ABSTRACT
Criticism of the state educational system led to James Callaghan’s Ruskin College speech in the autumn of 1976 and to the resulting ‘Great Debate’, discussed in paragraph 1.5 of this extract. The extract is taken from the ‘Green Paper’ of 1977, published by the Department of Education and Science at the end of the ‘Debate’. The first of the two passages reproduced here attempts a balanced appraisal of the criticisms made about the educational system in general. It acknowledges that ‘there is legitimate ground for criticism and concern’ but refutes the major claim of critics: ‘It is simply untrue that there has been a general decline in educational standards.’ The second passage discusses primary education and argues that ‘child-centred’ developments have been influential but only partially successful in the schools. It provides a heavily qualified endorsement of developments in primary education. In particular, liberal romanticism is believed to have been successful only ‘in the right hands’. The Department stresses the centrality of numeracy and literacy and the importance of progression within the curriculum, of continuity between schools and of consistency across schools ‘in kind if not in detail’. The 1977 Green Paper was the first Departmental criticism of the effects of developments in primary education, since these were set in train by the Hadow Report of 1931 (pp. 25-30). The period since 1977 has seen considerable efforts being made by the Department, through the Inspectorate, to help schools ‘restore the rigour without damaging the real benefits of the child-centred developments’.
