Martin Allen TES letter 18/09/09 I’m no fan of the diplomas, but I do have some sympathy for those teachers and lecturers working hard to deliver them. Rather than being genuine alternatives, the diplomas have ended up being the ‘worst of both worlds’ mimicking the academic qualifications they seek equality of status with … Continue reading The Tories and the Diplomas
Author: Martin Allen
14-19 Education: Ten years New Labour
Martin Allen NUT Teacher to Teacher supplement Autumn 2009 New Labour has devoted considerable time and resources to reforming the 14-19 curriculum. It’s almost a decade since ‘Curriculum 2000’ when A-levels were reinvented - divided into AS and A2- and GNVQs were rebranded -first as ‘vocational’ and then ‘applied’ A-levels and GCSEs. Since then, A levels and … Continue reading 14-19 Education: Ten years New Labour
The government, the SATs and the boycott
The proposals from the Government’s’ Expert Group’ that SATs in English and maths should continue is not what campaigners expected. It’s clear that the proposed ‘stage not age’ tests outlined in the consultation document ’Making good progress’ are not ready and the Expert Group are asking for an extension of the … Continue reading The government, the SATs and the boycott
Education in and after the recession
Martin Allen and Patrick Ainley NUT Conference April 2009 With no end to the recession and unemployment rising, what of New Labour’s promises of increased opportunities for those prepared to become more qualified? The current generation of young people is not only the most highly educated … Continue reading Education in and after the recession
The Pre-U Won’t Do
Martin Allen * Proponents of Tomlinson style reform of 14-19 education may have been encouraged by last year’s announcement of new diploma lines in more traditionally academic subjects - humanities, science and languages- alongside the original 11 diplomas in more directly vocational areas[1], yet there is still no evidence of the … Continue reading The Pre-U Won’t Do
MERDS paper Institute of Education 07/02/09
From jobs without education to education without jobs. Education, economy and young people and society -an overview Martin Allen and Patrick Ainley Summary Though many Marxist writers continue to theorise the relationship between education and the workplace ‘needs’ of capital, we have argued in Education make you fick, … Continue reading MERDS paper Institute of Education 07/02/09
Diplomas offer scant hope of ending great divide
Martin Allen and Patrick Ainley The Guardian 18/10/08 http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/oct/28/diplomas
Responses to Cambridge Exams Pre-U
Martin Allen, letter, The Guardian 23/07/08 The real issue for Greg Watson (Cambridge exam chief...Guardian 22/07 http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/jul/22/alevels.gcses) is that too many young people are now passing A-levels, a qualification originally designed for the elite few. Faced with the demands of Government's 'standards agenda', teachers increasingly 'teach to test', but it is also the case that … Continue reading Responses to Cambridge Exams Pre-U
Why we need a general diploma accessible to all
Martin Allen and Patrick Ainley The Guardian 15/04/08 The government's new strategy for 14-19 follows the peak in numbers of 18-year-olds entering higher education (42.5% in 2005-06), along with those achieving two A-levels (34% in 2006). Although more than 80% remain in full-time education for … Continue reading Why we need a general diploma accessible to all
The cruellest con of all
Patrick Ainley Times Higher Education Supplement 07/02/08 Widening participation is a cruel con but the people academics fool the most with it are themselves. The government target of 50 per cent of 18-30 year-olds entering higher education by 2010 presents itself as a professionalisation of the proletariat but it … Continue reading The cruellest con of all
