tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/tristram-hunt-14892/articlesTristram Hunt – The Conversation2015-05-09T15:08:23Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/415662015-05-09T15:08:23Z2015-05-09T15:08:23ZAfter the deluge, contenders line up for party leadership contests<p>In the wake of the election result comes the <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-political-parties-choose-their-leaders-41534">inevitable bloodletting</a> in the parties who fared badly at the hands of the electorate. By lunchtime on Friday the leaders of Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and UKIP had all fallen on their swords. </p>
<p>The annihilation of the Liberal Democrats came as no surprise. Their demise started with the broken pledge over tuition fees. They were seen as a fairly unprincipled, power-hungry bunch who didn’t care whose 30 pieces of silver they took to get a share of government. The Liberal Democrats <a href="http://www.crosenstiel.webspace.virginmedia.com/ldelections/">traditionally used to do well in by-elections</a>, yet their candidates lost their deposits in almost every seat they contested since 2010. The writing was well and truly on the wall. </p>
<p>The party now faces at least a decade in the political wilderness. The SNP could learn a lesson from this. With only 35% of the Scottish vote, they too could lose seats in five years time if they fail to deliver anything of substance for Scotland.</p>
<p>The problem for the Liberal Democrats now is who can lead them back from the brink. All the likely leadership contenders were ousted on Thursday night. Gone are David Laws, Vince Cable, Danny Alexander, and Ed Davey. There is a choice between two experienced politicians; Tim Farron, former party president, and Norman Lamb, Nick Clegg’s former parliamentary private secretary.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81086/original/image-20150509-22785-1wl8bi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81086/original/image-20150509-22785-1wl8bi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81086/original/image-20150509-22785-1wl8bi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81086/original/image-20150509-22785-1wl8bi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81086/original/image-20150509-22785-1wl8bi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81086/original/image-20150509-22785-1wl8bi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81086/original/image-20150509-22785-1wl8bi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Is Tim Farron the man to rebuild the Lib Dems?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/libdems/15473191821/in/photolist-pzyrRL-pi5bB6-pzymVy-pi6gQ1-pzj9Rk-pi6mzb-pi6kR7-pi74j4-pzyp8j-pi6y6q-pi6Sh4-pxxQFb-pi71xH-defRbu-defQST-8DqnJS-kQkemq-kQk7TK-aqdf8s-aqdi7w-aqaDj6-aqdh89-aqdgcS-piAwPD-aqaCdx-aK5xS2-8DnhDe-8Dnh5e-rgbVt4-749xbH-74dtJu-6jrVkD-bpTa5J-5nxxsg-6jhiJA-66EXHR-5nxyoZ-9WcEZX-qZrw29-defPdx-8DnjVK-7KpgKo-7KpfZ9-7Kkkha-aqdekL-8LN6eT-4Nkawc-nZJzu-7KPtE8-5ntMgu">Liberal Democrats</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>For UKIP the only credible contender is Douglas Carswell, the single candidate winning a seat at Westminster. All the support gained in by-elections and in the European elections fell away in terms of seats, despite taking almost 13% of the national vote. Fate dealt them a cruel hand and it’s not surprising Nigel Farage is <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/nigel-farage/11593312/nigel-farage-attacks-electoral-system-after-election.html">calling for a change</a> to the voting system. </p>
<h2>Who’ll keep the red flag flying?</h2>
<p>The biggest leadership problem rests with Labour. For the last three years they have tried to court business and, at the same time, stay loyal to working people and the unions. Under Ed Miliband the “New Labour” values of Tony Blair were cast aside as the party shifted to the left of centre. Despite clear signs, Labour failed acknowledge they were not getting their message across to the electorate. The time has now come to decide what they stand for and whom they want to represent. Going forward Labour needs to find a clear sense of direction. Without that they cannot hope to rebuild a credible party</p>
<p>The writing was on the wall two years ago when Ed Miliband’s leadership was questioned. Instead of electing a more credible candidate to lead them into the election, the party insisted on continuing to back Ed. That was a disastrous decision and one they will regret for many years to come. At the end of the day no one would admit the party elected the wrong brother. There is something deep in the Labour psyche that puts loyalty above common sense. Ed Miliband’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/ed-stone-could-be-a-millstone-in-coalition-negotiations-41209">limestone manifesto</a> monument for Number 10, which later turned into a tombstone, was viewed by many as hubristic.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81085/original/image-20150509-22733-1dms0jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81085/original/image-20150509-22733-1dms0jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81085/original/image-20150509-22733-1dms0jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81085/original/image-20150509-22733-1dms0jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81085/original/image-20150509-22733-1dms0jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81085/original/image-20150509-22733-1dms0jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81085/original/image-20150509-22733-1dms0jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Should we be watching big brother?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/35952250@N02/4382454550/in/photolist-7Fge4d-by2YBA-bjTf5E-cJva7j-HyckF-dTtzzo-dn23LS-pk3ztm-gHNPMR-boWhXi-brqNin-e97c5X-gHPRep-e9cSY9-cJvhd5-8CRbtm-7FceJi-7zSQEn-cSjPph-dnR7Bf-6z9atm-6z9avs-6z54cn-6z98V1-6z98WC-6z54hv-6z54oM-6z54gt-6z549r-6z54dp-6z548t-6z98QA-6z54fv-br6UDP-qEzdt6-4w4omz-6rbeFj-6r74W4-6rbexQ-pvzn4i-onyH3f-m7wxgK-njVBBW-dZFrJy-oE4DNv-rQabQd-rwuyXQ-6z54bp-6z54kt-7ESFSa">Policy Network</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>The party has a choice of potential candidates, but many are tainted by their unswerving pre-election allegiance to Ed Miliband. Chukka Umunna must be a prime candidate. He’s <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/11/blairite-group-progress-plotting-back-chuka-umunna-leadership-bid">seen as a bit of a Blairite</a> and it is questionable whether the party could make that U-turn. Yvette Cooper is ambitious – and must be a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/02/yvette-cooper-interview-labours-quiet-contender">serious contender</a>, if not the outright favourite. She is a seasoned politician who refused to be drawn on her aspirations on election night. </p>
<p>The shadow education secretary, Tristram Hunt – another Blairite – has a reputation for <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2630549/Public-schoolboys-immoral-people-Ive-met-says-Labours-Tristram-Hunt.html">waging a class war on public schools</a>. As the son of a peer, Baron Hunt of Chesterton, the trade unions would no doubt find him a difficult candidate to support. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/08/andy-burnham-favourite-to-become-labour-leader-if-ed-miliband-goes">Andy Burnham is the pundits’ – and the bookies’ – favourite</a> to succeed Miliband. He was a contender in the 2010 leadership election and held a number of cabinet posts in Gordon Brown’s government. </p>
<p>Former minister, David Lammy, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/09/alan-johnson-labour-aspirational-voters-tony-blair">has also expressed an interest in the leadership</a>, while Alan Johnson – who served in several ministerial posts in the Blair and Brown administrations, has ruled himself out.</p>
<p>There are two outsiders. Ex-special forces soldier <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/11363724/Meet-the-man-who-should-lead-Labour-after-Ed-Miliband.html">Dan Jarvis</a>, a relative newcomer, to politics is known to harbour leadership ambitions. The question is whether his New Labour tendencies would be held against him. A long-odds contender would be Liz Kendall. Her support for <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2922627/Ed-Miliband-challenged-NHS-privatisation-Liz-Kendall-shadow-health-minister-says-matters-works-using-private-sector-services.html">private providers in the health sector</a> might go against her with the unions, but their control over who leads Labour is much diminished. Last, but not least, let’s not discount the possibility that David Miliband could return to save the party. That would require a lot of Labour soul-searching.</p>
<p>The next few weeks will be as entertaining as those in the lead-up to the election. We will see infighting and machinations in all the parties, none more so than Labour. For the past five years it has had both a leadership crisis and an identity crisis. The latter must be resolved before the former can be addressed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41566/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alf Crossman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Three parties must now choose new leaders. Labour has a number of candidates jockeying for position.Alf Crossman, Senior Lecturer in Industrial Relations and HRM, University of SurreyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/382642015-03-03T11:50:54Z2015-03-03T11:50:54ZExplainer: when should children start to think about their careers?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73594/original/image-20150303-31835-kbn4ub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What do you want to be when you grow up?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Children and future jobs via Rawpixel/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Labour’s shadow education minister Tristram Hunt <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/give-girls-career-advice-before-the-age-of-10-says-shadow-education-secretary-10077672.html">argued recently for the introduction of career education into primary schools</a>, particularly for girls. But should we start talking about the world of work at primary school or is this far too early to be meaningful or appropriate?</p>
<p>Career education in primary school is not the invention of a Labour politician. It has existed in various forms for decades in a number of countries including England. </p>
<p>In 2010, the Department for Education (DfE) published an <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/182663/DFE-RR116.pdf">evaluation of career education in primary schools</a> which found that young people who participated in career education increased their knowledge about the types of work and the pathways that could be followed to get there. It also found some evidence that pupils were more confident about their ability to achieve their aspirations. </p>
<h2>Careers can work in primary school</h2>
<p>School-based careers work has been <a href="http://derby.openrepository.com/derby/bitstream/10545/333866/1/Advancing%20Ambitions%20-%206.11.14.pdf">found to have a number of positive impacts</a>, including supporting increased attainment and engagement with school. The DfE’s evaluation of primary careers education found that this was also true for primary age children who became more positive about school. The evaluation also identified a decrease in stereotypical thinking about careers from pupils who participated. </p>
<p>This recent evidence in English schools suggests that career education can work in primary schools. The purpose of such career education is not to sort young people into particular careers, as critics often fear, but rather to increase young people’s awareness of a range of life opportunities and how to access them. </p>
<p>This kind of exploratory learning about the world and your place within it can sit very easily within the context of primary education. </p>
<h2>Aspirations start early</h2>
<p>A key rationale for starting career education early is drawn from evidence which shows that young people form their aspirations and ideas about careers long before they are ready to join the labour market. </p>
<p>Research by American psychologists Ashton Trice and Kimberly Rush <a href="http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pms.1995.81.2.701?journalCode=pms">found that</a> four-year olds typically articulated a strong gender bias in their thinking about jobs, with boys tending to express interest in typically male occupations and girls in typically female occupations. </p>
<p>Research led by Vanessa Moulton at the <a href="http://www.llcsjournal.org/index.php/llcs/article/view/277">Institute of Education found </a> that most seven-year-olds had “realistic” rather than “fantasy” aspirations – for example, they want to be a police officer rather than a dragon. They also found that children’s aspirations had a relationship with their classroom behaviour.</p>
<p>In the 1980s, US psychologist Linda Gottfredson <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/cou/28/6/545/">theorised</a> about the process of identity formation, arguing that young people typically go through a series of age-related stages during which they, often unconsciously, shape their occupational aspirations in relation to social expectations. She argued that much of this process has occurred before young people reach secondary school.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73595/original/image-20150303-31839-1dwtwxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73595/original/image-20150303-31839-1dwtwxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73595/original/image-20150303-31839-1dwtwxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73595/original/image-20150303-31839-1dwtwxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73595/original/image-20150303-31839-1dwtwxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73595/original/image-20150303-31839-1dwtwxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73595/original/image-20150303-31839-1dwtwxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Inspiring the next generation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Girl scientist via Andresr/Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>In a series of articles, King’s College London education researcher Louise Archer and her colleagues have explored young people’s attitudes to science and science careers. They’ve demonstrated that <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sce.20399/abstract?systemMessage=Wiley+Online+Library+will+be+disrupted+on+7th+March+from+10%3A00-13%3A00+GMT+%2806%3A00-09%3A00+EST%29+for+essential+maintenance.++Apologies+for+the+inconvenience.&userIsAuthenticated=false&deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=">identity is formed early</a> and that it typically intersects with gender, ethnicity and class in ways that do not support the government’s policy aspirations for social mobility.</p>
<p>The rationale for starting career education in primary school is therefore strong. If young people’s aspirations are to be broadened, this needs to happen at the point at which they are developing these aspirations. </p>
<p>This is not new to scholars of career education and guidance who typically pronounce that career education should start early and be in place well before young people have to make any decisions with lifetime impacts – such as GCSE choices at age 13.</p>
<h2>What’s the best age to start?</h2>
<p>There has been little systematic work looking at the age at which primary career education should start. But there are a number of studies that provide some insights. One <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-0122.00100/abstract?systemMessage=Wiley+Online+Library+will+be+disrupted+on+7th+March+from+10%3A00-13%3A00+GMT+%2806%3A00-09%3A00+EST%29+for+essential+maintenance.++Apologies+for+the+inconvenience">study</a> found that a programme aimed at Year 4 (eight and nine-year-old children) fitted well into the primary curriculum and that the children who participated in it were able to remember much of significance five months later. </p>
<p>Much guidance on good practice has emerged in this area, codified in the <a href="http://www.cegnet.co.uk/uploads/resources/ACEG-Framework-final.pdf">Career Development Institute’s curriculum framework</a>, which suggests starting formal career education at key stage two (age seven and up). This doesn’t mean that younger children shouldn’t have opportunities to learn about work, but at present this has generally been done informally or through occasional projects such “what do you want to do when you grow up” or “what jobs do your family do?”</p>
<p>There are strong reasons for starting career education early which relate to social equity. Primary career education has a long history, albeit one that is often interrupted by frequent lurches in policy. In general, educators have developed primary career education programmes from the age of seven and where they have been evaluated this has been found to be effective and to fit well into the wider primary curriculum.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38264/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tristram Hooley is a member of the Careers Sector Strategic Alliance (a stakeholder body for the careers sector) and regularly advises government and professional bodies on career education and guidance. </span></em></p>Careers advice for primary school children helps bust stereotypes and boost aspirations.Tristram Hooley, Professor Tristram Hooley, Professor of Career Education and Head of International Centre for Guidance Studies, University of DerbyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/374332015-02-11T13:55:23Z2015-02-11T13:55:23ZFaith schools are not brimming with unqualified teachers<p>On <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b051zzq5">BBC Question Time</a> on February 5, Labour’s shadow education minister Tristram Hunt made a remark appearing to link weak, unqualified teachers to religious education, specifically Catholic schooling provided by nuns. It was not clear at the time what he was trying to say, because he was interrupted. And the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-31159643">subsequent uproar</a> in response has done little to clarify his point. </p>
<p>Hunt <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/tristram-hunt-meant-no-offence-by-arrogant-and-ignorant-comments-on-nuns-teaching-10028883.html">subsequently apologised</a> and said he meant “no offence” by his comments. But it is time for some facts about whether there are disproportionately more unqualified teachers in religious schools, and then some calmer consideration about whether it matters.</p>
<h2>Religion by religion</h2>
<p>We combined two datasets published in 2014 from the Department of Education – one on the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2013">school workforce</a> and one on <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2014">school characteristics</a> – and our analysis shows the number of teachers without recognised teacher training in each type of school in England. From the first graph below, it is clear that state-funded Roman Catholic schools – including those with nuns as teachers – are actually the least likely, on average, to employ unqualified teachers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/71718/original/image-20150211-25714-6xcggf.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/71718/original/image-20150211-25714-6xcggf.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71718/original/image-20150211-25714-6xcggf.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71718/original/image-20150211-25714-6xcggf.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71718/original/image-20150211-25714-6xcggf.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71718/original/image-20150211-25714-6xcggf.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71718/original/image-20150211-25714-6xcggf.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Note: these figures include all state-funded mainstream primary or secondary schools for which there is data. Where known, trainees actually working in schools are excluded.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>The long-standing schools of “no religious character”, and those with a Church of England or Catholic basis are at, or below, the national average for unqualified teachers. Rather, it is the relatively small number of schools for minority religions in England that have the most – with Muslim and Jewish schools well above the national average. These, if any, should be the target for Hunt’s concern. </p>
<h2>Free schools should be the target</h2>
<p>But if Hunt was really concerned about the prevalence of unqualified teachers in England’s schools – which <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tory-reforms-allow-hundreds-unqualified-4544944">Labour has criticised</a> in opposition – then an even clearer target than faith-based schools in general would be all schools not under local authority control.</p>
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<p>Free schools and academies, supported by both the current and the previous administration in the UK, have been made “independent” of their local council. Their <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-information-war-raging-within-the-academies-revolution-29124">autonomy means they are unchallenged</a> by any state-representative organisation at local level. Rather, they are overseen directly by the Department for Education and the schools regulator Ofsted. </p>
<p>It is schools of this kind that have been the focus of faith-based alarms and scandals <a href="https://theconversation.com/trojan-horse-plot-exposed-a-fragmented-education-system-35583">such as the “Trojan horse”</a> affair in Birmingham. Perhaps not coincidentally, they also have markedly higher than average levels of unqualified teachers.</p>
<h2>Religious segregation is a social problem</h2>
<p>The Catholic and Church of England schools have been part of the state education system since it started. They are part of the reason why there is a universal school system. And, in many respects, they are very similar to bog-standard local authority schools with no religious character. But having them creates two current problems for the system as a whole.</p>
<p>First, the intakes of faith-based schools are somewhat <a href="http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415536905/">socially and economically stratified</a> in relation to the areas in which they recruit pupils, and this is especially true for Catholic schools. Given that they are <a href="https://theconversation.com/little-evidence-that-faith-schools-provide-a-better-education-27758">neither more nor less effective</a> in terms of public examination results than non-religious schools, this danger of social segregation between faiths and social groups is being run for no gain. </p>
<p>The newer faith-based schools, along with the much older schools for Jewish families, are even worse in this respect – often dividing children by ethnic as well as socio-economic characteristics. And this leads to the second problem. We cannot deny faith-based schools to some religions while permitting them for others. But to accept a multitude of different faith-based schools will likely splinter our schools and thus our society along sectarian lines. </p>
<h2>Remove state funding</h2>
<p>The only clear solution then is to remove the faith basis for all schools, making religion a personal, family or a place-of-worship issue. This would remove it from the organisation of a taxpayer-funded education system that is intended to equalise life chances and encourage the autonomous appraisal of evidence. </p>
<p>Abolishing the faith basis for all schools would deny no individual their freedom of worship, and cause no reduction in exam performance. It would remove a barrier to ethnic and social integration in society, remove at least six conflicting belief systems cluttering up the process of learning and might also lead to fewer unqualified teachers. </p>
<p>Of course, this might lead to a growth in small fee-paying schools with a strong religious basis and a high proportion of unqualified teachers, of a kind that already exist. But the quality of their provision is usually so poor that <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/School_choice_in_an_established_market.html?id=zqmcAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y">they do not survive long</a> in competition to the state sector and the larger, well-established private schools – which incidentally tend to have fewer unqualified teachers than their volatile counterparts. </p>
<p>But, as the issues in Birmingham suggest, abolishing the independence of free schools and academies – or at least their right to employ unqualified teachers – should be seriously considered. The so-called “Trojan Horse” schools were not ostensibly religious in character. It was, it seems, their autonomy from local oversight that allowed problems to arise. </p>
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<p>Next read: <a href="https://theconversation.com/you-wouldnt-want-an-unqualified-doctor-or-lawyer-so-why-are-untrained-teachers-ok-32450">You wouldn’t want an unqualified doctor of lawyer… so why are untrained teachers ok?</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/37433/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Gorard is currently conducting research funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the Educational Endowment Foundation, and the National Literacy Trust. None of it is related to this issue. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Beng Huat See does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>On BBC Question Time on February 5, Labour’s shadow education minister Tristram Hunt made a remark appearing to link weak, unqualified teachers to religious education, specifically Catholic schooling provided…Stephen Gorard, Professor of Education and Public Policy, Durham UniversityBeng Huat See, Research Associate in the School of Education, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.