Better at aspiring than acting? Seven errors of progressive education and how to address them Part One
FORUM - Print ISSN 1474-7685 - Online ISSN 2047-7171
Volume 68 Number 3 (2026)
Better at aspiring than acting? Seven errors of progressive education and how to address them Part One
Joe Hallgarten, Sarah Seleznyov pages 78‑90
DOI: 10.3898/forum.2026.68.3.07
Abstract
This two-part article presents a critical, reflexive examination of the progressive education movement in England, co-authored by two practitioners with experience in leading progressive initiatives. Despite extensive advocacy for holistic, disposition-rich learning, the contemporary English educational system remains deeply entrenched in a traditionalist paradigm reinforced by the ‘Gibb years’ (2010– 2024). Examining the current policy context – including the 2026 schools white paper ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ and the Curriculum And Assessment Review – in Part One of this article, we argue that progressive approaches have failed to achieve sustained systemic traction.
Adopting an approach of critical sympathy in Part Two (which will appear in the next issue of FORUM) we identify seven core errors committed by the progressive movement across three domains: advocacy, pedagogy and evidence. These include a failure to build a disciplined social movement, a reliance on the vague rhetoric of ‘transformation’, a lack of operational clarity regarding student behaviour, and an insufficient focus on pedagogical precision and rigorous assessment metrics. Rather than dismissing traditional methods, we call for ‘pragmatic progressivism’. We propose a strategic path forward, centred on building upward community demand, developing precise bridging practices, reclaiming evidence-based pedagogies like dialogic teaching, and shifting from the debased language of ‘skills’ to a robust framework of measurable ‘dispositions’.
To cite this article
Joe Hallgarten, Sarah Seleznyov (2026) Better at aspiring than acting? Seven errors of progressive education and how to address them Part One, FORUM, 68(3), 78-90 . https://doi.org/10.3898/forum.2026.68.3.07