Arms-length isn’t far and, as anyone who’s been in a hot year 10 classroom after lunch knows, it’s not the distance but the cause that’s the problem. I’m not worried about Oak being arm’s length – I’m worried about the argument that puts it there.
When we wrote Knowledge and the Future School eight years ago, we wanted subject knowledge back at the heart of schools, dislodging testing as a proxy for learning. We tackled the question of whether children just needed ‘downloading skills’, or were entitled to make a relationship with knowledge for themselves. Our work perhaps helped turn the tide, but now different waves chill the feet.
