Inclusive or exclusive? Democratic or autocratic? Humane or desolate? Schools and Covid-19 aftershock: what direction next?

FORUM - Print ISSN 1474-7685 - Online ISSN 2047-7171
Volume 67 Number 2 (2025)

Inclusive or exclusive? Democratic or autocratic? Humane or desolate? Schools and Covid-19 aftershock: what direction next?
Doug Martin pages 53‑64
DOI: 10.3898/forum.2025.67.2.05

Abstract

Our children, young people and families are presently experiencing multiple and interrelated issues playing out in the wake of the recent pandemic. Mental health and well-being, the cost-of-living crisis and a marked shift in attitudes to engaging with school and learning are evident daily. This article examines pre-pandemic schooling in England based on interschool competition, schools’ role during the pandemic involving a much broader agenda, and, as the Covid-19 threat eased, a return to their previous position as though nothing had happened. School leaders and teachers occupied a more inclusive, democratic and humane space during the pandemic, alongside teaching. This approach reflected the earlier extended schools agenda. Starmer’s government set out to provide a school that ‘supports all our children to achieve and thrive’. Could extended schools provide some clues as to what direction schools might take next?

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To cite this article
Doug Martin (2025) Inclusive or exclusive? Democratic or autocratic? Humane or desolate? Schools and Covid-19 aftershock: what direction next?, FORUM, 67(2), 53-64 . https://doi.org/10.3898/forum.2025.67.2.05

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