Post by Teddy Bear on Jan 7, 2012 21:29:58 GMT
The BBC often make the point, perhaps believing themselves to be the champion of the lower classes, that our society - especially when not led by the Labour party, create a social divide with the private school system. That only those attending private schools are likely to succeed, and since these schools are out of reach for most people, the inference that only the rich can assure the success of their young.
That this is a patently false observation, like many others, has never stopped the BBC pursuing the line that they want to present. Whatever the truth might be, they would rather use the topic as a propaganda piece for themselves. I've no doubt a study of how many BBC staff send their children to private schools would show just how hypocritical they are. Much like Diane Abbott, embroiled in recent hypocritical behaviour, had previously scorned those sending their children to private schools, yet did not hesitate to send her own son there.
So when a few academics at Bristol University ran a blog post concerning free schools, and how they could eventually boost performance of children, particularly in lower class areas, one has to wonder why the BBC would purposefully present the 'findings' with a totally opposite outcome. The distortion even extended to calling this opinion blog a 'study', which it wasn't.
The only reason I can think they would have for purposefully presenting it in this way is simply because the proposal for instituting more free schools comes from this government, which the BBC wants to bring down at every opportunity.
Here's how Toby Young at the Telegraph exposes the BBC 'education reporter' Hannah Richardson and her article Free schools 'will not boost access to good schools'
That this is a patently false observation, like many others, has never stopped the BBC pursuing the line that they want to present. Whatever the truth might be, they would rather use the topic as a propaganda piece for themselves. I've no doubt a study of how many BBC staff send their children to private schools would show just how hypocritical they are. Much like Diane Abbott, embroiled in recent hypocritical behaviour, had previously scorned those sending their children to private schools, yet did not hesitate to send her own son there.
So when a few academics at Bristol University ran a blog post concerning free schools, and how they could eventually boost performance of children, particularly in lower class areas, one has to wonder why the BBC would purposefully present the 'findings' with a totally opposite outcome. The distortion even extended to calling this opinion blog a 'study', which it wasn't.
The only reason I can think they would have for purposefully presenting it in this way is simply because the proposal for instituting more free schools comes from this government, which the BBC wants to bring down at every opportunity.
Here's how Toby Young at the Telegraph exposes the BBC 'education reporter' Hannah Richardson and her article Free schools 'will not boost access to good schools'
BBC News online publishes grossly misleading, anti-free schools article
By Toby Young
BBC News online has published an extremely hostile piece about free schools this morning that is almost comically misleading. The headline reads "Free schools 'will not boost access to good schools'", a conclusion that's purportedly based on "a new study" carried out by Bristol University's Centre for Market and Public Organisation (CMPO).
The author of the piece, Hannah Richardson, says this "research" proves that free schools won't raise standards in under-performing schools because too few of them will open to create an effective "competitive mechanism". Here's the key passage from the "research" that Richardson quotes:
Now, this is a perfectly reasonable point to make. I, too, worry that not enough free schools will open in the lifetime of this Parliament to have a significant impact on falling standards in state schools. However, the quote isn't taken from a new research paper published by the CMPO. Rather, it's taken from a three-month-old blog post – essentially, an opinion piece – by a couple of academics. Yes, the blog is on the CMPO's website, but that doesn't mean it's a "study". Moreover, the post in question wasn't hostile to free schools. On the contrary, it was supportive, suggesting that while there might not end up being enough of them to force under-performing schools to raise their game, they had the potential to be "very valuable" as "incubators for radical new teaching ideas".
If you think I'm misrepresenting the tenor of the post in question, don't take my word for it. Rebecca Allen, co-author of the post and a senior lecturer in the economics of education at the Institute of Education, has been on Twitter this morning expressing her dismay at the manner in which the BBC has misrepresented her. Here's one of her tweets:
@drbeckyallen: pretty annoyed that bbc have taken a blog that was supportive of free schools and written a very negative article.
To recap, Hannah Richardson has taken a three-month-old blog post that was supportive of free schools and presented it as a new, authoritative "study" carried out by Bristol University that discredits the free schools policy. The co-author of the original blog post has disowned the article. Isn't it about time BBC did too?
By Toby Young
BBC News online has published an extremely hostile piece about free schools this morning that is almost comically misleading. The headline reads "Free schools 'will not boost access to good schools'", a conclusion that's purportedly based on "a new study" carried out by Bristol University's Centre for Market and Public Organisation (CMPO).
The author of the piece, Hannah Richardson, says this "research" proves that free schools won't raise standards in under-performing schools because too few of them will open to create an effective "competitive mechanism". Here's the key passage from the "research" that Richardson quotes:
But there are two reasons why free schools are unlikely to be the best answer to this. First, there are very significant set-up costs, both in time and energy from the founders, but also in the straightforward sense of acquiring premises.
While currently these are being generously funded by the government, this cannot continue if the policy matures and spreads.
It seems inconceivable that any local area with one free school and plenty of spare school capacity would be offered the resources for many others.
So as a performance discipline device, this is a one-shot game, not a process of continuing pressure on low performing schools, which is what is needed.
Now, this is a perfectly reasonable point to make. I, too, worry that not enough free schools will open in the lifetime of this Parliament to have a significant impact on falling standards in state schools. However, the quote isn't taken from a new research paper published by the CMPO. Rather, it's taken from a three-month-old blog post – essentially, an opinion piece – by a couple of academics. Yes, the blog is on the CMPO's website, but that doesn't mean it's a "study". Moreover, the post in question wasn't hostile to free schools. On the contrary, it was supportive, suggesting that while there might not end up being enough of them to force under-performing schools to raise their game, they had the potential to be "very valuable" as "incubators for radical new teaching ideas".
If you think I'm misrepresenting the tenor of the post in question, don't take my word for it. Rebecca Allen, co-author of the post and a senior lecturer in the economics of education at the Institute of Education, has been on Twitter this morning expressing her dismay at the manner in which the BBC has misrepresented her. Here's one of her tweets:
@drbeckyallen: pretty annoyed that bbc have taken a blog that was supportive of free schools and written a very negative article.
To recap, Hannah Richardson has taken a three-month-old blog post that was supportive of free schools and presented it as a new, authoritative "study" carried out by Bristol University that discredits the free schools policy. The co-author of the original blog post has disowned the article. Isn't it about time BBC did too?