I am right! You are wrong!

I have never understood why seemingly well-intentioned advocates present alternative strategies as an either-or choice—while those of us who have been working to make a real difference for a very long time know that it's all about AND!

Being in favour of a skills based approach to learning must mean  that you are "against"a National Curriculum. Being in favour of a more flexible and creative approach to learning means you must be "against” accountability. Being in favour of the use of achievement data to assess the performance of schools means you must be "against" a broad and balanced curriculum. Being in favour of high-quality technical education means you must be "against" giving those students a high-quality academic education. Being in favour of collaboration and partnership means you must be "against" the development of academies and trusts. What we need is all of these things in our armory, our toolkit, our strategy bank:

• a skills based approach to learning;
• a relevant and empowering National Curriculum;
• a more flexible and creative approach to learning;
• intelligent accountability;
• the powerful use of achievement data to drive improvement;
• a broad and balanced curriculum;
• high-quality technical education;
• a high-quality academic education;
• collaboration and partnership;
• academies and trusts.

It seems to me that the only thing that really matters is how we deliver significantly better outcomes for all our young people... whatever it takes!
Chris