Kent/ESRC/NCVO/CGAP Seminar March 1 st 2013.

Transcription

1 Social Justice, philanthropy, enterprise and profit in English education. Stephen J Ball and Antonio Olmedo Institute of Education, University of London Kent/ESRC/NCVO/CGAP Seminar March 1 st 2013.

2 A gimlet eye It is in the interest of both philanthropists and the larger public that sceptical observers step forward and offer gimlet-eyed assessments of philanthropic initiatives. Fred Hess (American Enterprise Institute) Diane Ravitch, in her book The Death and Life of the American School System, refers to a conspiracy of silence that makes it all the more imperative that journalists, scholars and public officials scrutinize the long-term vision and activities of major foundations. ESRC, British Academy and Leverhulme Trust projects.

3 New spaces of policy. 1. Private spaces (new policy landscape); new governance: flows of influence and discourse. 2. Profitable spaces (new business opportunities); flows of opportunities and exchanges. 3. Personal spaces (redistribution of moral authority); flows of beliefs, values and prejudices.

4 1. New policy landscape I think we are at a unique moment in our country s history, where there is a willingness of the political establishment to change, to embrace change on this subject there s a concentration of like-minded people in all parties. (Paul Marshall)

5 As Matthew Bond (2012 p. 72) puts it: If the Big Society is to effect the cultural shift its proponents desire without the use of interventionist mechanisms, it has the potential not only to transform corporate social action but also to mark a significant change in the way we are governed

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7 ARK ARK is a charity founded in 2002 by a group of hedge fund managers pooling their skills and resources to improve the life chances of children (ARK website). ARK operates in the areas of health (in Sub-Saharan Africa), child protection (East Europe) and education (India, Uganda, US and UK). In the UK, ARK s activities focus on educational disadvantage and underachievement. ARK Schools runs a network of 18 academies, with additional new schools currently in development. Future Leaders and Teaching Leaders are school leadership development programmes which focus on equipping the next generation of leaders for challenging schools. We also support schools to run affordable outdoor challenges to boost pupils' confidence and achievement. Lucy Heller, the new ARK chief executive, explained to the TES that: What we ultimately want is for every child to be able to make proper choices at 18, either going to the university of their choice or getting an apprenticeship or whatever. And not only in terms of qualifications, but also in the sense that this is their birthright and that they will therefore have the aspirations and motivations that will drive them. (Times Educational Supplement 6 September 2011).

8 2. New spaces for profit The business of giving: Entrepreneurial giving is far from being a one-way street (Maclean etal 2012 p. 28) a. Business methods and sensibilities b. Infrastructure of intermediaries, provision of management services c. The business of social justice creative capitalism d. Interested philanthropy

9 a. Business methods Rather than simply being a purvey of charitable funds for deserving organisations of all sorts, venture philanthropy promised to turn donors into hard-nosed social investors by bringing the discipline of the investment world to a field that had for over a century relied on good faith and trust (Frumkin p. 8) As Paul Marshall, a founding trustee, explains, ARK s founders aspired the charity to be a proper hedge fund charity, which demonstrated the commitment of the hedge fund industry to giving something back and which also used our combined financial and business experience to try and make a difference, apply some of the principles of our business to charitable giving (Paul Marshall). We wanted to apply the same robust measurement and accountability to philanthropy as we do to business, in order to deliver programmes that transform the lives of the most disadvantaged children. ARK Annual report 2012 available online at DF%20final.pdf

10 b. Servicing the givers Infrastructure of intermediaries, provision of management services (EIS, SERCO, NPC etc. etc.)

11 c. The business of social justice creative capitalism. Doing well by doing good! Creative capitalism (Gates, 2008): an approach where governments, businesses, and nonprofits work together to stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or gain recognition, doing work that eases the world's inequities Clinton Global Initiative (website): Traditional approaches to aid are not enough to address the great global challenges of our time. Market-based solutions show incredible promise to solve these daunting problems on a systemic and widespread level. These approaches, however, are still in a nascent stage. Corporations are researching and developing better business practices that meet social and environmental bottom lines while producing profits. Non-profits are pioneering enterprise-based models that offer potential for long-term sustainability. Governments are contributing their resources to encourage and support market-based approaches.

12 a shift from a focus on correcting for to connecting to the market (Brooks et al. 2009). Croft, J. (2011), Profit Making Schools: Unlocking the Potential of England s Proprietorial School Sector, Adam Smith Research Trust. The Profit Motive in Education: Continuing the Revolution, Institute of Economic Affairs. July Profit in education: where we are now: An overview of policies and controversies from around the world, National Skills Forum and Associate Parliamentary Skills Group, May Social Enterprise Schools: A profit-sharing model for the state-funded school system. Policy Exchange 2012.

13 d. Interested philanthropy Bond instrumental nature of so much corporate charity (p. 72) making entrepreneurs HSBC has an extensive portfolio of educational philanthropy through its Global Education Trust and its CSR division HSBC Communities. Alongside the involvements noted above HSBC has worked with the Personal Finance Education Group to develop a curriculum programme for schools called What money Means. HSBC has also sponsored over a hundred specialist schools, at a cost of over 3m, was an inaugural supporter of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, and a corporate supporter of Teach First since The Trust is also a partner sponsor of two Academies, Belvedere, in which Sir Peter Lampl is involved and Sandwell, with Tarmac, West Bromwich Albion Football Club, Thomas Telford CTC, and the Mercers Company. The Sandwell Academy has a Sport and Business Enterprise specialism. HSBC also sponsors the Young Entrepreneurs Awards and the Young Enterprise Innovation Awards. With SIFE, HSBC has also funded and run a Global Financial Literacy Programme in 29 countries: Improvements in financial literacy can not only support social inclusion, but can also enhance the contribution the financial services sector makes to the world s economy. HSBC has also worked with the charity Young Enterprise for 25 years: Each year, our business volunteers inspire over 250,000 young people aged 4 to 25 years. Our programmes empower the next generation with the confidence, ability and ambition to succeed in a rapidly changing global economy (website). They also collaborate with the education social enterprise ASDAN to develop Personal Finance courses.

14 3. Personal spaces (redistribution of moral authority). New philanthropy is bringing new players into the field of social and education policy, repopulating and reworking existing policy networks, and giving legitimacy to the role of business or enterprise in the solution of wicked social problems (like school improvement, and education and social disadvantage). corporate and family foundations and philanthropic individuals are beginning to assume socio-moral duties that were heretofore assigned to civil society organizations, governmental entities and state agencies (Shamir 2008). A move from public to private morality? Bill Gates is the most influential individual in US education policy, according to a recent survey of nearly 200 education policy experts. The same group of experts ranked the Gates foundation as the third most influential institution, falling just short of the US Congress and US Department of Education (Reckhow 2013 p. 12)

15 Paul Marshall co-founder of ARK the fact is British Education is a total disgrace in the way we have let down the most disadvantaged children. And there is a culture of low expectations, which is promoted by all kinds of people. And we have to break that (Paul Marshall) the church has lost its role in society and there is a group within society which is just not taught how to behave. The school is the last institution left which can do that. But that means it needs to be a completely radical alternative to what they are learning on the street It s like being in the army in that sense. And that works. (Paul Marshall) I don t think it s a particular skills set that you need, I think your passion for philanthropy there s a really small group of people who make money but who want to give something back in a philanthropic way (PM).

16 Policy and the personal Boardroom progressives as Sarah Reckhow calls them, are in the business of what Maire MacLean and her colleagues call world making (Maclean 2012, Creed etal 2002). Moral indignation aimed at the failings of the welfare state and the inadequacies of the urban poor over and against an increasingly convergent foundational epistemology that (Shamir, 2008, p. 14) calls pragmatic entrepreneurialism. New philanthropists operate in a parapolitical sphere (Horne 2002) located at the interstices of business, government and CSR within which they can develop their own policy agenda. Michael Petrelli, from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, recently acknowledged that it is not unfair to say that the Gates Foundation s agenda has become the country s agenda in education.