“Twenty Margate pupils sent home in Hartsdown uniform row”

According to an article in the BBC news, pupils in Hartsdown, Kent have been sent home from school and asked to leave classes for not adhering to the strict uniform policy.  The reason for this excessive regime was explained by the head teacher, Mr Tate who said, “adhering to uniform rules led to better behaviour and improved grades.”  While the majority of parents support the overall effect on appearance and the rules that are in place, some believe this is extreme.  One father even decided to move his daughter to another school which may seem far-fetched over a pair of shoes but is perfectly reasonable given her education is being put on hold.

My school had a very strict uniform policy which had some benefits and disadvantages.  The school certainly holds a high reputation if everyone looks smart and the uniform is uniform but where should the line be drawn? Uniform promotes a sense of community and inclusivity where nobody is judged.  It may be psychological but I did feel like I worked better in uniform than when I got to wear normal clothes on non-uniform days. However, I would not go as far as saying that wearing leather shoes over suede shoes improved my grades.  There is value in teaching young children the benefit of community and uniform is one means through which this can be created.  I do believe that as children grow up, particularly through their teenage years, they should be able to express their individuality and this was restricted for me in a school where I could only have one piercing in each ear and one bracelet on my wrist.

When in uniform, you are representing the school and out and about in public, you are being held accountable for your behaviour so I do understand why schools would be so strict.  Personally I believe that uniform is important but it is too far to suppress the right to learn over something so trivial as the material which makes up someone’s shoes.  The footage on BBC news also shocked me because it brings up issues of inequality.   For some families, buying a pair of brogues over some cheap suede shoes may be difficult because of the cost which means children from deprived areas could be at a disadvantage and that is not right at all.

To summarise, uniform does implement good behaviour and reflect the school’s identity but I feel it can also hide an individual’s personality, suppressing their confidence in some cases.  While punishment is appropriate and necessary to keep up the standards, I do not think that clothing should dictate whether a child misses out on their classes or not.

The Resources Seminar – The Set Task

The resources seminar explored the idea of meritocracy through a group task where each group was given the same activity but with different materials and treatment.  The task was to design a starter pack for new university students using the contents of an envelope provided to each group. Whilst some people were supplied with all sorts of stationery such as blu-tack, elastic bands, different coloured paper and plenty of pens, other groups were limited to one or two items.  This left them with very little to work with and therefore made the task a lot more challenging.

The groups with more materials were constantly praised for their efforts, given extra attention and they were even offered biscuits. The others received very little input or were completely ignored which left them feeling even more exasperated by the task set ahead of them.  When it came to presenting, despite the high quality of all the groups, the so-called “best” ideas were still those that came from the groups with more materials.  This puzzled me at the time as it seemed that there was a lot of effort put into every presentation and I personally believed that one of the best groups was one who presented all their thoughts with the limited resource of a plain piece of paper.

Personal reflections 

This task challenged me as it took me a while to notice that everyone was not being given equal opportunities. The reason for this is because I was part of one of the better treated groups and I think that it is a lot easier to feel confident, comfortable and do well in that situation and not to notice the others who are treated unfairly.  Those discriminated against, on the other hand, were extremely vocal at the end of the seminar as they had seen the inequality throughout.

Meritocracy

The point of this exercise was to explore the whole idea of meritocracy and how that can be seen in society, particularly in the context of education. Meritocracy refers to people being rewarded through their merit; usually with power and status.  In education, this is when children progress on the basis of their attainment and that makes it difficult for those who do not achieve highly to improve at all.  Often children from schools in affluent areas do better so they have an unfair advantage over children in inner city state schools and low income homes for example.  As with the exercise, the people with resources were rewarded and at an unfair advantage.  This raised the question of whether this is a risk in our education system.