This is the first chapter in a book which explores the leadership and management of extended schools. It seems apposite, therefore, that it describes and contextualises this educational development, examining its background, nature, and where it sits within the present educational landscape. Indeed, Middlewood argues that extended schools are the logical consequence of a belief that the purpose of education is to change, develop and improve the world, and the culmination of a focus on transforming communities, with "schools as part of their educational provision".
Middlewood tracks the history from Henry Morris' Cambridgeshire Village College in the 1920s to the Community Colleges of the 1960s, which provided little other than Adult Education Classes for the community. He suggests that these were more successful in rural than urban communities, although schools remained primarily for teaching, testing and examinations. Performance culture, marketisation and competition dominated, and, although schools sought parental support, there was no recognition of ‘partnership for learning'. According to Middlewood, this began to change in the UK in the late 1990s, when a number of factors pointed to the fact that schools could not continue to operate in comparative isolation. These were: a recognition that education could not solve all of society's problems, and that schools could not utilise all of the factors which influence learning; links between school ‘failures' and the emergence of an ‘under class'; pressure on public service systems; inadequacy of equal opportunities legislation; the imperative of preventative, rather than remedial, measures; a number of high-profile cases focussing public attention on the failures in co-operation amongst public services. A number of initiatives in the USA during the 1990s had begun to introduce the notion of integrated services within community education provision, the five elements of which were: early intervention, parental involvement, after school enrichment, individual attention, and social capital. This was followed by the US Act, No Child Left Behind, in 2001. This is often cited as the forerunner of the Every Child Matters (2004) legislation in England, although Middlewood teases us with the promise that Chapter 10 of the book will outline important differences between the two Acts.
The section entitled Every Child Matters (ECM), whilst outlining the five outcomes, and examining the semantics of the phrase, is particularly interesting for its focus on children from well-to-do and advantaged backgrounds. It is quite refreshing to hear this unconventional voice amidst the, quite understandable, preoccupation with children from deprived circumstances. Middlewood warns against missing vulnerabilities which may be more prevalent in the ‘middle classes', such as anxiety, depression, and propensity to suicide. From research 2002-2006, possible causes are identified as pressure related to examinations and ‘improving' activities. However, Middlewood also reminds us of the 2007 UNICEF report that identified Britain's children, whatever their background, as ‘the unhappiest in the world'. The final paragraph in this section is useful as a summary of the implications of the Children Act (2004), which includes provision for ‘Extended Schools'. This is followed by Other indicators of integration, including the change from DfES to DCSF, which are helpful reminders, although the distinction between ‘UK' and ‘England and Wales', in terms of legislation, could have been drawn more clearly; rather confusingly, ‘Scotland' does get a couple of mentions in its own right. As the spelling is Americanised throughout, it may be that this is intended also for a USA audience, where finer understandings of these distinctions may be less crucial. However, these do of course impact most profoundly on practitioners in the four separate countries which make up the UK.
Having provided a discussion of the background, the second half of the chapter then explores the nature of extended schooling, although the sections do not follow a particularly logical order. The subheadings as provided are:
- The place of extended schooling
- Diversity
- Inclusion
- Personalized (sic) learning
- Workforce reform
- Partnerships and networking
- The UK proposals and implementation progress
- Clear understanding and commitment to purpose
- A willingness to share and devolve responsibility
- Community empowerment
- A relentless flexibility
- Flexibility in people's roles
- Flexibility in structuring school days and terms
- Flexibility in the organization (sic) of learning groups
- Flexibility in curriculum provision
- Flexibility in the use of technology
These read like a checklist of what Middlewood perceives to be the most important focuses and features of effective extended schools, and could therefore be useful in their own right. There are, within each of these sections, details which may be of particular relevance to tutors/student teachers, but the information is primarily intended for leaders and managers of extended schools, and this is also reflected in the Points to consider at the end of the chapter. In this regard, the Further reading, consisting of two texts, is disappointingly brief; the literature cited within the text (including some seminal work by West-Burnham) will presumably be included in a bibliography at the end of the book, but is not provided here.
What follows here are some of the salient points gleaned from this rather unwieldy second half of the chapter. Middlewood reaffirms schools as central to communities, and therefore to integrated services. The focus has moved from equal opportunities to equity in access to achievement (although the claim that "‘Equity in difference' is a phrase widely used to describe this" is not borne out by a search on Google, and is not familiar to this reviewer). The move from integration to inclusion has necessitated personalised learning, underpinned by a respect for all learners, and an emphasis on ‘learning to learn' and collaboration. The growth of support staff in schools (which Middlewood does attach specifically to England and Wales) has led to a need for a common set of professional skills and knowledge; however, the statement that these would be assessed by a Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is misleading; according to the DCSF ECM website, "The CAF is a standardised approach to conducting assessments of children's additional needs and deciding how these should be met. It can be used by practitioners across children's services in England". (Extended) schools need to build integrated relationships with partners and communities, which demands a new kind of leadership. From the original proposal for extended schools (given here as 2006, which contradicts Middlewood's earlier attribution of this to the Children Act of 2004), Sure Start Children's Centres are due to be in every community in England and Wales by 2010, and, despite early opposition, every school will be open from 8 to 6. By 2007, 72% of schools were already offering some form of extended schooling, which Middlewood claims is evidence of continued progress (the reference to ‘full-service provision' here may be another nod towards an American audience). Citing West-Burnham, Middlewood refers to extended schooling as part of a "strategy for working towards equity and social justice"; community engagement is therefore seen as key. Distributed leadership and pupil voice are essential, as is listening to the community, and a flexible approach. This might include restructuring the school day/term according to contextual factors rather than historical precedents. The concluding remarks of the chapter (included, rather confusingly, as part of the section on technology) suggest that all of these factors provide a flavour of effective extended schooling, although there is no single model.
This chapter, when used with due caution as outlined above, could provide useful material for tutors and trainees engaged in researching the notion of extended schooling, but it would need to be augmented with wider reading, in order to gain a full understanding.
Reviewed by:
Sue Field