Educational Inequality: A Teaching Assistant’s thoughts on the most pressing issues in education
Whether you enjoyed your time in school or (like me) hated it, it’s hard to argue that education isn’t important when it comes to life outcomes and wellbeing.
In financial terms— we can see that those with a graduate degree typically earn more than those who have Apprenticeships, A Levels or GCSE’s. Although the age old argument “money doesn’t buy you happiness” can be forever quoted, it’s well known that the wellbeing of those who have enough money to cover their needs (housing, food and health) and participate in social activities is higher than those who don’t.
People from low-income backgrounds are more likely to be in fuel poverty and be unable to heat their home. They are more likely to live in poorer quality environments and experience higher air pollution levels. Shockingly, two-thirds of carcinogenic chemicals emitted into the air are released in the 10% most deprived council wards in the U.K.
In England, the difference in life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas is around nine years for men and seven for women. In equivalent terms, that’s comparing the average person’s life expectancy in the UK of 81 years with that of Honduras (the 24th poorest country in the world) which has a life expectancy of 73 years.
There’s evidence that suggests that, even if you take out these factors, you’re more likely to do worse at school simply because you have less money.
The poverty cycle is a vicious one, but if we are going to create generational change and do something about this disgusting injustice that exists in our own country, education might be a place to start.
I’ve been working in a school in South London for 2 months now. In my eyes — and no doubt yours — this makes me an expert in the area.
Obviously, I’m joking😅. I’m no expert, but the limited time I’ve spent in the area has given me some insights into educational inequality.
Here are some of the most pressing.
1. The gender gap 🙋🏾♀️🙋♂️
Classic…. Here we go again, another left-wing ‘snow-flake’ who won’t shut-up about women. Funnily enough, you’re kind of right. But you’re also kind of wrong.
Whilst I am a strong believer that the needs of women and the issues that face them have been overlooked for far too long, I also think it’s important we speak about how the same system negatively affects men.
For a long time now boys have performed worse than girls in school. 2017 GCSE results showed that 71 per cent of exams taken by girls got a C (or a 4 as they now call it), compared to only 61.5% of boys. (75% of students who are excluded are boys, and 95% of people in prison are men).
We generally attribute this to an easy explanation: boys and girls are wired different. Boys behave worse than girls because “boys will be boys” and they are less academically minded than girls.
On the other hand, although girls perform better at school, their experience of school is much less happy. For example, nearly 25% of female pupils said they felt worried at school, compared to 16.5% of the boys, and around 24% of girls felt like they didn’t “belong” at school, compared to only 9% of boys.
I generally believe that there are socialised as opposed to natural explanations for this gender gap, but because of the gravity of this discussion I will dedicate another entire post to this topic.
For now we can ponder…. what are the causes for boys under-attainment and bad behaviour? And what are the causes behind girls’ negative experience at school?
2. Exam Stress 😰😰
Exam stress is a national or, for that matter, global issue that faces kids taking high-stakes exams like GCSEs and A-Levels.
Headlines read “Young people turn to Childline over exam stress” and “Exam stress is parents’ biggest worry for 2019”. Given the common-sense link between stress and [lower] performance and studies which show that pupils who worried about grades scored up to one and a half grades lower than their peers, this is an area of note.
Some might whip out the classic ‘snow-flake’ argument again and suggest that people just need to toughen up. I’d respond that they’re heartless dickheads given the fact these are kids we’re talking about, and then cite the good ole’ Micheal Gove who said “by making GCSEs more demanding, more fulfilling, and more stretching we can give our young people the broad, deep and balanced education which will equip them to win in the global race”. In turn, I’d claim that it’s likely that exam’s might be more stressful than ever.
In itself, I don’t actually disagree with Govey.
My relationship to stress (and life) was changed when I watched a TED Talk that explained how stress itself is not actually dangerous (it is simply a state of high arousal which evokes the same body sensations as excitement) but, rather, it becomes dangerous when we perceive it to be dangerous.
Research shows that stress can boost the confidence of people with low anxiety, but significantly reduce it for people with high anxiety. When we maintain a positive attitude, have higher self-esteem and in turn perceive stress as exciting, “more demanding” and “more stretching” activities can indeed be more fulfilling.
The key, however, is linked to our perception of how well we can handle the stressful event.
Reports suggest that people in poverty are less confident in their ability to succeed, which leads to a decrease in attainment. Studies also show that people in long-term poverty absorb negative media images of themselves. In turn, they believe themselves to be fundamentally flawed so have to overcome lack of confidence and low self-belief as they try and achieve.
In the school I work in I am primarily based in the 6th form and work with kids sitting their A-Levels. I mentor a couple of them and interact with the rest of them on a daily basis, and have been shocked by how stressed they have been by the upcoming exams. It seems to be a lot more than what I and my other middle-class peers experienced when we were their age.
Although I’m not sure the kids I work with realise this themselves, I place this largely down to the lower self-belief and expectations these kids have that society and their environment has instilled in them.
Almost laughably, I haven’t even talked about how facing housing instability, fuel poverty and threats to your life might affect these kids and their stress levels…
I’m no Einstein, but I’m pretty sure if I had low self-esteem coupled with a shit-ton of fear around if I’m going to be able to survive, the stress of “more demanding” and “more stretching” exams might affect me worse.
3. The early years gap 👶
Before kids even start school, some of them have already been left behind.
The attainment gap between kids from low-income backgrounds is already evident when children begin school aged 5, with a gap between them the equivalent of 4.3 months of learning. By the end of primary school, this gap more than doubles to 9.5 months.
Let that sink in for a minute…. At aged 5 a kid from a low-income background is already significantly behind in educational standard, and by the time they are 11 they are achieving at the equivalent of a kid the year below them.
By the end of secondary school — that’s age 16 — the gap has more than doubled again to 19.3 months. Effectively, this means that a 16 year old pupil in Year 11 is sitting their GCSE’s with the equivalent knowledge of a 14 year old in Year 9…
What this shows is that “Children who start school without the tools to learn find it incredibly difficult to catch up, which risks further locking children into poverty in the future”.
When we know that this education gap puts kids up against it before they even start, we can no longer maintain the mentality that success in education and life results from someone simply deciding to work a bit harder.
Generally, where kids start, is where they will end up. Therefore, it is vital that quality early-years education is provided universally. Nursery places cost 77% more than they did in 2003 while earnings have remained largely unchanged. Unsurprisingly, those who will miss out most will be those from low-income backgrounds.
If we don’t plug this gap, those from low-income backgrounds will continue to under-attain, and intergenerational poverty will persist.
4. Limited and unsuitable pathways 🔚
In contrast to the general thread of this post which places emphasis on educational attainment and therefore an ‘academic’ definition of success, it would be wrong to suggest that intelligence can be measured purely by exams and university degrees.
In the U.K. (and globally) there is an over-emphasis placed on university as being the sole pathway students should take after school to ensure economic empowerment. Sadly, the £9,000 per year tuition fee, combined with ample living expenses means the average total cost of university is around £35,000-£40,000. Although the allure of a social life and a 3 year long party is enough to persuade middle class kids like me, for most the economic stretch means university is completely un-attainable.
For years university has been the only answer for students about to leave school, and there has been general opinion that the alternative — vocational training/apprenticeships are an unworthy match.
Weirdly, in some of Europe’s most economically successful countries (i.e. Germany and Switzerland) the opinion is different. In Switzerland for example, roughly 66% of school leavers opt to go onto an apprenticeship scheme.
Whilst it is true that there are pushes by the government to increase apprenticeship opportunities, with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills stating “Our goal is for young people to see apprenticeships as a high quality and prestigious path to successful careers”; the investment of UK employers in training is low compared to international competitors and there has been a rapid decline over the last 20 years.
In 2015, David Cameron and the Conservative government committed to producing 3 million apprenticeships by 2020. This was reaffirmed by Theresa May in 2017 who pledged to “deliver our commitment to create 3 million apprenticeships for young people by 2020”.
But, as shown by the table below, numbers of apprenticeship starts stayed static in 2016 and then took a stark drop in 2017. The reality is that this time last year there had only been 1,435,700 apprenticeship starts since when the target was launched and we are off-track from hitting this target.
University simply isn’t applicable to some of the kids I see on a daily basis (although I believe it could be a different situation if the education system and society hadn’t have failed them from the start).
In turn, the provision of quality vocational training needs to be supplied.
5. Teachers have it tough 👩🏫👨🏫💪
As I said at the start — I hated school. I hated authority and being told what to do, and I generally believed all teachers were power-hungry poos who wanted to tell me off for the sake of it.
Since being exposed to some of the greatest teachers (and humans) in the UK, my opinion has drastically altered.
Every teacher I have met cares deeply about the students they teach. They put in their 8am-5pm shift (and more!) every single day; designing immaculate & engaging classes, meticulously marking home-learning, and acting as compassionate & caring role models for children as they hope to set themselves up for the future.
I used to think teachers were archaic and backwards, training myself and new generations to be cogs in a system. Although I still have (monumental!) issues with the schooling system, the teachers I have been exposed to are far from this.
We champion the idea of teaching being ‘rewarding’ but teachers face many daily losses for very few wins. They face the stress of being on call for every hour of their job, no matter whether it is their break. They face the burden of taking responsibility for a child’s wellbeing when their home-life is unstable. They face the inability to switch off after hours (no mid-week sessions! 🍻) because they know they always have to be on the top of their game when they’re around kids.
And they face the requirement to take responsibility for a kid’s educational success and life wellbeing even though they spend 80% of their time outside of school (let alone the rest of their life).
Despite all of this (and much, much more), the average teacher gets paid around £30,000 a year, the same amount I got as a 22 year old for sitting on my butt all day in an office trying (and failing) to sell software.
I believe we need to change the culture we have around the education system and the job of teaching — elevating the important we place on the role and giving teachers the respect they deserve.
