The opening of what are called ‘free schools’ in England this autumn is not without controversy. While these new schools are not private schools, they receive public money while remaining outwith the control of local education authorities.
Supporters of free schools claim that these schools are a response to demands from parents who are unhappy with the existing state provision. Furthermore, they claim that they will promote a more ‘traditional’ curriculum unhindered by the influence of the state. Opponents of the free schools movement claim that these schools will only cater for the children of affluent parents and create further division in education and society more generally.
This argument will continue as both sides are operating from a firm ideological basis. The key point seems to be the definition of good education. While much contemporary thinking on education seems to be focussed on achieving competencies across a range of suitably designed targets and utilitarian outcomes, there is another way that Blessed John Henry Newman encouraged: an education underpinned by solid intellectual and moral formation. Newman claimed that this would be more useful than an education designed specifically to be useful! Perhaps the advent of the free schools movement will offer a space for some educators to offer a radical alternative to the status quo.
It will be interesting to track the development of, and the political reaction to, the 'free schools' in the coming months and years.
