Speaking at a Labour conference event in Brighton, Lucy Powell MP stressed the need to develop a detailed policy platform whilst also providing a robust opposition.
She identified teacher shortages, spending cuts and the possible revival of the grammar school model as the greatest threats to the school system, and pledged to provide credible alternatives.
Ms Powell was clear that whilst she did not intend to repeat past mistakes, she was keen to encourage greater local authority involvement in schools.
The newly appointed Shadow Education Secretary was also adamant that she would not get dragged into a debate about the merits of different types of schools but would instead champion good practice across the board.
She said: “This is not about going backwards and trying to change the names of all the schools and change all the fundamentals, but I am absolutely clear that within that system the idea that all schools can be managed by the secretary of state is unsustainable.
“We need to have more local oversight, more local accountability and more opportunities to collaborate with the community.”
This approach supported the recommendations made in the recent Fabian Society report: Stakeholder Schools.
Introducing the research, the Fabian Society’s Olivia Bailey said the organisation was focused on “making good schools great,” and encouraging them to be “public interest intuitions”.
She said: “There should be a national constitution setting out rights and responsibilities based on principles of common endeavor and shared values, that can then be localised by each individual school.”
Echoing Ms Powell’s criticism of overarching state control Ms Bailey called for a “lighter touch from the centre,” that would allow “teachers to teach.”
Cooperative models, she suggested, should be encouraged through financial incentives.
The General Secretary of NASUWT, Chris Keates, backed the call for a national constitution, which she said should focus on delivering basic entitlements to all pupils.
Ms Keates identified those entitlements as including access to qualified teachers and properly supported teaching staff, having an education service that is not driven by profit and removing poverty as a barrier to a good education.
She raised concerns about the impact Government cuts were having on the teaching profession, highlighting the fact that teacher resignations were at the highest level they had ever been.
Mounting pressure due to squeezed wages and increasing workloads were causing people to leave in worryingly high numbers, she said.
Ms Keates urged Labour to “oppose and expose this government, and win public trust as they are doing that by clearly stating what their values are.”
An issue for the party to work on, she added, was in developing a “coherent and distinct narrative in education, grounded in reality,” as during the last general election the public “had been confused about what its policy was.”
Responding to this, Ms Powell agreed that the party had “got to get the message right.”
The Shadow Education Secretary added that in creating that message she would work closely with the sector.
“I am not here to tell you all the things I am going to do as Education Secretary because that wouldn’t be the basis on which I want to do this job, which is one of partnership, listening and looking at what works,” she said.
Describing the NASWUT’s vision for future policy, Ms Keates concluded: “We want cooperation and collaboration rather than competition and marketisation, and that is the way to deliver consistent improvements in our education system.
“So, Labour should ensure that education is a top priority and that our public education service delivers entitlements in the context of equality and social justice.”