We can make a Difference

We are a voluntary, non-profit group of people which started in 1993 and has been brainstorming the underlying questions of education for nearly 24 years.
Make an impact Become a member

The PER Group – Philosophy for Educational Renewal

This group consists of a wide variety of people, teachers, former teachers, thinkers, worriers who have come to the reluctant conclusion that the education system needs a fundamental re-jig. The education system is a huge enterprise which works on children and youth from 5 to 18 and which ought to be producing a fresh wave of enthusiastic, hard working, confident, reliable, personable, helpful, capable young adults every year. We need it to do this, especially after Brexit.
book

What can we do?

We can get clear, first, about what is going wrong. There are lots of symptoms of a negative kind - reluctant learners, self-harmers, tearaways... the "snowflake generation", dropouts, NEETs. But the changes needed are not obvious. We need to ban cramming.
What can be better?
books stacked together

How can we work?

By reading, contributing and speaking, writing to your MP or local paper. By thinking deeply about the roots of the problem, talking to friends, discussing, in groups. One major reform is that we need a non-controversial, secular, Moral Code as the basis of every school.
Why does it need improvement?
A girl reading a book

Can we be heard?

Yes, in a democracy it is people power which calls the shots. Actually the people at the top (CBI) are equally exasperated with "the system". They keep complaining about "poor skills" and "robotic" attitudes.
Essence of education

We're located in London, but we have held meetings in Norwich, Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin

Our solutions include:
  • Changing exams so that they are not short-term memorization tests
  • Changing teaching, so that it uses narratives, is personable and conveys the big picture, not simply "transferring information" 
  • Changing values, so "real understanding" and truth are always no. 1 priority
  • Getting a Great Debate on Education going
  • Reverting to the true meaning of education as a "conversation between generations"
  • Doing 101 things in schools to get students onside and diminish the generation gap
We're constantly working towards improving the UK's education system.
To become a member, call us on
020 8858 3364
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