Children lacking aspiration will end up in dead end jobs

Children and their families suffer from low aspirations during their educational years and it’s leading to unemployment and dead-end jobs.

The claim is made by the new president of the independent Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) trade union.

Lesley Ward took over as president on 1 September. She believes too many school children don’t expect to succeed because of their background.

Lesley said: “The expectations and aspirations of many deprived children are so limited they can’t imagine a life any different from that of their immediate family.

“If their parents and families show no interest in education it is incredibly difficult for schools to break through that barrier so these children can do well at school. As a result many youngsters follow their parents into unemployment and dead-end jobs.

The class divide rears its ugly head again and boys in particular suffer as Lesley continues:  “The majority of middle class children now expect to go onto higher education, and are encouraged by their parents to do so. But the opportunities for poorer children who lack family support, particularly boys, have become even more limited since I started teaching 30 years ago.

“The national curriculum has not helped. Initially it was totally inappropriate for many working class children, and many boys floundered because it focussed too heavily on sitting down and working quietly, rather than learning through exploring and making things. We used to call it the ‘national constriculum’. Young children particularly need the chance to learn through making mistakes and be given the time to work problems out, rather than being drilled and tested to exhaustion.”