Dr Carl Ward, Chair of the Foundation for Education Development, on why democracy is bad for long-term education planning
“Education comes down to this. It’s a single act between a child and an adult in a school. If you can encourage that child to want to be there and really value that love of learning, that child will do all manner of things to benefit themselves over time. As adults we put layers onto that that make it difficult.”
Carl Ward is one of the most influential figures in national education. He advises Number 10's policy unit, has served across numerous DfE groups and sits on boards spanning the Confederation of School Trusts, the International Confederation of Principals and the Global Education Leaders Partnership. Yet for all the national and international work, he has run the same group of schools, City Learning Trust in Stoke-on-Trent, for close to 15 years, making him one of the longest serving trust CEOs in the country. As founder and chair of the The Foundation for Education Development, Carl has spent seven years arguing for something deceptively simple: that education needs long-term, cross-party planning that outlasts the average 18-month tenure of a Secretary of State. In this conversation, he explains why he has stayed in one of the country's most deprived areas rather than move from post to post, and makes the case for a fundamental rethink of how we govern our schools.
🎙️ Episode highlights
Carl explains why he has stayed in Stoke-on-Trent for 15 years rather than move around, arguing it would be disingenuous to chair the national body for long-term planning while hopping between posts every couple of years.
He sets out the core problem the Foundation for Education Development exists to solve: democracy does not do long-term planning well, because every change in political leadership brings a change in direction that wastes money and resources.
Carl points to the striking statistic behind his argument, that the average tenure of an Education Secretary over the last 15 years has been just 18 months, and asks how anyone could deliver a long-term plan in that time.
He shares the reform he would make tomorrow: government should govern rather than lead, appointing a professional Chief Executive of the education system on a five-to ten-year contract to deliver against a long-term plan.
Carl reflects on why he is wary of ideology in education, having done nearly every job in a school over 30 years, and argues we too often complicate fundamentally simple things.
He approves of the current government's new ten-year education plans, which he notes will span two electoral cycles and three governments.