Well, not to patronise … the French say that the more things change, the more they remain the same. Paradoxical? Well, let’s put it this way: when you do change, why do you do it and how do you know you’ve actually changed? What are you basing your need for change on? Is it informed data which shows that things do not stand well? Is it out of a drive for improvement or is it because it makes your image feel good? Today, we’ll talk about that national whipping dog called “education”, more specifically the condition which affects so many people, which we will call “compulsive need for educational reform”.

Educational reform is a highly contagious, widespread condition which, like alcohol, can have its sweet mellow moments and its hangovers. One of the most serious dangers of this condition is that people, especially people who want to leave their mark but are not experts in finance, international politics, bitcoin or medicine, consider this field as a safe path to having a voice or to wield their influence. So, while the wise man seriously weighs treading into the above-mentioned fields, everybody considers that s/he knows enough about education to be able to dabble in it without tempting serious consequences. This elevates everyone to the status of potential expert and while the average citizen would keep quiet if a discussion about maritime law is going on, everybody knows exactly what should be done to improve the state of education on the island.

Unfortunately, if one invests and loses a million, the failure is manifest. But if one invests and loses a child, then what? Most people will hesitate to say they want to hang on to the status quo, but do attempts at innovation always imply, or really mean, “change”? This is where people’s faces start screwing up. So when I once said that we should have a fresher look at what literature texts we encourage our children to read, and mentioned “Robinson Crusoe”, I ended up having a telephone conversation with an educated gentleman (a lawyer, incidentally, with no connection whatsoever to education) who queried me. I had to explain that from my point of view, my opinion, this was now an outdated classic of its times, but that the white supremacist attitudes I perceived therein could be replaced by resorting to other classics, like “Walkabout” or “A Man Called Horse”, which embrace perceptions more respectful of contemporary pluricultural realities.

And when I said that another option to “literature” (meaning “art”) was having a movie (citing in this case “Dances with Wolves”), instead of a conventional paper printed text, I was pilloried “for further risking the decline of reading among our children.” So “change”, yes of course. But don’t rock the boat too much.

This is partly why I am sceptical when I hear the word “reform” being trumpeted every now and then. Some may consider that we are technologically ahead because we are now using whiteboards instead of the old, dusty blackboards. But has this brought about change … I mean, in the quality of teaching and learning and not just in the quality of classroom air?

Government is pumping millions into classroom technology, but is anyone looking at how this material is actually being used? One nasty rumour would have it that the whiteboard has replaced the overhead projector, but is there any existing solid document evaluating the uptake of educational tools the State has invested in by educators in schools.  I should think it’s about time there was an evaluation, if there isn’t. Another case: the reform associated with Colleges came with enough pomp and flurry, but what do educators, parents, students and the experts themselves think of the system today?

Another upheaval, definitely in the right direction, was benchmarking. But is there a document investigating the introduction, the outcomes, and the opinions surrounding the introduction of benchmarking at the end of Year 6? Are we relying on rule-of-thumb feelings or do we deserve a “state of the educational sector” analysis which does not limit itself to numbers, but which delves into how people are really feeling? Are we too busy running our business today to take the time to look back?

Proposing reform and change is a very delicate matter. It’s an important matter, and a change really is as good as a feast. But the day after the feast, you have to clean up and keep the cleaning up. Let’s be honest, do people like change? Don’t rush your answer, because many may do so initially, but end up wary and weary. And many distrust instability and continuous change. Some people blame unions for stalling change, and sometimes so do teachers, but I am far from blaming them. The first reaction we all used to have when talk of reform wafted along was “Here we go again!” … yet another reform! Why do we have this lingering idea that every new boss has to give the whole establishment his/her own lick of paint?

Because that’s how it feels. How do you think we came to have those monstrously overloaded syllabi in the first place? Teachers are human beings who, like other humans, do not like the feeling that they have to restructure their whole classroom life every couple of years because a new prophet has had an epiphany. Unless, of course, you can really make your case! Dressing up old wine in new bottles is not modernisation. It very often feels like an excuse to make the news. Proposing change and kickstarting it are just not enough, unless you have the necessary means to go through, passing from innovative administration to maintenance administration (no that’s not heresy). You need staffing to support your teachers (I don’t mean mending their laptop) in navigating what is already a really difficult job dealing with human lives at a most delicate point.

Teachers need to know what is valid and convincing, they need support, as in supportive evaluation and good advice. The people who are going to implement change need to trust those who are promoting it, and vice-versa. And ultimately, those involved at any stage in innovation need to see stages, pauses, as well as an implied promise that there will be accountability, whatever the outcome of the change, before any new upheavals are initiated.