Education: The Rock and Roll Years

Education: the Rock and Roll Years' is visionary, practical, rebellious, idiosyncratic and beautifully idiomatic.  Its strength is combining personal experience with key principles.  This is an excellent piece of writing.

I loved this book: it’s honest, unpretentious and informative, just like its author. Anyone working with young people today should read, pause and consider the difference that could have been made to the life chances of several generations had the ideas, lessons and experience contained within these pages been absorbed into our nation’s educational bloodstream.

Les Walton is a remarkable man and in this book his personality comes shining through.  We are treated to stories about Elsie and why she didn’t go to school and Jack the caretaker, who ruled the school like a rod of iron.  But there are also stories about the big personalities who walked the corridors of power and the shifts in education policy over many decades.  We read about dealing with the aftermath of riots, moving accounts of brushes with death and a careful analysis of systems thinking.  Not only is the book full of compelling and humorous stories, it also has a poignancy and a depth of insight that only someone with Les’s unique career in education can capture. I loved it.

I have known Les for many years and his knowledge and belief in the power of education has underpinned our relationship throughout this time. His strong sense of moral purpose comes across every time I hear him speak as well as in this well-crafted and comprehensive overview of an educational era that many of us have lived and breathed. The way that Les weaves anecdote and example of how real people responded to real challenge is what makes this book so fascinating. I loved it!

Insightful, entertaining and wise.  This is a highly recommended read for anyone inspired by those, such as Les Walton, who have truly made a difference in education. 

Les is one of the most effective public servants I have ever worked with.  He is a man of deep principle, fully committed to improving the educational opportunities of young people everywhere.  He combines a formidable intellect with a very down-to earth style, which makes him immensely popular.

Les has led an astonishing life in education – from head of Norham High School, which serves the deprived Meadow Well estate in North Shields, to a college principal, director of education in North Tyneside and Chair of the YPLA.  This gives him a unique perspective on the English education system over half a century.  This book is funny, clever and compelling. The personal stories of leadership are often heart-rending and also entirely relevant to our current social and political circumstances.  For example, the riot which surrounded his school and the decisions that the leadership team took the day after to create a sanctuary for children. Part-anecdote and part-analysis, this book charts an extraordinary professional journey.

Les has a unique perspective on the education system and a passion to shape it so that it delivers the best for every single child and young person.  He is also a brilliant Chair, with a deep understanding of the dynamics of good governance and how to inspire board members to draw on their different experiences, listen to each other's perspective and through that to focus on their shared ambition to support the next.

Les is a giant in the education arena.  He has continually strived to make the world of education and schools accessible to all.  For many years he has been a powerful advocate for the voice of children and schools, particularly those who face social and economic hardship.  ‘Education: the Rock and Roll Years’ is a great way for those of us in the world of business and commerce to gain a better insight into the world of education.

When first I met Les Walton, his clarity of purpose and talk of the need for integrity instantly made a deep impression on me.  Les had been parachuted into the middle of an acrimonious education revolution taking place in my city.  But he managed to cut through the conflict through sheer force of personality and clear thinking.  He was one of the most impressive people I had ever met.

Education: The Rock and Roll Years is a uniquely humorous and personal in-depth understanding and insight of the political and social influences on education since the birth of our modern education system.

The history of the changing shape of the education system in England and the North East needs to be told, and I can think of no one better placed to do it than Les Walton. Not only has been at the forefront of every education innovation of any worth, he is funny. He can tell a story with wisdom and  humour.

Les Walton has done more than any other single person to promote high educational standards and high professional collaborative standards in schools and among educators in his beloved home region, the North East of England

I have worked with many impressive leaders in education, who, through their distinguished careers, have made a big impact. Les fits that bill, but he is one of the most interesting, because he is one of the few who have worked across all of education. That has given him a fascinating perspective which this book eloquently sets out.

Les Walton is one of the leading thinkers and practitioners in developing corporate governance. He has a remarkable record across education, spanning every sector and every level. His stories of governance at school, FE College, multi-academy trust, regional and national level are fascinating: he makes governance entertaining, which is rare.

If education is rock and roll, Les Walton would be in the Hall of Fame for his enduring contribution over so many years.This beautiful book chronicles an extraordinary leadership journey from Les’s working class provenance on Tyneside to becoming a national leader of education in the true sense of the phrase. It is utterly authentic and we see in print the man we know and love. As a polymath, Les has drawn on a wide range of sources that transcend the somewhat utilitarian vogue in education publishing. We read of Kahil Gibran’s wisdom alongside Bill Hayley and the Comets. Mary Warnock is juxtaposed with the Beach Boys. All of this makes for a riotous and disarmingly honest capture of all things education in England since the ’44 Act. You can dip into any chapter and find distilled wisdom. Thoroughly recommended. This truly is ‘Talkin’ ‘bout my generation’.