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News / New Term, Tough Curriculum

New Term, Tough Curriculum

Blog / Director's blog

F&BF Communications

04 / 10 / 24

Phil Champain, Director

As the school gates open for a new term, we are thinking a lot here at F&BF about the challenges facing pupils and teachers. Exam results from the summer will be mixed, as will experiences at home. For some, there will be eagerness to get back to the rhythm of learning and teaching. For others, there will be reluctance and anxiety in the face of the educational challenges ahead.

We all share, I am sure, the hope that school education will improve the prospects of young people and set them on the road to a fulfilling adult life. However, the recent State of the Nation 2024 report from the Social Mobility Commission reminds us that ‘The percentage of children living in relative poverty in the UK (after accounting for housing costs) has risen since 2012 and is at about 30%. It is… much higher than historical levels from the 1960s and 70s.’ Almost one in three children are living in poor households. This is the context in which schools are run – where school pupils (and teachers) are rooted. We bring our experiences to school and part of the teacher’s challenge is to engage with this experience.

This context is also significant given the worst rioting and unrest on the streets of some of our cities and towns in a generation. Over the summer we have witnessed violence and racism that put many in fear of their lives. Whether school pupils were directly caught up in the riots or not is immaterial: the prevalence of social media will have brought it to their attention, along with the persistent racist tropes that pollute our media. This racism, along with the long term impacts of austerity that have ‘stripped away the social infrastructures of communities and robbed them of core public services that enable them to live convivial local lives’ are tough subjects. Like the impacts of conflict in the Middle East, they are difficult for schools to handle. How can F&BF help?

Over the summer, our education team has been talking with teachers and those in communities affected by the issues above. They have pulled together Sensitive Issues – Supporting Students with Skills for Dialogue . These resources cover setting up an inclusive, safe and managed environment to have difficult conversations; developing empathy and critical thinking; and how to ask questions in ways that will engage others rather than harden positions. Students are encouraged to reflect on what they think about the riots, what others might think, and what events might have shaped different attitudes to the riots in society. As well as engaging heads (knowledge) and hearts (emotions), the resources also encourage students to draw on their experience of how communities have responded practically to the riots (active citizenship).

Our faiths, beliefs and cultures are central to these questions. They shape our identities and provide us with frameworks and rituals that forge our values and how we relate to others. They can be powerful forces for building solidarity and resilience. They can also be instrumentalised for political gain and fuel the hardening of positions. It was Muslims and people of colour who were targeted by the organised violence over the summer. Jews continue to suffer Antisemitism in our communities. Others have their own experiences of discrimination, exclusion and racism. Exploring why, how it must feel, and putting ourselves in the shoes of those who have different identities to ours, is critical if we are to create a society free from racism and hate. Whilst it is challenging, we risk more by failing to engage school pupils in dialogue about these difficult issues.

As Ghandi famously observed, ‘the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.’ With one in three children living in relative poverty, it is hard to argue they are not amongst the most vulnerable. It is our responsibility to make sure they have an education that not only offers the chance of a more prosperous life but enables them to consider how to improve society for all. Engaging head, heart and body in dialogue about the recent riots and other difficult issues that intersect with our sense of identity and belonging is part of this responsibility.

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