ATL

Northern Ireland

ATL Northern Ireland director Mark Langhammer on why inequalities in education benefit no one

Why are the best-performing education systems found in the most equal societies? ATL has long argued that socially balanced school intakes produce the best overall educational performance - for both the well off and socially disadvantaged. ATL has produced reams of research to support this thesis.

The 'social balance' approach contrasts starkly with the government's, where equality of opportunity is seen as a level playing field for starting competition.

Prime Minister Brown has long been influenced by American political theorist John Rawls. What matters for Rawls is improving the status of the least well off, however marginally, rather than relative inequality. However, there is good reason to presume that human beings don't view things the Rawls way.
Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, in their book The spirit level: why more equal societies almost always do better, found a link between income inequality and lack of well-being. The links are clear - more inequality leads to more ill health, greater disparity of life expectancy and more crime - all concentrated at lower ends of the income scale. They also suggest that low levels of illiteracy are internationally associated with low relative income inequalities, largely because children feel more of a stake in a society in which they feel valued.
ATL echoes this view and believes it should get a hearing in the current climate, with both Labour and Conservatives flirting with the politics of general well-being. Following through, however, may represent an unwelcome political challenge.