The following article was first published in my newsletter, Digital Education. I’ve republished it here so that I can refer to it in an article about the latest education White Paper.

exasperated, by Terry Freedman.jpeg — Exasperated, by Terry Freedman

Just in case you weren't aware, the previous Education Secretary in England, Gavin Williamson, is going to be given a knighthood. Admittedly he had a rotten task, having to deal with education during a pandemic and lockdowns. Even so, in my humble opinion he has to be one of the worst education secretaries we've had, and believe me he has some pretty strong rivals in that regard.

There was John Patten, who decided that what schools needed was discipline. Astonishing that nobody in schools had realised that before. Or there was Kenneth Baker, who still pops up with depressing frequency to make some education-related pronouncement or other. He has spent a long time decrying the lack of vocational skills teaching in schools, apparently unaware that they largely disappeared when the National Curriculum was imposed. That was under the direction of one Kenneth Baker.

In fact, I've been reading a book called About our Schools, by Tim Brighouse and Mick Waters (who say that Baker centralised education to a degree not seen outside North Korea.). It features discussions with past education secretaries, and if you want to see the humble brag elevated to an art form, this is the book for you.

I haven't finished reading it yet, but I'm starting to feel like Dorothy Parker, who declared that "this is not a book to be set aside lightly, but to be hurled across the room with great force". I considered doing that, but the book is so heavy I'm worried about dislocating my shoulder. It's saving me a fortune in gym fees though.

Anyway, back to Gavin. In my opinion he was pretty awful, one of the reasons being that I didn't think he could connect linguistically with teachers. Consider this, from the aforementioned About Our Schools:

"I think we've actually driven so much change...." and "All the way through the pandemic we really drove the legislation...."

Most people drive cars, or deliver messages. Williamson drives agendas and delivers challenges. I commented on this preponderance of corporate claptrap in my textual analysis of his education technology policy.

A good article reflecting how people feel about this knighthood here:

Sir Gavin’s knighthood is an insult to children

But in a way, this seems to be standard. If you mess things up enough, you're likely to be booted out with a golden handshake, or given some "honour", or both. In a different context, read about the great post office scandal, an absolutely dreadful affair that ruined many people's lives and even led to suicides. What happened to the Chief Executive of the Post Office? She was given a CBE.