SCHOOLS & COMMUNITIES

Alan DysonCentre for Equity in Education

University of Manchesterd.a.dyson@manchester.ac.uk

England has a long history of inequality…

…and is still unequal

Outcomes are shaped by socio-economic background

The Marmot Review (2010) Fair society, healthy lives

DCSF (2009) Deprivation and education

Longitudinal and Lifecourse Studies, 2(1), 2011)

Gaps appear early

They don’t narrow

There’s a gradient – not a cliff

Schools ameliorate – but they don’t transform

Bethan Thomas, John Pritchard, Dimitris Ballas, Dan Vickers and Danny Dorling Social & Spatial Inequalities Research Group Department of Geography The University of Sheffield http://www.shef.ac.uk/sasi

A Tale of Two Cities: The Sheffield Project

…but places also are unequal

So, what needs to be done?

And what can schools do?

Interconnections matter…

Fabian Society (2006) Narrowing the Gap

Working on learning

Working with the child

Working with the family

Working with the area

http://www.hcz.org/home

A US response

One of our core beliefs is that in poor communities where, literally, all of the institutions are failing children, you can’t do one thing and expect you’ll solve the issue of scale. I mean, you can save some children with an early intervention programme, and you can save some children if you work with addicted mothers, and you can save some children if you have after-school programs. But if you start talking about how you’re going to save most of the children, you have to do all those things, and do them over the long term, and you have to make sure you count how many children actually received those services.

The HCZ pipeline

The English version?

Students facing disadvantage may do better

Many children may understand more, and feel better about the school & themselves

What can be achieved?

Families & adults facing disadvantage may do better

Schools may: enjoy better community relations develop greater capacity perform better

The returns on investment can be substantial

Create a local learning network

Create an empowered community

Enhance opportunities for local people

Different strategic aims...

Create a local learning network

Create an empowered community

Enhance opportunities for local people

Different strategic aims...

Some key questions

Cummings, C., Dyson, A., & Todd, L. (2011) Beyond the School Gates: Can full service and extended schools overcome disadvantage? (London, Routledge)

Centre for Equity in Education

http://www.education.manchester.ac.uk/research/centres/cee/