This year’s lecture was delivered by Professor Danny Dorling. His theme was “The Education Shuffle: What will the next two steps forward be?” He explored the impact of comprehensive education, the ways in which that progress has been compromised and what the next steps forward need to be.
You can hear a recording of the talk (below). Danny Dorling is introduced by Melissa Benn.
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Angela Raynor is Labour's Secretary of State for Education
A recent Guardian article introduced her as follows.
"After a tumultuous couple of weeks for Labour, which saw two of her predecessors – Lucy Powell and Pat Glass – resign, she was announced as the party’s new shadow education secretary on Friday afternoon.
"She is combining the brief with a role as the equalities spokesperson ...
"Another one of these Oxbridge types then? Not at all, before being elected as the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne in the 2015 general election, Rayner was a care worker for Stockport council. She became a trade union rep for Unison and was then promoted to senior steward.
"In May 2016, she spoke out against the government’s plans laid out in the Queen’s Speech. Although Labour lost the vote, she won plaudits from commentators and education professionals for her speech, where she outlined how grinding poverty and deprivation had affected her experience of school, saying:
“I was a NEET – not in education, employment or training – and I had no GCSEs at grade A to C; and, as I said, I had a baby at 16. School, for me, was not a place where you went to be educated, but a place where you got away from your parents for a couple of hours while they got some respite from you, and where you were able to see your mates..."
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On 23rd September Angela wrote an article for Politics Home in which she said
"I will fight any plans to bring back the selective grammar schools, which branded children as ‘failures’ at the tender age of 11, and which only increase class divisions in Britain.
"I want to see more young girls studying the so-called STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and maths – and taking their place at the top of these professions.
"I want to see academies made more accountable to local people by giving local councils a say and empowering parent governors. There have been shocking abuses of public money in some academies, with bosses feathering their own nests through huge salaries or paying themselves massive ‘consultancy fees’. ...
"At the heart of my approach will be a belief that every child has potential – Labour’s task is to help unleash it."
