Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
For generations, we have been told that the way to move up in our society is through education. Stay in school, work hard, and you'll go far. But that's no longer true: today's young people study harder but learn less, ending up over-qualified yet underemployed. In this book, Patrick Ainley shows how education in England has been thoroughly compromised by being reoriented away from learning and toward the economy, with devastating results. Aimed at teachers and students at all levels, the book concludes by suggesting ways that schools, colleges, and universities can instead begin to contribute to a more meaningful and productive society.
Synopsis
Education has betrayed its promises to deliver upward social mobility and a brighter future. Young people study harder but learn less, running up a down-escalator of devalued qualifications to become overqualified but underemployed, unable to move forward with their lives. From primary to post-graduate schools - funny phonics through endless testing to phoney apprenticeships and the world's most costly university fees - Patrick Ainley explains how English education is now driven by the economy and politics, 'dumbing down' rather than 'wising up'. Addressed to teachers and students at all levels of learning, it concludes by suggesting how schools, colleges and universities can begin to contribute towards a more meaningful and productive society.
Synopsis
Ainley explains how English education is now driven by the economy and politics, having failed to deliver upward social mobility and a brighter future. Concludes with suggestions for positive change.