Former Education Secretary Charles Clarke discusses how to achieve educational success

July 4, 2012 - PRLog -- United Kingdom, July 2012 – As the UK Government is looking to controversially overhaul the current exam system in secondary schools with a return to a more rigourous O’ level type examination, Emerald Group Publishing publishes an insightful discussion piece from former politician Charles Clarke on how to achieve educational success.  Published in the latest issue of the International Journal of Lesson and Learning Studies, the article is available to read for free until the 21st July 2012 by visiting http://www.emeraldinsight.com/ijlls.htm, logging in with username: lesson12 and password: emerald12

Having served as Secretary of State for Education and Skills and then Home Secretary under the last Labour government, Charles Clarke offers an interesting view on the value of educational research and why finding useful answers is posing a challenge right across  the globe.

He comments, “It often seems, fairly or unfairly, that educational research appears to be addressing minor or introverted research interests, rather than offering answers to the questions which preoccupy policy-makers”, and goes on to suggest that the mutual respect of policymakers and researchers is not always as great as it should be.  In a direct plea to researchers, he stresses the importance of research that focuses on achieving educational success and that which addresses the kinds of questions which are a concern to policy makers.

He goes on to explain, “The overall approach of educational research needs to be driven by a desire to understand the best ways to improve educational outcomes for people throughout the world who are seeking to improve the quality of education”.

The discussion piece, entitled “The value of education research” is published in Volume 1, Issue 3 of International Journal of Lesson and Learning Studies (IJLLS), the official journal of the World Association of Lesson Studies (WALS)   This new journal is dedicated to educational research that focuses directly on improving the quality of learning in classrooms and other formal learning environments, through pedagogical experiments or action research.  For further information about the journal, visit http://www.emeraldinsight.com/ijlls.htm

The editors of IJLLS invite comments in response to the above article, which can be read for free up to the 21st July 2012.

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Notes to editors:

Charles Clarke read mathematics and economics at Kings College Cambridge. After election to Parliament as Labour MP for Norwich South in May 1997 he was appointed to the Treasury Select Committee. In July 1998 he joined the government as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for School Standards and then Minister of State at the Home Office.  

In 2001 he joined the Cabinet as Labour Party Chair and Minister without Portfolio and then served as Secretary of State for Education and Skills and then Home Secretary. He left the Home Office in 2006 and was defeated in the 2010 General Election.
He is now Visiting Professor in Politics at the University of East Anglia..

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