Whilst | fully agree with Red Weekly that it is crucial to defenc the victimised teachers of William Tyndale school, and whilst also appreciating that the publication of the interview with Terry Ellis in your last issue was designed to stimulate debate on the question or caucarion, ram make its disagreements with Ellis's educational philosophy more explicit.
For example, Plowden report, and the fact that as soon as teachers attempt to socialise education according to the needs of each child they are jumped on by a load or middie class managers. Does CHIs try to defend the according to their needs'. No. He persists in saying that he was goine oniv whalis tauoncin te oest teacner trainino collecess Ellis is meeting academic elitism with elitism in this case.
But things get worse. Nowhere is that elitism more apparent than in his patronising dismissal of the played by the working class in education, and how that role can be altered.
He firstly makes the fundamental mistake of denving the fact that the present state education system is in fact geared to the needs of industry etc. of the technological side of education in the 1960s. geared to meeting evolution' referred to by Harold Wilson. He does not seem to be able to see that the moves being made at the moment by people such as Callaghan, not just to make massive cutbacks in the education system but also to revise its orientation, are in order to suit better the needs of industrialists and businessmen Sch is a fundamental spector dealer den which is a fundamental aspect of our educational system worKInG Class surprised that Red Weekly did not just leads to reters to me imoemen ation or ine idea of education on the principle of each Tole mat nas been expenence He ignores things such as the expansion wich was the needs of the 'white hot technological However, Ellis with all his talk about 'progressive education' offers no solution to this backward attitude.
• consciousness about education must be cha nged. But at the same time he dismisses the whole class as Implicitly saying that they nothing], and that as such, the job indeec want 1о кпой education must be let to mose wo do know somemine. in La perpetuation of the present closed natúre of education, with the teacher as the only authority and the only one with anything to contribute.
Surely the change in working class consciousness that Ellis wants to see can oniv de orouent abour by ine de-mysunicator of education, not by a clique of 'radical" teachers saying "leave it to us, we know our job'. In other words, the working class needs to be educated about ecucaron. ine truv erogressive reacher would not dismiss the role of, for example, education, but would attempt to draw them in, SnOTE Te Work owards socialon education. It is only in such a two way involvement that consciousness can be changed.
Alexandra Kollontai once remarked that it was the streets that brought up the children of the proletariat. In the days of state education, that job has been taken over by people such as Terry Ellis and his colleagues. It would seem to me, however, that such people should make the effort to educational philosophy [whether in or out of school hours!] in practice-by returning to une streets and attempung to under stand the social, cultural and economic factors which prevent not susceptible to fascism. Faced with COleCe. ano prospect of the dole when they graduate recent sacking of 40 workers by the NUS seen as deplorable giving credence to the Tory students cal It is the task of revolutionaries in the these ideas ov ouncine a revolurionary pole o based on a firm student/ worker alliance. The 17 November Day of Action is crucial. as it win be a concrete He says that / know nothing [and of As a regular reader of the daily Rouge in contradict one another; and it is clea
ANDREW WIARD (Report) and the need for solidarity action.
tee.
nounced by the District Committee. It decision-making. But in the face of polic levels and open discussion or all proo was essential No attempt was made to integrate the women into the democratic organisation of the strike so that they felt in contro and could begin to overcome their prev ious inexperience of struggle and trade