tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post4766462932342923149..comments2024-02-26T00:59:26.907-08:00Comments on Ana the Imp: The Past is a Foreign CountryAnastasia F-Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-41514906734963080202010-05-31T16:44:27.437-07:002010-05-31T16:44:27.437-07:00:-)):-))Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-86219001510726412712010-05-31T15:38:11.753-07:002010-05-31T15:38:11.753-07:00Not to worry at all, Ana. It's not as though y...Not to worry at all, Ana. It's not as though you have 24 hours to save the NHS or anything :-) There is after all always time for education, education, education--a promise he cared about so much he broke it thrice.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-61530481569909772732010-05-31T15:36:31.050-07:002010-05-31T15:36:31.050-07:00Gosh, Adam, it's taking an age to catch up.Gosh, Adam, it's taking an age to catch up.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-89727855676076911352010-05-27T17:48:23.531-07:002010-05-27T17:48:23.531-07:00Jolly good--there's another too you may enjoy,...Jolly good--there's another too you may enjoy, a reponse to an older one of yours.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-88858329146170873042010-05-27T17:44:35.979-07:002010-05-27T17:44:35.979-07:00Thanks, I'll have a look. Not now -It's t...Thanks, I'll have a look. Not now -It's too late and I'm tired!Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-91687837930947416252010-05-27T15:55:12.093-07:002010-05-27T15:55:12.093-07:00Ana,
It's something you ought to look into. G...Ana,<br />It's something you ought to look into. Grammar schools were/are the state equivalent of public schools. I've written much about this--let me try and find you the link. http://agonenation.blogspot.com/2010/05/education-delusion.html<br />See what you think of that. Between Grammar schools and public schools, no deserving clever boy or girl was bereft of a proper education. Today only public schools remain--till they're forcibly abolished by some post-Marxist ideologue waiting in the wings, that is.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-35804954432528158502010-05-27T15:50:06.463-07:002010-05-27T15:50:06.463-07:00Thanks, Adam. To be honest I've never given t...Thanks, Adam. To be honest I've never given the Butler system that much thought. I certainly approve of streaming, and nurturing the brightest and the best, though the grammar school for me is a rather abstract ideal, something I can approve of in principle without necessarily understanding the full implications. My experience, as you know, was quite different.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-11549671103083830312010-05-27T11:54:58.134-07:002010-05-27T11:54:58.134-07:00A very good analysis, I just hope you don't di...A very good analysis, I just hope you don't disparage the Butler Tripartite System. It was the best form of state education seen anywhere in the world. Grammar schools should be supported and increased. Intellect is paradoxically a rather autocratic, or even tyrannical phenomenon, and thus nurturing it democratically is rather misplaced. Perhaps this is why, at one point in their lives, most clever people flirt with some form of tyrannical exaltation, though most soon move on...some...not all. In education there can be no equality without the prerequisite of diversity in educational styles to fit the a priori aptitudes of various individuals. The Butler Act recognised this, and didn't try to run from reality as the horrid Wilson had.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-19029170320288835732009-11-23T16:14:02.025-08:002009-11-23T16:14:02.025-08:00Wildgoose, I'm so, so sorry; I removed your co...Wildgoose, I'm so, so sorry; I removed your contribution by accident when I intended to remove mine because of a spelling error. Luckily I was able to retreive it from my inbox, thought it now looks as if I wrote it!<br /><br />Anyway, it's a first class contribution, some things I was not aware of about the post-war education system.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-58328498830534433872009-11-23T16:11:25.410-08:002009-11-23T16:11:25.410-08:00There were actually three kinds of school. Grammar...There were actually three kinds of school. Grammar Schools for academic kids, Technical Schools for bright kids of a more practical rather than cerebral bent and finally Secondary Moderns to ensure that everyone left education numerate, literate and with all the basic skills they would need in life.<br /><br />Although it was a Comprehensive when I attended it, my old school was originally a Technical School.<br /><br />The biggest problem was the failure by post-war governments to build enough Technical Schools and instead taking the cheap option of just filling up the Secondary Moderns.<br /><br />In other words, the failure of the Grammar School System was actually the failure to properly implement the system.<br /><br />There are some Secondary Moderns still surviving. Interestingly, they get better exam results than "Comprehensive" schools.<br /><br />However rather than looking to improve a working system, Labour (and the Tories) instead implemented a "Year Zero" approach of just tearing everything up and starting again. I remember reading that the Grammar School system meant that we had the highest social mobility for bright kids from poor backgrounds in the whole of Europe - by far. (It was something like 3 times the next best in Europe).<br /><br />Now we have a "Comprehensive" system that selects not on the ability of the child but rather on the ability of the parents to afford the houses in the catchment areas of the best schools.<br /><br />Social mobility has largely collapsed, and for that we can blame Labour and especially Tony Crosland MP who pretty much succeeded in his aim of "closing down every fucking grammar school in the country". <br /><br />Contribution by WildgooseAnastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.com