In this month’s View From the Engine Room, the Working SBM ruminates on the ways in which education has changed, politically, and the ways that it may change in the near future. What will happen to the role of SBM? And, more broadly, to the school landscape we know now?
A few years ago I happened across a copy of Janet Finch’s book, Education as Social Policy, and snapped up the treasure. It is a ragged old hardback from a Bedford library that had been consistently out on loan from the day it was published in 1984. It’s an absorbing read, full of interesting notations, notes in the margins and copious pencil underlining. I sometimes feel it is wasted sitting on my bookshelf alongside more recent school business manager handbooks and strategic leadership training guides.
Finch’s book demonstrates the fact that education as an ‘industry’ hasn’t stood still since the introduction of the 1944 Education Act when the imminent end of the second world war prompted a social reconstruction, with education being one of the main pillars of the welfare state alongside National Insurance and the National Health Service.
So many of the book’s conclusions of 36 years ago are relevant today, in that education is still full of paradoxes, complexities and contradictions. The assertion still holds true that, even with ongoing reform – which was as consistent in pace then as it is today – the delivery of state education struggles to balance benefits to the individual with the benefits to society as a whole.
Back to the future
Winston Churchill once said, “The farther back you can look, the farther forward you can see.” Successive British governments have tried to promote equal opportunities in a sector that resolutely remains multi-tiered. Can the new Conservative government, with its massive majority and mandate, finally devise a way to make education equitable in funding, delivery and resources?
I’ve always been fascinated by the past and feel fortunate to live in a nation with a long-recorded history in which we can see tangible evidence of lives led from hundreds of years ago. My current school was established in 1887 and, in a previous post, I was as part of a school which was started in 1660. The buildings used then are still in use and I’m filled with wonder at the changes our schools have seen, the children they have educated, and the staff who have given their all.
Of course, I’m most interested in the SBM role. Even in 1660, the school would have needed someone to collect the fees, purchase the chalk and get a specialist to fix the roof. They won’t have been known as an SBM, and they would likely have been doing something else alongside the SBM role, but we would still be able to recognise them today. School business managers, in their many guises, have been quietly supporting the operations of schools since they first opened.
This is the main reason why, during all the change we are experiencing today, I’m not concerned for the role of the SBM. Schools will always need an SBM. They may not be called that (and it has to be said, it is a relatively new name for the position) and they might be doing it alongside another specialism, but the SBM will be there, leading operations as they have always done.
A glimpse of the future
I often wonder what my role might look like in another 36 years. Fast forward to 2056 – yikes! I shall be 89 years old! – and schools will be highly technical, probably virtual learning spaces. Paper will be a thing of the past. Teachers will be dramatically reduced in number and technicians will be prevalent. My hope is that children will still need to come into a school for the social interaction skills and physical education, but who knows whether their friends will be virtual too? Will the school go the way of the church, and cease to be the centre of our communities? How are individuals going to be educated for the benefit of society, as well as themselves, in the future? In a technical world, will the ‘playing field’ actually become more level, with the same access to education whatever your background?
The thing about being interested in history is that it inevitably means you are also interested in the future. Working in a school means we live tangibly with the future every day in the eyes of eager young people who mostly can’t wait to be ‘big’ and start their own lives. It is easy to become jaded with the constant cycle of change and ‘new’ ideas that often don’t seem so new to us. I think it is important to remember that everything is new to the current cohort of children and parents who only want the best and most financially efficient education we can afford to give them.
I don’t think the role of the SBM is in danger. I believe it will continue to evolve and react to the requirements of the education policy of the time. We’re good at change. We need to get better at anticipating change and preparing ourselves with training, experience and adaptability. We need to encourage futures thinking and discourage the notion that we can keep things as they are. We need to work together, demonstrate our competency, and use our collective voice to shape the future of education.
After all, nothing stands still in our industry – least of all our customer!
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Education – then…
…and now
1944 – Education Act, notion of ‘equality of opportunity’ through the provision of secondary education for all
2010 – Education Act – a school must not discriminate in relation to its admissions arrangements
1972 – School leaving age raised to 16
2015 – School leaving age raised to 18
1976 – ‘The Great Debate’ on education begins leading to increase in centralised control
1997 – Tony Blair’s three highest priorities in government are ‘education, education, education’.
1979 – Conservative government elected with a majority of 43 seats
2019 – Conservative government elected with a majority of 80 seats.
1988 – Education Reform Act, creating a ‘market’ in education, resulting in competition; formula funding introduced
2020’s – New Education Reform Act? New formula funding? Increased competition?
Education as social policy? Consider how important certain features of our education system are to a non-discriminatory social policy. School transport, free school meals and mainstream AEN support have always been seen as marginal to the core role of education, but they are clearly crucial to ensuring opportunity for all children, whatever their demographic or location. Can a ‘one-size-fits-all’ funding formula result in an equitable education system that delivers on benefits to society as a whole, or do we now need something that looks at local context and individual needs?
The Working SBM has worked as an SBM for over 14 years – ‘supporting constant change and running the engine room!’ An active member of the SBM community, you can find her on Twitter @workingsbm2017 and you can read her excellent blog at https://workingsbm.wordpress.com/<box out>
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