Tag Archives: aspiration

Book Review: The End of Aspiration? by Duncan Exley

Subtitled Social mobility and our children’s fading prospects, Duncan Exley’s book explores the facts and myths around aspiration. Referencing many studies, linked with real-life stories of people who have moved from rag-to-riches, Exley asks how far the UK is from being an ‘opportunity’ society and whether social mobility should be a priority of policy-makers.

Duncan Exley is the former Director of the Equality Trust. In his book, he delves into issues of equality and poverty, probing the real factors behind people not being able to attain the life they would like to live.

Recently, I toured a secondary school in North Devon with the headteacher. I asked her what the biggest issue was for the young people there. She told me, without hesitation, lack of aspiration. She explained that many of her pupils came from families which could not afford to travel outside of the town, not to mention the county. Pupils stayed in school as long as they were required to and then left for local jobs. She had started taking groups of pupils to Oxford open days and was proud that several now were at Oxford and other universities. But she said one of the hurdles she faced was lack of funding for school trips so that young people could experience the bigger world outside of their own community.

This is one of the many themes Exley tackles – how to give young people from more deprived circumstances the opportunities to explore, experience and participate in the bigger world.

Creating opportunities, however, is not enough. Exley looks at the biology of poverty and cites studies which link the nutrition of grandparents to the birth weight and health of babies. Low birth weight has been linked to poorer attainment. A healthy population is one which can thrive, and child poverty must be tackled. Exley notes the effect of health on career progression:

Posted in Books | Also tagged , , and | Leave a comment

Opinion: Aspiration exasperation

inspiration - Some rights reserved by h.koppdelaneyI love Friday nights. They keep me grounded and motivated simultaneously, they’re the week’s reset button. The fact they usually involve the pub and a reasonable amount of alcohol is completely coincidental.

I’ve been um-ming and ah-ing for ages over an article for LibDem Voice along the lines of “Aspiration Exasperation”. Politicians talk about aspiration easily enough but it bothers me. Aspiration for what? What I take from it – and I would be delighted to hear I’m wrong on this – is that they mean aspiration …

Posted in Op-eds | 9 Comments
Advert



Recent Comments

  • Jenny Barnes
    And all those holiday adverts....
  • Keith Sharp
    Following Mark's link to the (amazing to hear it now) last Reagan speech, I was reminded of these words: ‘Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masse...
  • Christopher Haigh
    A very wide article William. I never understood why right wing Tory 'global trader' advocates like Johnson were so keen on Trump. The ex President had noted th...
  • expats
    Trump won US voters because he offered a simple four word solution to ALL their problems "Make America Great Again"(MAGA)..No fancy analyses nor intricate detai...
  • Martin Pierce
    The wake up call was in 2016 when he first won - and for Europe perhaps in 2014 when Russia first marched into parts of Ukraine. There has been no waking up. ...