A presentation by Professor Patrick Ainley
This seminar will draw on a major new book which focuses on the failure of Education to deliver on its promises of upward social mobility and a brighter future.
Young people study harder but learn less, running up a down-escalator of devalued qualifications to become overqualified but underemployed, unable to move forward with their lives.
From primary to post-graduate schools – funny phonics through endless testing to phoney apprenticeships and the world’s most costly university fees – Patrick Ainley explains how English education is now driven by the economy and politics, ‘dumbing down’ rather than ‘wising up’.
Addressed to teachers and students at all levels of learning, it concludes by suggesting how schools, colleges and universities can begin to contribute towards a more meaningful and productive society.
The seminar will conclude with a reception (at 18.30), in the Foyer, to mark the official launch of the book.
Patrick Ainley is Professor of Education at the University of Greenwich and Visiting Fellow at New College, Oxford. He has taught in schools, colleges and universities, writing on youth and education including From School to YTS (1988) and Lost Generation? (2010).
The seminar and launch are free to attend, but prior registration would be helpful: please contact to book a place.
