According to Twigg, "State schools should copy the private sector by setting up army cadet forces to help build self discipline in their pupils", Labour said yesterday as reported in the
Independent (18 January).
This has got to be the most depressing piece of Labour education policy since Blair imposed academies on us.
It is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG
Behaviourism does not build self-discipline. It builds obedience, which is not the same thing at all. I understand the need for obedience in the armed services and I am not a pacifist. I respect and admire the professionalism and bravery of our armed forces.
However schools are places for debate, orthodoxies to be challenged, and teachers and anybody else to be argued with by pupils in a polite, assertive manner.
This is the worst sort of 'me too' opportunism. The only hope is that Cruddas and Miliband will not be impressed and that Twigg can be found another job as soon as possible.
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