RE: League Tables - what have we learned?

["Ivan Webb" <Ivan.Webb@bigpond.com>]

Thanks to Paul Hollingworth for raising the many issues & perspectives
arising from the publishing of school league tables.

While Deming's teachings have had a profound impact on manufacturing and
service delivery I am not confident that education has had similar
benefits from his work. With few exceptions the quality movement has
failed education. If

It would be easy to explain this in terms of the ignorance and
resistance of educators, but this could be a mistake. We are all both
knowledgeable and ignorant - that is why we need to work together. 

IMHO naïve assumptions about education made by people in the quality
movement are one of the major factors contributing to the lack of uptake
of quality management by educators. 

The translation of Deming's teaching into schooling should not be
undertaken lightly: for example
 - teachers and principals do not have a free choice in their work with
their students (they are subject to all sorts of requirements and
expectations) 
 - explaining what is possible to people in this situation can be more a
disservice than a service
 - schools are not factories
 - education is not a manufacturing process
 - students are people,  not products of the education system
 - employers are not the clients of the education systems
 - employers are just one of the student's clients
 - education enables students to meet the needs of all their 'clients'
(workmates, family, friends and employers)
 - the core process of education is learning (not teaching)
 - teachers work WITH their students ON the students' learning systems*
 - schools exist to ensure the success of teachers and students working
together
[NB. The above list is not complete and each statement would benefit
from further examination.  For

Many of the above statements are in stark contrast with most notions of
teaching. The general consensus is that teachers should work ON their
students WITH the help of the education system. Yet our most memorable
teachers are generally those who worked WITH us and enabled us to
improve our learning systems.

In many ways to league tables are really a red herring: they don't even
come close to the heart of the matter. That is why they won't improve
schooling. It is also the reason why removing league tables will also
not improve schooling. With in this sense proponents and opponents are
both correct.

Ivan Webb
Tasmania