Categories: uncategorized
Date: 20 January 2007 08:52:04
Waterloo Road is what almost makes the rise in the licence fee worth it and so v. happy it's back for a second series.
For those of you from yonder shore, or who just happen to have something better to do on a Thursday I'll sum it up. Failing Comprehensive has to raise standards. This is ideally achieved through taking the best ideas from all ideas about education but becomes a battle between those who favour the New Right approach of marketisation and back to basics and those who go for a more neo-Marxist approach of nurturing the young people and seeing the worth in all. Add in the odd personal story line and a bunch of really talented actors (including a brilliant set of young actors who one forsees having bright futures) and you have Waterloo Road.
In some ways you could argue it's Grange Hill gone prime time, but it's more than that. It is the best exploration I've seen of what's actually going on in education and how the market is seeking to erode concepts such as colleague loyalty, the concept of autonomous professional judgement, job security and so forth but at the same time how we need to take on board some aspects of best practice that have emerged in the development of the private sector in order to do the best for our children and ensure their success (not turning a blind eye to failiures within institutions or the wider system when these need to be addressed).
Personally I think that the government and education more widely could learn loads if they looked at the way that Kim (the idealistic yet realistic Art teacher and head of pastoral care) and Andrew (the New Labour clone) end up negotiating the middle path from their own ideological positions.
Anyway all that said in the end it's just a cracking good family show enjoyed loads both by Third Party and myself.