secretary of State for Education, announced the intention to “modernise” the comprehensive principle. In a move that is entirely characteristic of New Labour’s dismissive attitude to past social gains, the white paper represented mixed ability teaching as a failed experiment. The authors asserted that mixed ability had worked well in some schools but that it “required excellent teaching.” This was, apparently, a criticism – albeit an odd one in a white paper whose title might have suggested some sort of commitment to, well, excellence. (In retrospect, with the rote teaching of the NLS and the promise of education on the cheap through workforce remodelling, New Labour’s wariness of “excellent teaching” makes a great deal of sense.) “In too many cases,” the white paper continued, mixed ability had “failed both to stretch the brightest and to respond to the needs of those who have fallen behind.”
| Type: | Working / discussion paper |
|---|---|
| Title: | Let's lose the labels |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author-accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Culture, Communication and Media |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10178510 |
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