At present, it has been 13 years since the British "college-style" schools took office, especially since the Cameron Coalition government came to power. British "college-style" schools are similar to American charter schools, aiming to inject new vitality into schools through restructuring, so as to improve and improve weak schools in economically underdeveloped areas or rural areas, and ultimately improve the overall quality of education in Britain. By 20 13, such schools are also facing some huge disputes. Therefore, this edition analyzes this in order to provide experience for the transformation of weak schools in China. -Edit
■ Zhaomeng Luo
Sample schools in transitional schools in Britain
Harris College is located in the small town of South Norwood, London. It is a new school reformed from Stanley Technical High School in 2007. Six years ago, only15 students in this school passed the British general secondary education certificate examination, which was far below the local and British average. However, since the reform, schools have paid close attention to the quality of education. In the recent exam, 74% of the students in this school scored "Five Good" in the unified English and Mathematics exams, far higher than the "Five Good" score of 58% in the UK. On this basis, the British Education Standards Agency rated the school as "excellent".
It is understood that Harris "college-style" school is directly funded by the British central government, and also accepts donations from volunteer groups and charitable organizations. Moreover, the school operates independently and is not controlled by the local education administrative department. Peckham, a self-made European carpet retailer, is the biggest sponsor of Harris College.
Harris College is just one of Harris Group 13 colleges. Harris Group owns 12 middle schools and 1 primary schools, and plans to open five more in recent years. In Harris Group, sponsors have the right to appoint school management; Schools have great power to decide teachers' salaries and working conditions; Schools have more freedom in arranging daily schedules; Although teachers must teach the core part of the national curriculum, they are given autonomy in subjects and teaching content; Teachers can get 1500 pounds in addition to their normal income every year, as well as fringe benefits, including a 20% discount on group consumption.
Timetable for developing "college-style" schools
In fact, the "college-style" schools in Britain have mushroomed and have gone through 10 years. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair can be said to be the pioneer of such schools. In 2000, he proposed to set up schools similar to American charter schools, that is, schools funded by the state and donated by social organizations, which are not controlled and directly managed by local governments and enjoy greater autonomy in running schools than other public schools and operate independently. Blair's aim is to inject new vitality into schools through restructuring, so as to improve and improve weak schools in economically underdeveloped areas or rural areas, and ultimately improve the overall quality of education in Britain.
In 2002, the first "academic" school in Britain was established. 20 10 when the labour party stepped down, the "college-style" schools had begun to take shape. Cameron's Coalition government has accelerated the development of "college-style" schools. In order to promote the development of "college-style" schools, Britain promulgated the College Act in 20 10. Different from the past, the bill allows all schools, including high-quality schools, to apply for transformation, and the transformed schools can be undertaken by parents, teachers or charities without sponsorship. Obviously, this initiative has gradually evolved from a tool to reverse weak schools to a starting point to improve the quality of all schools.
According to the survey data on the website of the British Ministry of Education, as of 20 13 1 1, there are 3 167 schools in England that have become or plan to become "academic" schools, accounting for 15% of all schools. According to the forecast of the British Ministry of Education, in 20 13 years, the development of "college-style" schools will go faster and further. Among them, "college-style" schools will be out of the control of local education administrative departments, and local education administrative departments will return the rights of principals to them. The headmaster can run and change the school according to his own ideas. They can extend the class hours according to the actual situation of the school, get educational resources from parents and students, hire new teachers who study the most difficult subjects for students, and reward outstanding faculty members themselves.
Praise and play for "college-style" schools
An empirical study of the London School of Economics and Political Science found that the current "college-style" schools used to be weak schools, but because of the reorganization, students' scores in the general secondary education certificate examination increased greatly, and after the reorganization, they attracted students with strong ability.
The influence of "college-style" schools has fundamentally weakened the power of local education authorities. The government is changing from the original role of hiring faculty and allocating funds for schools to the role of "supervisor", and they will completely "let go" of school enrollment and expulsion of students.
In fact, the real core value of "college-style" student movement lies in liberating teachers and teachers' leaders and letting them do their best for students. Michael Gove, Minister of Education, said that the government should let people with lofty ideals in the field of education control education, and anyone who cares about social stratification should support "college-style" schools.
However, critics say that if "academic" schools are successful in terms of grades, it is because their grades including vocational subjects have improved their scores, or they have eliminated those students with learning difficulties who can study in public schools. In addition, the criticism of the new government's educational reform stems from the fact that the expulsion rate of students in "academic" schools is higher than that in public schools. British official statistics show that from 2009 to 20 10, 0.3% of students were permanently expelled from "academic" schools, while the proportion in public schools was only 0. 14%.
In fact, "college-style" schools are not a panacea for all diseases, and may fail. For example, the "college-style" school in Cordell, Southport, has been declining in education quality for several years, but the school has not improved significantly since its transformation in August 20 1 1.
The reform of "college-style" schools has also attracted many criticisms from education unions, parents of students and local governments, who believe that the reform of schools is a smokescreen for the privatization of national education. They object that teachers in "college-style" schools do not need to abide by the state regulations on wages and working environment, and schools do not need to be responsible by the local government.
China Education News 20 13 04 12 4th Edition.