Michael Gove - being as demanding as possible

"I hate the idea of settling for mediocrity."In this episode, we talk to Baron Gove of Torry. Entering Parliament in 2005, as MP for Surrey Heath, Michael Gove was Shadow Education Secretary from 2007, and Secretary of State for Education from 2010 to 2014. His subsequent government roles included being Minister for Justice, and Secretary of State for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs. Standing down as an MP in 2024, he now edits The Spectator.His tenure proved controversial among teachers, and consequential for the education system. As Daisy Christodoulou put it, he "set the contours for the next half century." In this interview, I wanted to understand the contours he aimed for, how he sought to pursue them, and what he had learned from the experience.We discussed:His diagnosis of the challenges facing English schools in 2010How he sought to make the Department for Education deliver his agendaThe curriculum review, and why he became closely involved in itThe balance between autonomy and prescriptionThe goals of the academy programmeWhat he took with him to the Ministry of Justice and DEFRAHis reflections on the process, and his approachUnbowed in his belief that "knowledge should not be restricted to an elite, and that the best that has been thought and written belongs to everyone," he reflected also about how picking his battles, and "a greater degree of imaginative sympathy for people on the other side" might have helped.