John Dunford, Chair, Whole Education
Whole Education brings together a range of projects that seek to provide a broader and deeper education for all young people. For over 20 years political pressure to concentrate on the basics and use test results to place schools in a spurious rank order has created an education system that has prioritised a narrower and less exciting curriculum.
Whole Education has a wider view of the aims of education and of what young people need to be well prepared for their adult lives. We exist to encourage schools and other young people’s organisations to engage with our partners and use their projects and materials to bring a richness and liveliness to learning.
Whole Education recognises that it is often difficult for our partner organisations to convey to teachers and heads what they have to offer. And it can be equally hard for the professionals to know what is available.
So the aims of Whole Education are both practical and educational. We are a conduit through which partner organisations that have signed up to our statement of common beliefs can publicise what they have to offer to schools and other education-related places. And through the Whole Education Network, schools, colleges and youth organisations can more easily discover what is available to enrich the learning experiences of their young people.
Beyond that practical function, Whole Education exists to influence the direction of education towards a richer and broader experience for young people, which will both prepare them better for life in the 21st century and enrich the society in which they live.
John Dunford
Chair
Whole Education