Technology and social mobility
The term ‘meritocracy’ was first introduced to the English language in 1958 by the sociologist Michael Young in his novel “The Rise of the Meritocracy”. Young described a society where inherited power was replaced by a system based on merit; intelligent, hard-working individuals governed their less intelligent, lazier fellows. Although his book was intended to be satirical, there is much to be said of Young’s vision; it feels instinctively appropriate that money and authority should be the reward of talent and effort rather than heredity and the lottery of which social class you were born into.
50 years ago, this concept of merit seemed to work reasonably well. Systems such as Grammar Schools, (however imperfect some may deem them to be) allowed clever, working-class people opportunities to higher education and better paid jobs than their parents. However, since then things have become less clear as evinced by a study comparing people born in 1958 and in 1970. Those in the first group experienced greater social mobility than those in the second and this trend has not been reversed since. So what is the reason behind this? We haven’t returned to the class-bound society of the Edwardian era and the idea of a society based on merit is still a prevalent one, but something must be getting in the way.
If we accept that ‘cleverness’ and effort are deciding factors, and that one of the roles of the school system is to nurture these in the individual, then it seems reasonable to conclude that education is a key player in this area. We live in a society where academic achievement is regarded by many as the holy grail of education, but the link between family income and good exam results has got stronger since the 1950s. One possible reason for this is the amount of private money that now goes into education, either through private school fees, or in private tuition. The latter in particular has become extremely popular with something like £6 billion a year being spent on it. This being the case, we find ourselves in a situation not unlike the one we have tried to escape; if merit is largely a result of academic achievement and this is determined by wealth then this is hardly different to merit by inheritance. Whilst we can talk about a meritocracy, in reality the deck is still firmly stacked in favour of those with money. So how can technology help to redress the balance?
Education has the potential to be the great leveller. If you have talent and you work hard, then your opportunities should be the same as anyone else, irrespective of your social background; this is the driving force behind social mobility. However, this process has been stymied by the fact that the playing field has not been kept level and as such, whilst the opportunities to improve your prospects have never been better, the access to them still tends to be dependent upon the school you attend. Technology allows us to ignore such distinctions and provide everyone with the same resources irrespective of their background. We already see this taking place through MOOCs, (Massive Open Online Courses) run by establishments such as Stanford and Harvard, and it is now appearing in English schools such as the Stephen Perse school in Cambridge, which has placed all of its learning resources online for open access. If we really do want our brightest and best students to have the opportunities they deserve then we must find a way to enable them. Allowing students access to high quality resources, irrespective of their background means that those parents who wish to support their children but are unsure of how to go about it will be helped in their efforts without the need for expensive tutors.
However, education is about more than just amassing knowledge. It is an interaction between people so that experience and learning can go together.
“Do you know the difference between education and experience? Education is when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when you don’t.” — Pete Seeger
A great deal of the tutoring process is working with the student to practise applying their knowledge. The pressures of the school timetable often mean that there is insufficient time for this to take place in the school day and yet it is this personal interaction that really helps lift the performance and experience of our students. If we can ‘free up’ teachers this will provide them with the opportunity to be able to work with students in this manner. Let’s look at the model of the Flipped Classroom; we can see that the great advantage with this approach is the time available in the classroom to address a student’s difficulties and challenge them to extend their understanding. This is what a tutor does with them after school, but we could be in a position to provide this ‘extra’ as part of the normal day to day experience of our students. Again, technology is a crucial part of this process as it allows teachers, students and parents to create and share learning materials in a readily accessible manner, so that less time in the classroom has to be spent in the transmission of knowledge and a greater emphasis can be placed on using that knowledge. No longer does this have to be the sole preserve of those who can afford to supplement their child’s education at great expense.
The chance to realise one’s potential could and should be available to everyone irrespective of their social background. Only then will the idea of a meritocracy in its true sense be realised along with the benefits to society that this would entail. The education system occupies a crucial role in this and appropriate use of technology can help to ensure that talented, hard-working youngsters do not find their opportunities curtailed because of their social background.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” — Nelson Mandela
