Ignorance

Published to mark 80 years since William Beveridge’s report on impediments to social progress, this brisk history of English education charts eight dizzying decades of policy initiatives and events, from the 1944 Education Act to the “examinations shambles” of the Covid years. Tomlinson’s even-handed account and incisive analysis of where and how successive governments have failed in tackling inadequate schooling - or, as Beveridge had it, “ignorance” - is spliced with personal accounts from her remarkable career and family life. Written with authority and wit, it’s an expertly sharp and coherent diagnosis of the persistent problems that undermine education as much in 2024 as they did in Beveridge’s time. 

-- TES Magazine

Sally Tomlinson’s book is a really good read. I urge you to buy it: her analysis of what has happened to education in England since Beveridge is perceptive and incisive. The sheer amount of information and the pace at which it is delivered will leave you breathless: there is not one wasted word. Superb.

-- Derek Gillard, in FORUM

"This book, by our internationally leading sociologist of educational diversity, could not be more timely. The urgent need for radical educational reform to prevent the widespread return of ignorance is clearly stated in this admirable book."

-- Stewart Ranson, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of Warwick

"The provision of maintained – ‘state’ – education has improved dramatically since the 1942 Beveridge Report. But it remains a policy landscape riven with strong opinion, prejudice and ideology. Some of those nostrums seem to stem from the personal but universal experience of school (and can consequently manifest sweet or sour nostalgia), some of them indicate a complete absence of reality or recognition of changing needs, some are really useful. The competing views of educational theorists, teachers, parents, along with the wider societal and political concerns (or lack of them) about meaningful quality, equity or equality of opportunity are difficult to navigate. It’s perhaps no surprise, therefore, that successive governments, despite countless Education Acts, have yet to slay and banish the Giant of Ignorance. Sally Tomlinson is a passionate defender and upholder of educational and teaching standards and her journey through Britain’s chequered postwar history of education provision draws on her long, broad and unrivalled experience of the sector. She throws into stark relief the challenges which teachers continue to face as they are confronted by the giddying sets of policy initiatives and frameworks. Too often, the ‘changers’ deny the resources necessary to implement the changes. Even more frequently, they put what should be diagnostic tools of testing, targets and reporting in place of infant and adolescent well-being and motivation as well as the learning and application of knowledge and experience. ‘Knowledge is power’ we are told, but regrettably, ignorance is not without influence either. That’s why Professor Tomlinson’s assault on the Giant should be made mandatory reading for all policymakers who truly want to topple the tyrant.”

-- Lord Kinnock, former Leader of the Labour P