The Changing Social Function of the English Secondary Modern School

The Social Function of the Changing Modern School English Secondary WILLIAM TAYLOR College of the Venerable Bede, Durham, U.K. MASS secondary education is of comparatively recent origin in England. Before 1944, most children received a 'Public Elementary' education, sometimes in schools catering for all ages from five to fourteen, but more commonly in infant and junior schools from five to eleven, and senior or central schools from eleven to fourteen. On the basis of a competitive examination at the end of the junior school stage, some pupils obtained 'special places', with financial assist- ance if need be, in the fee-charging Secondary (Grammar) schools. In 1945, with the implementation of the policy of 'Secondary education for all', the senior and central schools all became Secondary Modern schools. The remaining all-age schools have largely been reorganised, and in 1961 just under seventy per cent of children of secondary school age who are being educated within the state system, are in attendance at Secondary Modern schools. Whatever differences there may be between individual Modern schools, or groups of such schools, they all have certain common characteristics which distinguish them from other types of secondary school. Firstly, their pupils are those who have not been selected for Grammar or Technical school education; although fees have been abolished, and Modern, Technical and Grammar schools have nominally equal status, many more parents want their children to be educated in Grammar schools than there are places available, and thus there is still a strong competitive element associated with the eleven-plus allocation procedures. Secondly, the curricula of Modern schools are not pri- marily directed towards success in public examinations, as are those of the Grammar schools, although an increasing number of Modern school pupils do in fact take part in such examinations. Thirdly, the staff of Modern schools are on the whole less well qualified academically than those of other types of secondary school, the large majority having received their post-school education and professional training either at teachers' training colleges or through the one year emergency scheme established after the second world war. Fourthly, even in districts where pupils in Grammar schools are largely of working class origin, the Modern schools have a larger proportion of boys and girls from working class homes, particularly from the semi-skilled and unskilled level. As a con- comitant of this, and of the fact that it has all the dull children in its area who 177 are not being educated at special schools or outside the state system, the Modern school tends to have a larger number of pupils who constitute behaviour pro- blems than can be found in other secondary schools. Fifthly, the great majority of Modern school pupils leave school at the minimum statutory leaving age of fif- teen, although the numbers staying on beyond this age are increasing. The lower average age of the pupils, as compared with Grammar schools of comparable size, affects the calculation of the salary of the head teacher and the number of additional payments available for staff, causing the Secondary Modern teacher, on average, to be paid less than his Grammar school counterpart, although both receive the same basic salary. In a similar connection, the scale of equip- ment for Modern schools is seldom as generous as that for other types of secondary school. Finally, the occupations taken up by Modern school leavers are generally of a lower status, in terms of current evaluations, than those entered by Grammar school pupils, and show a greater proportion of semi-skilled and unskilled employments. Current interest in the development of advanced courses for the older pupils in Secondary Modern schools, in the growth of examination work for the more able and the proliferation of out-of-school activities, has tended to obscure the fundamental social and educational realities that differentiate the Secondary Modern from other types of secondary school. There has been a tendency to concentrate upon the practical achievements of individual schools, and to be somewhat shy of discussing the social and educational presupposi- tions that underly the work of the Secondary Modern school. This is understand- able, but misguided. Political interests have played some part; recent Conserva- tive governments, for example, have been concerned to emphasise the oppor- tunities the Modern school provides, partly to conteract the attractions of the Comprehensive school. It does not do to ignore the features that distinguish one Modern school from another, but we are concerned in this paper with an analysis of their common and unifying features. Admittedly, there has been considerable differentiation among Secondary Modern schools since 1945, as was officially anticipated, and, indeed, intended. It is questionable, however, whether the pattern that this differentiation has taken is the one expected by most interpreters of post-war secondary school development. In particular, the present stress upon objective criteria of pupils' attainment, such as success in external examinations, is very different from what was suggested for the Modern school, and the measure of vocationalism present in some specialised courses today goes well beyond what was considered desirable in 1944. The early post-war years were characterised by a spate of publications and speeches, both official and otherwise, about the future of the Modern school, often couched in terms of the most vague generality, and evoking educational ideals that were far removed from what appeared, especially to the practicing teacher, to be either possible or desirable courses of action. Since 1944, however, powerful social forces have influenced the work of the Modern school. Firstly, economic and occupational changes have led, on the one hand, to demands for new types of skill and training which the traditional tripartite system of secondary schools .

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