Best Practice

Social justice and schools: Education policy & policy-makers

School improvement Government policy Narrowing the Gap Poverty
In a seven-part series, teacher and school leader David Anderson considers how schools can be a key driver for social justice and how we can make our education system more equitable. In part four, he looks at how education policy can help or hinder social justice


SecEd series: A school system that drives social justice


During the 25 years that I have been teaching there have been 12 education secretaries – roughly one every two years. Only two of these, Justine Greening and the current incumbent, Gavin Williamson, attended comprehensive schools. The rest all went to grammar schools (four) or private schools (five), with the exception of David Blunkett who went to a special school.

Only about 12 per cent of people in the country go to either private school or grammar school, but their alumni have largely been responsible for the highest office in education, overseeing all our schools, 88 per cent of which are comprehensives.

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