Schools of thought: Jeff Beatty recounts a student conference and its vision for the future

‘This gathering of students provided a vision of what is best in us.’

‘Every person is precious’ was the headline of a Quaker Values in Education (QVinE) threshing conference held at Woodbrooke in 2014. Since then, QVinE has attempted – through conferences, publications, online events and Meetings for Worship – to show that Friends care about the education of young people. Mostly, these efforts have engaged Friends who are educational professionals, but rarely young people.

The following is a reflection of an event that took place in June last year. It engaged young people from a wide spectrum of backgrounds and geographical locations. Hosted by Bootham Quaker School in York, 120 young people, mostly Year 12 students, came from twenty-nine different schools. These included state and independent schools in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well student delegations from France, Germany, the Philippines and Palestine (Bootham School and its students sustained those from Ramallah throughout their stay).

In our national discourse, we often talk about change. But, because there are so many views on what this change might be, there is paralysis. We know that change is needed, but what? Ask someone on the street and, inevitably, responses will relate to immediate issues: the cost of food, the difficulties of getting a hospital appointment, and knife crime – all of which are important, but hide the discourse necessary for fundamental change.

That is why this conference was so refreshing. It was democratically organised, with a strong sense of equality among all the participants, including the opportunities for discourse, the speakers, and the variety of views expressed. Seated at tables, in groups of about half a dozen, students were set tasks. As they responded, a wall drawing (pictured) was created.

The conference asked the question, ‘How can education produce a better world?’ In order to consider this, participants moved from the personal to the planet, through a series of steps, all leading towards the following vision, call and commitment.

• First the ‘I’ – equipping ourselves for the future.

• Then the ‘we’: connecting with others, including equity, diversity and responsibility.

• Next, ‘place’: the power of education in the community.

• ‘Planet’ saw us moving from hopelessness to hope. Could education be a solution?

• Finally, we considered ‘Finding and using the levers of power to bring about change’.

Our vision
We believe that the goal of education should be to equip young people with the tools (chiefly knowledge, tools and mindsets) they need to achieve their full potential and, through doing so, create a better world for all.

Our call
We call on all those who have responsibility for, or an interest or stake in, the future of education, to consider and work with us to respond to some key challenges.

We call on them to seek, listen to, and value, the experiences and needs of young people, and engage with us as an essential voice in shaping future educational policy and curricula.

We urge the convening of a national – and international – conversation to re-evaluate the true goal of education and the best ways to achieve that goal. This conversation needs to be between generations and to encourage participation from people of all backgrounds. It must not be restricted by short-term political considerations, but be prepared to be radical.
The three most important issues we see as central to that conversation are:

• the need for the curricula of our schools to prepare us much more effectively for present and future participation in the local, national and global communities to which we belong. We need to be equipped and adaptable enough to create the better world we seek, for ourselves and others. Developing critical thinking, collaborative working, effective personal communication, and resilience, are of greatest importance to us.

• the urgent need for expert help to enable us to grasp the complexities of the climate emergency, to explore effective responses to it and develop active ways of playing our part in addressing it.

• the need for our education to enable and encourage us all to be open to others whose experiences are very different from ours. To do that we need to be provided with opportunities to actively engage with people, places and cultures beyond our own experience. We also need those responsible for our schools to understand that empathy, open-mindedness, compassion, fairness and inclusivity are the most important values for us to explore and to develop, as a priority.

Our commitment
We commit to continue to develop the knowledge, ideas, policies and determination within ourselves and our schools to bring more detailed solutions to the issues that concern us, and to live lives that serve to create a better world. We commit to taking action in order to promote this vision and answer our own call to bring about positive change in our education systems.

For me, with involvement as a teacher and governor in state and independent schools, this gathering of students provided a vision of what is best in us now, as well as the future. As Oscar Wilde said, ‘It takes a great deal of courage to see the world in all its tainted glory, and still love it’. As Quakers, we hope for a world transformed. We have differing views on Quaker schools in the independent sector, but why not state Quaker schools? In 2015, at a Quaker School Governors’ Conference, Keith Lemon, the head of Newton School in Ireland, spoke about transferring his school to the state sector. He challenged those present to try the same in the United Kingdom.

Is it not time to embrace change, and to be part of this transformation through education? Students were asking us, implicitly, to be adventurous. Advices & queries asks us ‘Do you take the way that offers the fullest opportunity for the use of your gifts in the service of God and the community? Let your life speak. When decisions have to be made, are you ready to join with others in seeking clearness, asking for God’s guidance and offering counsel to one another’. Friends, let the adventure begin.

Jeff took advice from Martyn Beer, the new head of Ackworth School.

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