Sir Merrick Cockell provides a tribute to former education director, Mike Stoten.
 Sir Merrick Cockell is leader of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and chairman of the Local Government Association. |
Town halls are comparatively civilized places these days, at least when compared with the 1980s and early 90s. But back then the atmosphere in parts of London was nothing short of toxic.
These were the days remember of the Iron Lady and Red Ken, and of the GLC and ILEA. And on no municipal battlefield was the bitterness more bitter than in education. For most of the 80s we London local authorities were mere horrified and fascinated onlookers. But then, towards the end of the decade, we had to start setting up our own education departments ahead of the abolition of the ILEA in 1990.
Mike Stoten was the man we chose to set up ours. He has already been blooded at Brent, or Barmy Brent, as it was then known, where, as an advocate of traditional standards and methods, he had had quite a torrid time. On at least one occasion he suffered assault at the hands of an 'activist'.
If anyone could stand up to that it was Mike Stoten, but he knew that across the border in Conservative-controlled Kensington and Chelsea he had a chance of actually putting his beliefs into practice.
I like to think of Stoten as a grizzled veteran of the reading wars of the 80s and 90s. Back then the advocates of 'whole language' approaches to the teaching of reading faced off against the supporters of phonics which had once been the standard until, that is, it came to be viewed as a 'token in rightwing discourses for a structured, disciplined, teacher centred, whole class-based approach.'
Whole language, so it was argued, offered more freedom and more opportunity to enjoy culturally diverse literature. But Stoten was for phonics, not I suspect because of right wingedness, but because the data said it was more effective. He wanted children from disadvantaged backgrounds to read. He knew they had no libraries to fall back on at home and that school could be their one shot.
Many of the schools we took charge of in 1990 were in a sorry state. We found the money to bring them up to standard and Mike and his team made sure that money was well spent. And bit by bit, he helped win the reading wars. But Mike saw little point in ensuring the right school buildings and teaching methods were in place if we then stood back and allowed the kids' chances to be sabotaged by their home life.
In typically forthright fashion he tried to address the problems that hampered child development and progress at school. He talked about kids who arrive at school with few, if any social skills, who were verbally and physically aggressive, who could not pay attention, who were up at all hours watching television or video, and of parents who refuse to accept the notion of authority.
Difficult stuff even these days, but back then absolute dynamite. But he stood his ground and we backed him all the way. When Mike left the Royal Borough in 1995, we were, thanks to investment, method and good leadership, already pulling ahead as a local education authority. His successor was expected to maintain the course he had set.
Mike Stoten could be a prickly character but he was a leader who knew how to get a team round him and give them a sense of mission. If that wasn't enough, he also had the courage to speak up about the state of British education and in so doing made it easier for others to follow.
I am lucky to have worked with some truly great council officers in my career. Mike Stoten was one of the best.