| Abstract |
A powerful and thought-provoking polemic arguing that large numbers of white working-class children are being failed by an education system unwilling to acknowledge the negative impacts of prevailing attitudes, and the current national curriculum. White working class girls and boys are the worst performing group in secondary education - 220,000 failed to get 5 good GCSEs in 2006. Ex Teacher of the Year Philip Beadle believes fundamental change is urgently needed if these children are to reach their full potential and the former head of inner-city secondary Islington Green, Trevor Averre-Beeson, explains how even the language in which teachers speak to children undermines the confidence of this group. Paul Grant, the proudly working-class Head of Robert Clack, an east London comprehensive, describes the radical changes which have turned his school around, while Labour MP and Robert Clack governor, John Cruddas, offers his political perspective on this major educational issue. |
