Behaviour and Risks (health, risk behaviour and experience of violence); and Subjective
Relationships (including school life and personal wellbeing). Across these dimensions the
United Kingdom is ranked, on average, bottom of the 21 nations - behind the United
States. The Netherlands and three Nordic nations are at the top of the table.
The Young Foundation produced a report in June 2009 called Grit the Skills of Success
and How They Are Grown, which claimed that life skills and character education were
just as important as examinations and IQ. The report made clear that as a society we can
no longer endorse an education system that does not sufficiently invest in developing
character skills that allows a child to achieve his or her full potential. This is just one of a
number of recent reports that have emphasized the importance of character education in
Britain.
A recent UK Cabinet Office report confirms some of this thinking on the vulnerable
white working class group. The short report Aspiration and attainment amongst young
people in deprived communities (2008) found that young people’s aspirations and those
of their parents influence their educational attainment and later life outcomes. According
to the report the 11-14-age range (Key Stage 3) is a key age range, when young people
move from idealistic to more realistic ambitions.
The Cabinet Report found that white boys have the lowest aspirations. Their educational
attainment is also failing to improve at the rates of most other ethnic groups. Parents are
the most important influence on children. Nevertheless the environments in which they
live have major influences both on parents and young people. Young people in certain
types of neighbourhood, which would include the East Birmingham area in this study,
with high levels of deprivation are less likely to develop ambitious, achievable
aspirations. However, deprived communities are not all identical. Young people in some
very deprived communities have high aspirations; the challenge comes when attempting
to convert those aspirations into tangible social outcomes.
The Cabinet Report indicates that certain community characteristics are associated with
low aspirations such as close-knit social networks, a sense of isolation from broader
opportunities and a history of economic decline. The study area is within this category.
High levels of bonding social capital and low levels of bridging social capital can restrict
young people’s horizons and access to opportunities. Bonding social capital is
characterised by strong bonds (or “social glue”) among group members such as close
friends and family. Dense networks, for example, provide crucial social and
psychological support for less fortunate members of the community. However bonding
social capital, by creating strong in-group loyalty, may also create strong out-group
antagonism’ whereas bridging social capital - characterised by weaker, less dense but
more crosscutting ties (“social oil”) can lead to progress in the wider world. Bridging
social capital generates broader identities and reciprocity, whereas bonding capital
bolsters our narrower selves’. In the context of the US, Putnam asserts that bonding
capital is good for “getting by,” whereas bridging capital is good for “getting ahead” ’
(Putnam, 2000).
The Cabinet Office’s Strategic Unit has also taken an interest in character issues as
Richard Reeves, the Director of Demos, has discussed the issue of 'character', specifically,
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