Teachers Shouldn't Be Political Agents Of Social Change. They Must Nurture Intellectual Aspiration.

On this week's #NCFNewspeak, student writer & commentator Freya Laidlow-Petersen argues for an end to the politicisation of our schools and the degeneration of our education system -- where teachers too often see themselves as "agents of social change". The "decolonise the curriculum" movement is not simply a spontaneous off-shoot of this year’s events. For example, “Global Education for All” is one of the United Nations’ agendas to be fulfilled by 2030. It sounds wonderful but a closer look at what this agenda actually entails, Freya argues, reveals less of a movement to truly educate and inspire children around the world, and more of a push to standardise children with the same worldview and the same limited knowledge and capacity for independent thought. Around the world, education policy makers seem set on this course of action. Douglas Bourn, the Director of the University College London Development Education Research Centre, released a document entitled “Teachers as agents of social change”. Bourn considers politicisation to be an essential aspect of the schooling system he and other education leaders envisage – he says that “whilst there have been debates about the need for teachers not to be political, this is an impossible demand because refraining from taking a political stance is itself a political act”. He mentions the Global Teachers Award which includes activities for teachers to “measure changes in attitudes of their pupils” Freya believes it is too simplistic therefore to put the decline of our schools solely down to the notion of most teachers being left-wing. We have had “Conservative” ministers of education for the past decade, with the so-called “global dimension” being incorporated into the national curriculum from September 2013, under the former Conservative education minister, Michael Gove. For Freya, the result of this is firstly politicisation, which is the inevitable result of the gradual centralisation and standardisation of the system over the years. The other issue is the steep decline of intellectual aspiration in many schools. This decline is partly due to the limiting curricula, and partly due to certain teaching methods which have taken hold in the classroom. Our mainstream schools, Freya concludes, do not effectively nurture education, but often tend to stunt children in their cognitive ability, give them a disjointed view of the world, and withhold the joy and wonder of real learning. --------------- SUBSCRIBE: If you are enjoying the show, please subscribe to our channel on YouTube (click the Subscribe Button underneath the video and then Click on the Bell icon next to it to make sure you Receive All Notifications) JOIN US ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Web: http://www.newcultureforum.org.uk F: https://www.facebook.com/NCultureForum/ Y: http://www.youtube.com/c/NewCultureForum T: http://www.twitter.com/NewCultureForum (@NewCultureForum)