Schools for a Knowledge Economy

Abstract

English schools have always been involved with the economy of their time, but it was not until the mid-nineteenth century that schooling for the poor became primarily an adjunct of industry, rather than of the Church. This industrial style of education, preparation for the production line, still informs the school system, though Britain is no longer primarily an industrial country, but one moving toward a post-industrial economy. Such a ‘new economy’ will almost certainly be dependent on the production of new, or renewed, knowledge; and thus on the creativity and innovative capacity of its workers, and on their ability to continue learning throughout life. To foster these qualities, our school system – designed for quite different purposes – will have to undergo significant change. It will need a rethinking of what is meant by learning; a forward-looking and individualised curriculum (though not necessarily one that is centrally mandated); a new involvement with economic growth areas; and a quite different approach to networked technologies. Like any conservative institution, British schools tend to resist proposals for radical renewal, and that resistance is now, and will be in future, supported by an influential group of parents. But the school system's political paymasters have traditionally seen schooling as an instrument of economic growth. Since schools are not well fitted to serve a nascent knowledge economy, at some point there are likely to be radical changes to their practice.