EC Papers September 2018

All political ideas and institutions have a history, all rights and entitlements have a history. This is why we believe that the history of the people and their struggles for rights, the right to vote itself and social justice must be a compulsory part of the school curriculum. As an initial contribution to this we are producing a graphic novel in 2019 on the history of the Labour Movement. Just as economics is not like the weather something complex beyond human control or the grasp of non-economists, so politics expresses itself in our daily opinions and actions and is not the private property of political parties. It expresses itself forcefully in the arts and in that great creative reflection of ourselves, our culture. We all as individuals mediate traditions of expression and thought and the sum total of this is our culture. At the GFTU we are committed to deploying more cultural workers within education to help clarify perception, feel new emotions and laugh out loud at the arrogance of the few and expose their lies. We held a massively successful Liberating Arts Festival last year and also one with the Kurdish communities. We do not just want bread we want the roses too. A balanced school curriculum across the arts and sciences is essential. Most social media, film and gaming platforms are dominated by the United States corporations. The individualistic, violence based, and consumerist driven ethos of these corporations is dangerously reflected in the style content and nature of these pervasive phenomenon. Alternative platforms must be built reflecting our political vision of a world at peace, with dialogue, internationalism and unity as predominant features. How is society run? Who runs it? How? In whose interests? Who elects those in power? Who owns the land? Who owns the assets we all share and contribute to? Why is society so unequal? These are fundamental questions that should be asked in a more politically aware and focussed education system. These are the questions that those in power do not like those not in power asking. Those in power ask these questions all the time amongst themselves and answer them. The elite pack their children off to boarding schools at an early age to start answering these questions as if power is theirs by right. Those that they groom for government, civil service, banks and the media in particular tend to be directed towards a grounding at university level in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. We need our own new curriculum of politics, philosophy, economics and history. The past must inform the present and inspire the future. The great British traditions of progressive thought and actions to achieve democratic change and transmit our humane cultural values, established our most important rights and benefits and social and cultural changes. These should be proudly known and developed by all and cultural workers and popular educators working in the informal education traditions in our communities will be central to this. The few teach their people to hold the reins of power. We should do more to do the same. The wealth of experience we have of democratic practice and accountability in our unions, mutual, co- operatives, charities and other forms of governance need renewal and extension and greater ambition. The creation of youth councils in schools and local communities should be deliberately encouraged and funded. Britain has a very long and deep tradition of progressive education aimed at informing action for beneficial material and intellectual advances for the many and not the few. Workers fought to establish the state education system and free comprehensive education and accessible primary and secondary schools in all parts of the country.

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