1. FOR THE MOTION
1.1. KELVIN MACKENZIE http://bit.ly/aUTIIt
1.1.1. Uses himself as living proof; he left school with only one O Level (in English Literature) and went on to edit the Sun.
1.1.2. Education clouds the mind from commercial and entrepreneurial success.
1.1.3. Opportunity is missed, and along with it, the good life.
1.2. LYNN BARBER http://bit.ly/9RKHQ9
1.2.1. Worked at Penthouse Magazine for seven years and saw that as a 'terrific education' - unlearning prejudices from school and Oxford. A vast majority of her interviewees describe themselves as duds at school.
1.2.2. There are very few careers where a good education is actually necessary. And there is no universally accepted view of the good life.
1.2.3. "The good life is the life you create for yourself. And I feel that it begins at the point where formal education leaves off."
2. AGAINST THE MOTION
2.1. GERMAINE GREER http://bit.ly/dpYmKw
2.1.1. Education itself is the good life.
2.1.2. To educate a child is to draw out 'talents' and 'potentiality'.
2.1.3. Academia does not give all the answers.
2.2. FELIPE FERNANDEZ-ARMESTO http://bit.ly/bWVEdA
2.2.1. 'Good learning and good lives are inextricably allied.'
2.2.2. You need help - education - in order to maximise your potential, and enjoy a good and fulfilled life.
2.2.3. 'No matter how much you rely on experience, you need the vicarious experience which comes from great teaching...without that your life is stunted because education is accelerated experience.'
3. QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR http://bit.ly/aH1yLQ
3.1. You [the panel] are all from generation X, post-war boom, welfare state, retirement fund. Where is the good life for the 'lost generation'?
3.1.1. Kelvin Mackenzie
3.1.1.1. I think you've had it easy and you have the option to go to your parents! I do shed a tear for the 500,000 students going to university next year, who will join a working world with graduate unemployment at 14%.
3.2. Is it really important if we can't read?
3.2.1. Germaine Greer
3.2.1.1. In our society it is important because we have letters everywhere. But in other societies much less so. Where there is less literacy people develop a better memory.
3.3. What would each on the panel recommend to the Secretary of State for Education as to what he might do to provide a better education so that society can lead a collective better life?
3.3.1. Kelvin Mackenzie
3.3.1.1. Ban teaching unions. And secondly, no more change. For seven years we should live with it, the exams stay the same. Constant change puzzles the teachers and the parents.
3.3.2. Felipe Fernandez-Armesto
3.3.2.1. Think about fundamental questions about what a good education is and what the good life is. Instead of thinking about impact and league tables and all that nonsense.
3.3.3. Germaine Greer
3.3.3.1. Make sure you can have as many different types of school as possible. There should be no one blueprint.