At this point, almost every household in the country has seen at least one episode of Educating Yorkshire. It’s fierce, it’s funny and it’s very easy to get emotionally involved with the struggles faced by the pupils at Thornhill Community Academy in Dewsbury. Educating Yorkshire has been a runaway hit this summer. Twitter and Facebook are alive with chatter about the programme and several of its stars have very quickly become household names.
It’s a well made, carefully considered television show, says Yorkshire Post journalist John Roberts. There’s little doubt that it was made with great affection and that its creators genuinely wanted to show British viewers a different slice of life. Yet, Educating Yorkshire has brought up some very serious issues about education in the north of England.
The cameras at Thornhill have picked up some rather nasty incidents and a lot of parents are very shocked at the language used by pupils throughout. Whilst it’s important to acknowledge the fact that the show has been carefully edited, it’s also vital that we address the problems that it represents. There is an awful lot of violence at Thornhill – last week’s show dealt with the fallout from a fight between two year eleven pupils.
One was a sensitive and polite young man who hit back after years of bullying – the other, a mouthy blonde who giggled about her part in the incident as soon as she thought the cameras had stopped rolling. Though the head teacher of the school dealt with the issue as expertly and as fairly as he could, it was just one of a dozen similar incidents involving white, working class boys who felt like the system was failing them. Whilst girls are standing firm at the top of the educational leader boards, the boys in this country seem to have fallen far behind in recent years, says Independent journalist Richard Garner.
The economic recession is an easy target to blame. It’s a fairly accurate one, too. The divide between rich and poor has grown exponentially, and it is now almost impossible for the poorest members of society to provide for their children. Ofsted Chief Inspector Michael Wilshaw recently revealed that some children are regularly sent to school without a lunchtime meal, says Daily Mail expert Hannah Roberts. He heaped praise on teachers for providing guidance, advice and support for pupils whose parents cannot or won’t provide it themselves.
Whilst the inspector’s comments are certainly worrying, they fail to address the reasons why so many parents can’t afford to send their children to school with the proper equipment. Could it have something to do with government demonisation of the working classes, perhaps? The pupils at Lansdowne College in Notting Hill certainly seem to think so. They’re studying for their A Levels in a region that perfectly illustrates the deep divide between rich and poor.
After all, the coalition still thinks it’s okay to fine low income families just because they happen to have a spare bedroom. It still reckons it’s fair and just to give almighty tax breaks to the rich, whilst taking from the poor with both hands. Michael Wilshaw shouldn’t be talking about parents who won’t provide for their children – they are a tiny minority. The rest are people who are struggling and will continue to struggle. People who feel devastated by the fact that they can’t provide for their families.
White, working class boys certainly aren’t a microcosm of our society. They’re not failing all on their own. They’re part of a much bigger problem and separating them from that problem isn’t going to change or help the situation. There is absolutely no need to point out the fact that it is white boys who are falling behind – chances are, this is simply because they’re the majority group. Making a public issue out of such minor detail has already allowed parents to jump on the ‘ethnically mixed schools are bad’ bandwagon. Lord knows, they don’t need much of an excuse these days.
Author Bio: Joe Fearon is a retired head teacher and a former politician. His twin teenage daughters are due to start their A Levels at Lansdowne College next year. Joe can usually be found reading the Sunday papers or writing about education issues on his personal blog.
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