One of the biggest questions in Britain today is what to do to reform the education system. Many people agree with what Lord Skidelsky recently said in an interview with the Guardian, that “politicians have ‘f**ked up’ our schools at some point in the last twenty years“.
So what’s the solution to our education system’s problems?
Well, I can say wholeheartedly that it is not military schools. I mean, if you were blindly asked the question “which party, only weeks after an ill-recieved speech about the evils of ‘mass immigration’, will call for the introduction of military discipline into schools?”, I’m guessing the bulk of people would guess the BNP. It’s such a ludicrous policy I can barely even believe I’m writing this rebuttal of it. I mean, public services aren’t just a Mr Benn style game of dress up. What’s next? Firemen as social workers? Ballerinas to run the NHS?
But, yet here we are. There is a certain simplistic charm to the idea that the military can “whip ’em into shape”. Indeed, it calls to mind an aging Colonel I once met at a party, who on describing the appalling standard of literacy and numeracy in recruits said “we have to give them a comprehensive education… to make up for their comprehensive education”. Sadly, that’s not the reality of military education when it’s taken outside of the forces. Frequently, the spit and polish, square-bashing aspects of discipline are pushed to the fore, rather than the camaraderie that characterises real military life.
It all comes down to what is at stake. Recruits are volunteers, and have the knowledge that obeying orders – getting fit, becoming part of the unit, reacting to orders at a moment’s notice – could save their life one day, and is a vital part of the profession they aspire to become part of. They have a history to look up to – they are becoming part of something grand that existed before them, and will still be there once they have moved on.
Children have none of these things. What is inspiring for an 18-year-old on a parade ground is pathetic coming from your geography teacher when you’ve spilled some paint while colouring in Paraguay. One of the most problematic aspects of this is that these schools are being touted as a solution to discipline problems and low aspirations. Most of the ex-military teachers I’ve spoken to – I have several friends who are ex-forces in the teaching profession – have squirmed at the idea that Hollywood-style military discipline is the answer.
Several of these people teach at some of the toughest schools in London; they were unaninmous in telling me that to rely on military status and military techniques to win respect simply wouldn’t work. “Behaviour management in the teaching is different – it isn’t about shouting”, said one. “What works in a barracks would just escalate most classroom situations”. There’s also a real question about what being in a military environment does to you as a person. Unquestionably, it regiments and conditions you – to an extent, that’s the point. I’m not sure that’s a good thing – I wonder whether military discipline can coexist with vital skills we need to teach our children – most notably, critical thinking.
Often, people leave the military with little capability to survive outside of the institutional mindset. That’s part of why the rate of homelessness, alcoholism and drug abuse amongst ex-forces personnel is so high. Of course, there are a huge mosaic of complex factors which create that picture – notably the experience of combat and being trained to kill – but the divorce from reality you get from being a cog in a well-oiled machine is part of the picture. Even assuming that military schools do work – and there is some evidence that, under the hype, what is actually being proposed is more sophisticated techniques than Sharpe-esque “Five rounds a minute” drill – the targeting of these schools at deprived areas is one of the aspects that worries me most.
What will that do to society? Military schools have to cut some things from the curriculum to make room for all the polish and saluting. Quite aside from the cognitive dissonance this produces when the GCSE curriculum requires you to read poems about how war is terrible in the morning, and then requires you to love guns and flags in the afternoon – mine cut drama and arts to make space. What message do we send to our poorest kids if they go to boot camps, while middle class kids get poetry and painting and plays? It’s also worth bearing in mind that the uniformed British state – in its various guises as the military “invading Iraq” or “the Feds” patrolling the streets of London – is hardly popular in exactly the communities this is supposed to serve.
This policy has emerged out of a political bind – Labour dislikes the idea of Free Schools, but they are popular. They feel they need an eye-catching education policy to compete. While this policy certainly is “eye-catching” (read: mental), the only people who seem to like the policy are my most hard-right Tory friends. Which probably suggests this one should be politely shelved by the Labour party.
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