David Budge reports on research into how the market approach has affected the way schools are managed. Primary schools may not have adopted Margaret Thatcher’s famous dictum: “There is no such thing as society” but they appear to be downplaying social goals in favour of individual achievement.
Proof of that is provided by a new analysis of 208 1993-94 primary school brochures that offer a fascinating insight into how they are managing their images in the wake of the 1988 Education Reform Act.
The survey, which covered the independent sector as well as county-controlled and church schools in six local education authorities, was carried out by Ian Copeland of Reading University.
Having analysed the contents of the brochures he compared his findings with those of a 1987 study (Weeks) of 560 English primary school brochures. He found that one school aim that had the highest support in 1987, being mentioned in more than half of the brochures - “social respect and co-operation”- was much less prominent in 1993-94. In fact, “courtesy and consideration for others” was emphasised by only a fifth of the more recent brochures. Instead, “maximisation of personal development” was the aim that more than half the schools declared to be their top priority. In 1987 it had been highlighted by only a third of schools.
The 1993-94 brochures also include one aim that did not rate a mention six years earlier - “preparation for adult economic and social life”. Judging by the brochures, the school-parent relationship has also changed. There is now less talk of home-school co-operation and more emphasis on partnership with parents. The PTA fund-raising function also seems to have become more important and Ian Copeland notes wryly that whenever “PTA” is referred to it is always preceded by an adjective such as “active”, “strong” or “supportive”.
He was also intrigued by the more egalitarian image presented by the primary schools, which unlike secondary schools often draw attention to the work of welfare assistants and cleaners. But he also discovered marked differences between primary schools in the way that they portray themselves on brochure covers. County primary and junior schools favoured logos, voluntary-aided heads opted for a photograph or line drawing of their schools, and the independents invariably chose a photograph of the school building that included a group of pupils in uniform.
More significantly, the “overwhelming majority” of schools had clearly ignored Circular 593 from the Department for Education which stipulates that school prospectuses must include key stage 1 results and unauthorised absence figures. But Ian Copeland comments that the teachers’ test boycott and uncertainty over the precise definition of the term “unauthorised absence” are the most likely explanations for these omissions.
He also bemoans the lack of either a list of contents or index in many of the brochures but, in general, the primary schools presented information in a clear, straightforward manner. “Most would have gained the Crystal mark for clarity of expression approved by the Plain English campaign,” he says.
Ian Copeland’s research paper appears in Educational Studies, Volume 20 Number 3. Available from Carfax Publishing, PO Box 25, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX 14 3UE.
