Pick and mix consultation loses its way
FOR ambition, fresh-thinking and diversity Education must be congratulated for its consultation on the future of secondary schools. Not content with getting 4,000 islanders to fill in an online survey the department set up 28 focus groups of everyone from business leaders to charity workers and used technology to create a 'closed crowd' where teachers could debate freely and without fear of repercussions.
They even asked almost 500 year 6 pupils what they thought of the 11-plus system they were going through.
The questions were open-ended with no obvious agenda.
Having done a good job getting the island's views it is what happened next that is puzzling.
By far the largest part of the survey, which was open to everybody, was declared 'not a statistical survey'. In other words, because it was skewed towards those who could be bothered to fill it in – a lot of 40-something homeowning parents with links to the Grammar or colleges – it was not a sample of all islanders' views.
So despite the numbers and the heavy backing for a selective system at 11 Education felt free to create its compromise.
That compromise seems strongly influenced by the education professionals, who were much more inclined to radical change.
Those professionals also chose to take part. Of 1,200 staff invited to join the closed conversation, 373 signed up. Of those a third took an active part.
So on one hand we have almost 4,000 islanders, the majority of whom want an 11-plus or similar, while on the other there are just over 100 staff.
Yet the conclusions do not reflect those numbers as Education take a pick and mix approach to which consultation group to listen to.
For example, when asked at what age selection should take place only a handful of the 4,000 said 14. Almost half said 11. Yet 14 wins the day.
Education was determined to do this differently – to debate, discuss and decide rather than announce a plan and defend it. But by consulting so widely and then being selective in which people to listen to it has robbed itself of a clear popular mandate to drive through its vision.
