Exam nation

Sammy Wright

£22.00

Available on back-order

Exams, grades, league tables, Ofsted reports. All of them miss the point of school and together they are undermining our whole approach to education. What is school for? In theory, it equips young people to become independent and productive, to get jobs and forge lives, perhaps to be ‘good citizens’. In reality, it means one thing: exams. By focusing on the grades pupils get in neatly siloed, academic subjects, we end up ranking them and our schools into winners and losers. Some pupils are set on a trajectory to university – the rest are left ill-equipped for the world they actually face. Meanwhile, the ‘good’ schools become middle-class enclaves and the most disadvantaged lose out. Drawing on his twenty years as a teacher, hundreds of interviews and his experience on the UK Government’s Social Mobility Commission, Sammy Wright shows that schools are – and should be – so much more than this.

ISBN: 9781847927521 Category:

Description

Exams, grades, league tables, Ofsted reports. All of them miss the point of school and together they are undermining our whole approach to education.

‘An essential read – as entertaining as it is insightful – for anyone who cares about the way we treat young people’ Observer

What is school for? Drawing on his twenty years as a teacher, hundreds of interviews and his experience on the UK Government’s Social Mobility Commission, head teacher Sammy Wright exposes the fundamental misconception at the heart of our education system. By focusing on the grades pupils get in neatly siloed, academic subjects, we end up ranking them and our schools into winners and losers: some pupils are set on a trajectory to university – the rest are left ill-equipped for the world they actually face.

Wright’s entertaining and hugely important book shows that schools are – and should be – so much more than this. With wisdom and humour, balancing idealism and pragmatism, he sets out what a better way would look like and how we might get there.

‘Brilliantly illuminates the realities and blindspots of the system’ Jeffrey Boakye

Deeply absorbing…Wright deserves the highest marks’ Financial Times

‘Such a compelling read, no matter your outlook’ Telegraph

‘Extraordinary and brilliant . . . the book education has been waiting for’ Laura McInerney, co-founder of Teacher Tapp

Additional information

Weight 0.488 kg
Dimensions 24.1 × 15.8 × 2.7 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages

288

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

373.41 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K

Join our Mailing List

Sign up to the Jaffé & Neale newsletters to receive updates on forthcoming titles we’re excited about, book club information and book signing events at the store.