Education under Siege

Students are tested rather than educated, teachers bullied rather than trusted, parents cast as winners or losers in a battle for places at the best schools. Sound familiar? These contentions resemble criticism that has arisen in recent years among observers of American education, and here Peter Mortimore offers a similar, trenchant critique of schools in England.

In Education under Siege, he considers the English education system as it is and as it might be. Concluding that England has some of the best teachers in the world but one of the most muddled systems, Mortimore proposes radical changes to help all English schools become good schools. He argues that the government should outlaw selection practices; integrate private schools into the state system; and establish processes to ensure that each school has effective teachers and a fair balance of students who learn easily and those who do not. In a concluding call to action, he asks readers who share his concerns to demand that politicians alter the course of education policy.

This book will appeal to parents, teachers, and future educators, as well as anyone interested in the future of education on either side of the Atlantic.