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Archive for November, 2010

Rise of the MBAs

Wed 24th Nov 201015 Comments »

Management courses do more for universities than society, argues Ben Schiller

In his 1954 book The Practice of Management, the great American management thinker Peter Drucker wrote that “no greater damage could be done to our economy or to our society than to attempt to ‘professionalize’ management by ‘licensing’ managers … or by limiting access to management to people with a special academic degree”.

At the time, Drucker was worried by what he saw as a new phenomenon for managers to be trained at business schools, rather than ‘learning on the job’, as they always had. He disagreed that management could be a profession, like medicine or law, because it was essentially something you learned by doing, not in the classroom.

Despite his reputation, society has completely failed to take Drucker’s advice. Since the 1950s, thousands of business schools have opened around the world with the express intention of teaching management, and the skills and knowledge imparted there have come to be seen as increasingly important in the world’s boardrooms, not to mention its governments. (more…)

Does every child still matter as much?

Mon 22nd Nov 2010No Comments »

Although the core schools budget has been largely protected from public spending cuts and the pupil premium will be allocated to the most vulnerable children, Chris Waterman FRSA remains concerned about how austerity measures will impact on children.

One of the most dramatic changes of direction made by the coalition government -  although some might deny it  – is  away from what had become known as the ‘Every Child Matters‘ agenda. Michael Gove’s early ‘re-branding’ of the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) as the Department for Education (DfE) was the first indication of what the priority would be: schools.

Of course, the DfE does retain responsibility for children’s services, and there is a Minister for Children, Sarah Teather. However the principal – some would say, the sole – focus of the new administration has been on the schools agenda. In a speech in early November, made in front of an audience of lead members and senior local authority officers, Michael Gove made only brief mention of children’s services and focused largely on schools. In the Comprehensive Spending Review, the schools budget was ‘protected’ with the ring fence retained. This was in sharp contrast to children’s services which will need to compete for funding through the local authority corporate ‘pot’.

The coalition has been keen to stress that ‘we’re all in this together’ when it comes to austerity measures: the DfE Business Plan 2011-2015 states plainly that “we are committed to transforming our education system so that all children, regardless of their background, thrive and prosper” and that “all children and families receive the support they need, particularly the most vulnerable”.

What is not yet clear however is what impact the broader range of coalition policies will have on families with children. Some of the early analyses indicate that the richest will suffer most in cash terms. However, the cumulative affect of the policy decisions; the consequences of the spending decisions that central government have taken; and budget decisions that local government will have to take, will impact disproportionately on children and families. A further concern, backed by early analysis by the Institute of Fiscsal Studies is that it will be some of the most vulnerable families that will be hardest hit. (more…)

Will the Coalition’s school reforms help the poor?

Wed 17th Nov 20105 Comments »

Dr Ruth Lupton FRSA from the London School of Economics and Political Science analyses the relationship between school quality and poverty.

The Coalition government is committed to reducing inequalities in educational outcomes between rich and poor, particularly through its pupil premium.  It also believes that educational standards will improve if schools are allowed to be more independent and more diverse in what they offer, hence its New Academies and Free School Policies.

These two goals may prove to be at odds for a number of reasons, not least that greater diversity and choice tends to advantage those families who have the knowledge and desire to make choices, and/or the resources to move near the best schools.  A more immediate concern is that the Coalition is extending these new freedoms using a ‘best first’ approach.  At the moment, only those schools judged ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted can apply to become Academies.

According to the RSA’s director of education, Professor Becky Francis, this is “an odd way to further social justice”, since it is “further helping already thriving schools with already thriving pupils” .  Whether or not she is right depends on the location and socio-economic composition of outstanding schools: are they really in the most advantaged areas with the most advantaged intakes, or can they also be found in poorer areas where educational outcomes are most in need of improvement?  In this note I examine this question using Ofsted inspection data matched to the Index of Deprivation Affecting Children (IDACI) for pupils attending the school. (more…)

Is retail therapy a narrative for our times?

Mon 8th Nov 20109 Comments »

Does it matter when the language of marketing consumer goods suggests a higher moral or cultural purpose? Juliana Farha FRSA thinks so.

The other day I found myself outside of Selfridges department store when I remembered a flashy two-page feature I’d seen a while back in Time Out about the store’s new shoe department. ‘The fabled Selfridges Shoe Galleries are finally open!’ the magazine had gushed.

I wandered in to see what all the fuss was about and discovered – you guessed it – shoes. Lots and lots of them, divided up neatly by brand. There was Jimmy Choo right next to Carvela. Stella McCartney rubbing elbows with LK Bennett. In short, high street meets Bond Street. How’s that for democracy?

Bewildered and exhausted by this exhaustive offering, I headed home, put on the kettle, and grabbed the dictionary where I searched under ‘F’ for ‘fable’. Here’s what I found:

1. a short moral story, esp one with animals as characters;
2. a false, fictitious, or improbable account; fiction or lie;
3. a story or legend about supernatural or mythical characters or events;
4. etc

What on earth could this Time Out copywriter have had in mind? Surely the opening of a new shoe store – albeit a big one – couldn’t be construed as a moral story? Equally, they couldn’t possibly mean ‘a legend about supernatural or mythical characters or events’. Or could they? (more…)

The Perils Of Obsessive Measurement

Mon 1st Nov 20109 Comments »

It is nearly a decade ago since a brief conversation I had with a prominent member of the New Labour cabinet, who asked me what book I was writing next. I told him I was questioning the idea of targets. These were the days before opposition to targets had become relatively fashionable, and he was enjoyably astonished. “But what else can we do?” he asked.

Ten years later, targets are out, along with much of the detritus of what used to be called the New Public Management. Measuring by ‘outcomes’ – measuring the effects of the activity rather than the activity itself – is in. (more…)