25. Memorandum submitted by Human Scale
Education (DP 31)
1. WHAT IS
HUMAN SCALE
EDUCATION?
Human Scale Education (a national charity) is
concerned with achieving educational innovation and transformation
through the development of small, community-run schools, and through
projects in maintained schools which foster human-scale principles
within large educational settings. The learning environments we
help create are human-scale because they:
— facilitate relationships which allow
every child to be individually known by their teachers and their
community;
— develop partnerships between child,
teacher and community which encourage active learning and responsible
behaviour; and
— empower teachers and communities
to develop schools and learning centres in their own local context
which are accessible to everyone regardless of intellectual or
economic status.
2. HUMAN-SCALE
SCHOOLS
A national network of around 20 small schools
is affiliated to Human Scale Education. These schools have been
established by parents, teachers and the local communities to
meet local needs. Their characteristic features are:
— they are funded by parents, the community
and charitable trusts, do not select pupils on intellectual ability
or economic status, and are therefore not private schools in the
traditional sense;
— they develop their ethos and curriculum
based on local needs and parents' philosophical convictions; and
— their effectiveness is based on human-scale
values and their positive impact on children of all abilities
is variously demonstrated, from very good exam results through
to inclusion of those experiencing behavioural difficulties.
3. INNOVATION
AND DIVERSITY
We are currently seeking public funding, administered
through local education authorities, for a number of our small
schools. We believe that diversity can be powerfully effective
in providing choice to parents from all backgrounds and therefore
increasing parental commitment to the education of their children,
but that diversity as interpreted by the Government (such as through
the specialist school initiative) is a limited and ultimately
less effective mechanism for change.
By the same token, a top-down process of innovation
which communicates to schools "we want you to be innovative
and this is how you will do it" does not make the educational
system more sensitive to the needs and aspirations of local communities.
We believe that grass-roots innovation in the form of new schools
set up by parents and communities or campus style schools (a number
of autonomous schools on the same site) formed from schools with
surplus places or large secondary schools transformed through
remodelling into smaller scale structures are enormous in their
potential to raise educational attainment and to strengthen communities.
As it stands at the moment, genuine educational
diversity (expressed through freedom to shape the curriculum to
the needs of the child, to develop strengths but not necessarily
specialisms, to manage and lead without bureaucratic interference)
is only available to those who can pay. The supplementary school
movement speaks volumes for the desire of those who are less advantaged
for innovative learning opportunities that meet the real needs
of their children, and it ought to be a matter of social justice
that the choices accrued by the well-off should be more widely
available in our society.
4. HUMAN-SCALE
SECONDARY SCHOOLS
4.1 Hartland Small School
The Small School in Hartland opened in 1982.
It was started by a group of parents because the only other option
available to secondary aged pupils was a large comprehensive school
in a nearby town which involved long bus journeys and because
the parents were not satisfied with the style of education on
offer in large state secondary schools.
Caroline Walker, a past Headteacher of the school,
said;
They were keen to have an education which focused
on the whole child, ie on the academic, the creative and the practical
sides of education. By forming their own school they were able
to devise their own curriculum and have the school they really
wanted.
The school was set up to provide a secondary
education for the children of Hartland, not to cater for special
educational needs. Any children who have joined the school with
mild learning difficulties, however, have made excellent progress
within the supportive small school environment.
The education provided by the school is holistic,
human scale and intended to meet the needs of the individual child.
All the pupils are encouraged to take between five and seven GCSEs
which are regarded as an external recognition of their achievements
and enables them to access higher education. To study for a large
number of GCSEs is regarded as unnecessary and restrictive of
the pupil's whole development. Pupils are encouraged to follow
a broad curriculum which includes creative and practical activities
to help them develop into rounded young adults. The fact that
equal status is afforded to all subjects whether academic or not
has resulted in pupils who would normally be regarded as "less
academic" having greater self-esteem and their performance
in GCSE is believed to be better than it otherwise might have
been. Likewise, the "academic" pupils have no feelings
of superiority over the less academic and they gain valuable life
skills they might not have otherwise gained.
The National Curriculum is not followed at Key
Stage 3 and the Government SATs are not carried out at that level
either. However, the National Curriculum is followed at Key Stage
4 to meet the requirements of GCSE. For academic lessons the children
are grouped broadly by age, but for practical and creative activities
the groups are of mixed ages. Teaching groups vary from eight
to 12 pupils according to the activity.
The school ethos is based on principles of educating
for sustainability, and the children are involved in decision-making
at many levels. A large percentage of the school's funding is
from charitable donations and the rest is made up from voluntary
contributions from the parents.
4.2 Sands School Ashburton, Devon
N.B. This short report has been provided by
the school
Sands is a small, democratic secondary school
with 64 students aged 11-16.
ETHOS
Sands was established in 1987 after the progressive
Dartington Hall School was closed by its trustees. With only three
teachers and seventeen students they had the luxury to investigate
what would happen if they took the lid off education and had a
look in to see what children and teachers really wanted out of
school. We collaborated on a school design including its rules,
curriculum and anthropology. The outcome was the demand for a
radical social environment that challenged the accepted norm in
most school's—no uniform, first name terms, children having
real executive powers, children having the right to criticise,
the right to determine what to study from age 11 upwards, the
equal status of all activities and perhaps most importantly the
transfer of power from the teachers and especially "head"
to the school meeting comprised of all the children and adults.
Each individual has one vote each irrespective of age or experience.
Disciplinary issues, appointment of new members, maintenance of
social order were transferred to that central executive and it
delegated powers to sub-groups of students and staff to handle
interviewing, recruitment, finances and cleaning. This ideology
is at the heart of the school's experiments—namely, to discover
the extent that an egalitarian community can be created within
a school and hence to discover how far children can become enfranchised
members or "citizens" of that school with real responsibility
and authority.
CURRICULUM AND
ASSESSMENT
Despite this radical anthropology the children
expressed then in 1987 and now in 2002 a continued aspiration
to participate in a conventional assessed curriculum with GCSEs
and other qualifications at its end. During the first fifteen
years we have offered up to 21 examinable subjects and a wide
range of extra-curricular activities. These exams include Entry
Level French and Woodwork; GCSEs up to "A" levels in
General Studies, Mathematics, History and Geography.
The curriculum reflects a strong interest in
learning. Although there is opportunity to follow a school career
that is vocational, practical or unconventional most students
choose a route that involves developing through chronologically—linear
year groups engaged in a broad range of disciplines (see below).
Tutors help children identify their aims and challenges for a
term and then "mentor" them through their course of
study. Accurate profiling helps show children how their choices
are working.
Years 7-9 all participate in a literacy programme
aimed at giving each child the reading and writing skills to make
available the full range of academic GCSE's should they want such
a thing. They want children to choose to become chefs, grooms
etc., because they have a passion for such careers and not because
they are illiterate and feel squeezed into less academic professions.
All children (ages 11-13) have an hour and half of one-to-one,
small group or larger group work on projects, spelling, grammar,
basic skills, library, and mathematics every day.
Year 9 students have the choice to do Key Stage
3 tests in order to introduce them to the realities of National
Testing. Most choose to undergo some range of tests in order that
they can evaluate their progress relative to their peers in conventional
schools. This is counter to the common mythology of alternative
schooling namely, that children will avoid highly demanding work
if given the choice. Quite the opposite is often the case when
children see the reason for testing and carry little anxiety about
the stigma attached to failure.
Years 10-11 are GCSE years and below are our
present exams on offer. Most students sit between six and nine
exams and even those who score below the accepted entry criteria
for local colleges often are awarded places based on their communication
skills, their receptivity and confidence. One must remember that
many of the students begin at Sands aged 13-15 and lose some months
adjusting to the environment. Hence are often behind their peers
in other schools. The term "late-developers" would be
well used for these students who go to Sands as refugees from
other schools.
(On offer this year; English, Mathematics and
AS Level Mathematics, Art 3D, Unendorsed and Photography, Drama,
History, Woodwork, Music, French, German, Geography, Information
Technology, Single and Double Science.)
The statistics for leavers looks like this.
In an average year, seven out of ten move on to college immediately.
Five of those go on to academically-orientated AS/A Levels. Within
three years another two of the leavers have gone on to college
and one/two travel, work. About 40% go on to university before
the age of 26 and a high percentage goes into jobs based around
the arts, performance and communications.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION
The school functions as a charity and is a limited
company that is connected to the school in the following manner:
The school is owned by the Charity, whose
business interests (namely the school) are handled by the directors
of a limited company which is advised by a board of Governors
who are answerable to, and guided by, the school meeting which
comprises all voting members of the present school. The building
and the business are owned by the elected members of the school
(pupils and staff) and the bodies above advise, guide and observe
so that the finances are morally handled and the constitution
is maintained. Similar to a see-saw governors, directors on one
side, pupils and staff the other and the constitution and the
building and financial interests at the fulcrum.
SALARIES AND
BURSARIES
Staff have taken low wages perennially. 1987-£12,000.
2002-£18,000 despite their high level of qualification and
experience. However, as original staff leave they may be faced
with the issue of offering a pre-NQT salary for a job that requires
great skill, experience and commitment to a radical idea.
The original premise for low salaries was to
attain low fees to make the school widely available. In 1987 10%
of all fee income was then awarded in bursaries. In 2002, this
stands at 19% and developing relationships with charities brings
in another £30,000. Three children are supported by local
Education Authorities and other statemented children come to the
school with Local Authority backing but no financial support.
Though not a "special" school, the provision offered
appears to make school accessible to the many "refugees"
out there. Physical and emotional special needs can be encompassed
within the 70 students.
Full fees stand at £4,750 per annum. The
average fee paid by parents is closer to 2/3 of that, c£3,200.
The breakdown in average years has been:
1/3 pay a 1/3 of the fee (subsidised by Charities
and Bursaries)
1/3 pay 2/3 of the fee (subsidised by Charities
and Bursaries)
1/3 pay a full fee (subsidised etc and/or paid
for by Local Education Authority)
NB. This fluctuates from year to year
SUMMARY
In brief, the experiment is 15 years on. The
success is attested to by above average HMI reports, a fascinating
and eclectic list of ex-pupils' careers; a good track record in
supporting a wide range of children from all social/financial
backgrounds; a very happy and excited student body who complain
that the holidays are too long and the school day too short and
perhaps most importantly by being a living example of the possibility
of equality between the ages and proof that non-compulsory education
leads to successful learners and insightful "citizens".
5. WHAT CAN
WE LEARN
FROM OTHER
COUNTRIES?
Movements of small schools have been present
in a number of American inner cities for about 15 years and are
established enough to be assessed in their effectiveness. In deprived
areas such as Chicago, Boston, New York and the bay area of San
Francisco, they have been used as agents of change for urban renewal.
In some European countries such as Denmark, and the Netherlands,
there have been education frameworks enabling parents and community
to found schools for many years, and there is evidence that this
has promoted greater social harmony and reduced the impact of
social class on educational outcomes.
5.1 Small Schools in the US
A research project published in 2000 by the
Chicago Small Schools Research Team called Small Schools: Great
Strides, reviewed the impact of the Chicago Small Schools
Movement. These small schools in difficult inner city settings,
included both free-standing small schools and schools within schools
(one or more small schools in a larger schools setting) and have
the following characteristics:
— serve children of colour;
— serve children from predominantly
African-American schools at the high school level;
— serve children from poorer families;
and
— serve students who are achieving
at levels below the average student in the system.
The reasons why educators wanted to set up small
schools were so that they could:
— establish intimate learning communities
where students are known and can be pushed and encouraged by adults
who care for them;
— reduce the isolation that can seed
alienation and violence;
— reduce discrepancies in the achievement
gap;
— encourage teachers to use their intelligence
and experience to help pupils achieve; and
— strengthen partnership with parents.
What they found was that small schools accrued
a number of benefits to children including:
— higher than average attendance levels;
— significantly reduced drop-out rates
at the high school level for both freestanding schools and schools-within-schools;
and
— significantly higher grade point
averages for high school students.
The Northwest Regional Education Laboratory
in Oregon, USA published research on the relationship of school
size to various aspects of schooling. The findings show that "small
schools do a better job than large ones on virtually every measure
of student attitudes and achievement. The main findings are:
— academic achievement in small schools
is at least equal—and often superior—to that of large
schools;
— sudent attitudes toward school in
general and toward particular school subjects are more positive
in small schools;
— student social behaviour (as measured
by truancy, discipline problems, violence etc) is more positive
in small schools;
— levels of extra-curricular participation
are much higher and more varied in small schools;
— student attendance is better in small
school;
— student academic and general self-regard
is higher in small schools;
— inter-personal relationships between
and among students, teachers and administrators are more positive
in small schools;
— teachers attitudes towards their
work are more positive in small schools; and
— larger schools are not necessarily
less expensive to operate than small schools.
Taken from Kathleen Cotton School Size, School
Climate and Student Performance, Close-up No 20 1996
Website http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/10/c020.html
A summary of the available research has been
published by Michael Klonsky of the Small Schools Workshop called
Small Schools: The Numbers Tell the Story, a copy of which
has been submitted with this written evidence. Some of the points
from his paper are:
— small schools are able to offer a
curriculum that compares favourably with that of large schools
while maintaining communality. The level of participation in all
activities tends to be higher and fewer students are marginalised;
— Robert Crain's (1986) study of high
schools concludes that "size is of critical importance in
black schools", so much so that reducing high school size
should be the highest priority in cities serving large, black
populations;
— a study by the American Legislative
Exchange Council (Report Card on American Education 1994) indicated
that minority children in small schools out-perform their counterparts
in areas where large schools predominate. Children do better in
places small enough that "the principal knows the name of
each student". Schools with fewer than 300 students showed
the best performance even though class size in many of these schools
was higher than the national average;
— smaller schools also can create fertile
soil for teaching innovations initiated by the teachers themselves.
After extensive field research to study a five-year period of
innovation in two Vermont High schools, Robert Larson (1991) found
that their small size (400-500 students) set in motion many different
types of "inside-out" innovations. These are innovations
that come directly out of teaching experience rather than top-down
decision making or big changes in organisational structure; and
— on the question of cost, Professor
Walberg of the University of Illinois at Chicago (1993) found
a parallel between the growth in school size (400% since 1940)
and per student spending (500%) and concludes; "Education
in the United States clearly shows what economists refer to as
"dis-economies of scale" where increasing size results
in an increase in per-unit costs". Long term financial benefits
accrue to society when students stay in education. The Carnegie
Council on Adolescent Development (1988) estimates that each year
of secondary school reduces the probability of public welfare
dependency in adulthood by 35% and that a single year's class
of dropouts, over their lifetimes, costs the nation about $260
billion in lost earnings and foregone taxes alone.
5.2 Small Schools in Europe
The ability of parents, teachers and local communities
to establish schools and have them funded by the state is an integral
and long-term feature of the education systems of a number of
European countries. This arrangement was agreed in order to provide
a settlement for minority groups who wanted to express their educational
preferences and to create social harmony and a more equal society.
The motivation for such a system is therefore different from the
American experiments and based on mutually agreed values of trust,
respect and democratic participation.
Some points on two European systems taken from
a report called Learning from Europe by Mogens Kamp Justesen (2002).
Danish Education System
Characteristics:
— a nation-wide free choice of independent
schools. Parents and students can opt out of the public sector
schools, choose an independent school and have a large proportion
of the cost covered by the government;
— no free choice in public primary
schools and secondary grammar schools. Catchment areas prevail
and local authorities allocate pupils. Parents can apply for enrolment
in a public school outside the catchment area;
— free choice of school for students
attending upper-secondary vocational schools;
— independent schools are increasingly
popular, educating approximately 12% of primary and secondary
pupils;
— non-profit organisations or groups
of parents and teachers can set up their own school as long as
minimum requirements are met;
— a minimum of 28 pupils must be enrolled
in order to establish a new school;
— no specific national curriculum in
primary and lower-secondary public and independent schools. The
Ministry of Education sets out advisory guidelines concerning
the curriculum;
— for parents, the government covers
80-85% of the cost of schooling in independent schools; and
— poorer families can apply for a free
place for their child in an independent school and do not have
to pay fees.
Key Outcomes:
— all parents can send their child
to an independent school; equal opportunities regardless of background;
— an unparalleled diversity of schools
according to the OECD;
— lower per pupil cost in independent
schools, despite their smaller size;
— higher pupil exam scores in independent
schools; and
— higher parent satisfaction in independent
schools.
Dutch Education System
Characteristics:
— a nation-wide school choice system;
— free choice of public or independent
school;
— non-profit organisations or groups
of parents and teachers can set up and run schools provided minimum
requirements are met;
— a comparatively diverse supply of
schools;
— the central Government imposes regulations
concerning national curriculum and exams on all schools;
— independent schools are protected
by the constitutional right to freedom of organisation. This gives
independent schools a comparatively high degree of managerial
autonomy and allows independent schools to organise the process
of teaching;
— around 70% of primary and secondary
pupils attend independent schools receiving government funds;
— the government covers the full cost
of schooling. There is no parent "topping up", but parents
contribute financially to extra-curricular activities; and
— schools receiving more children from
less privileged backgrounds will receive more money.
Outcomes:
— equal opportunities for choice of
public or independent school for all children;
— student intake of independent schools
does not, on average, differ from the student intake in public
schools;
— cost of education approximately equal
to OECD average. Parental choice had not resulted in a particularly
expensive system; and
— in international comparisons, pupils
in the Netherlands perform among the best in Europe.
By presenting this overview of what is happening
in other countries we are not implying that "they have got
it all right" and "we have got it all wrong." But
we do suggest that by exploiting small scale and grassroots innovation,
through the energies of parents and teachers, we in the United
Kingdom could achieve an appropriate level of diversity, higher
educational standards and greater cost-effectiveness in the long-term.
November 2002
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