ABSTRACT
In the last chapter we looked at a number of ways of improving achievement for children, which stemmed from a concern for social justice. This has been a continuing theme of the book: in Chapter 1 we said that fairness is made up of two strands, one of which dealt with the empowerment of individuals and the other with the righting of structural injustice due to race, social class, gender, and special educational needs. Firstly, fairness in education means that each individual child grows up empowered to work out their own wants and needs in life – and to have the skills, attitudes, and knowledge to reach for them. Obviously, both the achievements of children and also their self-esteem are essential. No one can set about finding their own path through life without sufficient self-esteem to do so, and equally, they need to have the skills, attitudes and knowledge to put their plans into action.
