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Recent Posts
- Zola : a political reading. August 13, 2023
- Hotter than July? August 5, 2023
- Rethinking work July 30, 2023
- Educating for political literacy in an age of crisis. July 21, 2023
- Savoirs et valeurs : pratiquer et conjuguer July 21, 2023
- ‘Transformative Teaching and Learning in Further Education – Pedagogies of Hope and Social Justice’ July 18, 2023
- Dilemmas of Growth June 14, 2023
- A broader view of skills? June 7, 2023
- In praise of ‘low value’ subjects. February 27, 2023
- Frigga Haug and the mystery of learning December 6, 2022
- Debating Growth. November 29, 2022
- Code red for human survival November 8, 2022
- The politics of silence. September 4, 2022
- Posts on Corsican themes. August 10, 2022
- When Corsica welcomed thousands of Serb refugees (1916) August 9, 2022
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Author Archives: Eddie Playfair
No austerity of the imagination
What’s the mood in sixth form and further education 10 weeks after the election? Following the May general election there’s no question that post-16 education wherever it takes place faces greater austerity than any other phase of education. 16-18 year olds are funded … Continue reading
Posted in Education policy
Tagged austerity, Colleges, competition, Education, elections, imagination, marketisation, National baccalaureate, Post-16 funding, teaching, young people
1 Comment
Reading dystopias
Reading dystopias Utopia: an imagined society or state of things in which everything is perfect or close to perfect. Dystopia: an imagined society or state of things in which things are very far from perfect to a frightening extent. An … Continue reading
20 questions to ask about a book you’ve read
A starting point for discussion in reading groups or for students doing reading assignments (fiction). Explain the title. What category or genre do you think it fits into? What do you think the author’s purpose was? Something you liked about … Continue reading
From Bamako to Timbuktu
The brilliant director Abderrahmane Sissakou grew up in Mali and has named two of his films after Malian cities: Bamako and Timbuktu. Watching these two remarkable films recently over one weekend in the sequence they were made was a moving … Continue reading
Teachers create wealth too!
It’s become a commonplace to say that wealth has to be created before it can be spent and the received wisdom in mainstream political discourse is that the private sector does the wealth creating which then allows the public sector … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Tagged austerity, children, Colleges, crossing patrol, economy, Education, Elizabeth Warren, politics, resilience, Social cohesion, Solidarity, young people
2 Comments
London: a global learning city
Next May, London will elect a new mayor and Greater London Authority (GLA). The mayor has no statutory education powers but the fact that they are directly elected by the people of London gives them a legitimacy and convening power … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Tagged Cultural heritage, Education, elections, Equality, learning, London, London mayor, partnership, Social cohesion, Solidarity
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Glasto-Bacc
At last week’s National Baccalaureate convention, the ‘Glastonbury analogy’ was used to describe the way we’re choosing to develop this new curriculum framework. I don’t know if this is its first outing, but the idea is that lots of different … Continue reading
Posted in Education
Tagged 18 year olds, A levels, curriculum, Education, Glastonbury, Ken Spours, liberal education, National baccalaureate, young people
2 Comments
For a pragmatic idealism
We all have a range of perspectives on education arising from our various roles: professional, personal and political. In those roles, whether as teachers, learners, parents, governors or trade unionists we need to find ways of dealing with the world … Continue reading
Posted in Education policy
Tagged Democracy, Education, Equality, marketisation, National baccalaureate, Post-16 funding, SEA, Solidarity
2 Comments
The skilled learner DOES
Our mission at Newham Sixth Form College is ‘to create a successful learning community’. Each of the three ideas; success, learning and community are important to us and we make sure we define what each one means for all our … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Students, Teaching and learning
Tagged Critical thinking, Education, learning, Newham Sixth Form College, NewVIc, skills
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Market madness: condition critical
Market madness: condition critical From Forum vol.57, no.2, 2015 The condition of English education is critical. It has been weakened by pathological marketization and is in desperate need of treatment to restore it to health. In this article, I try to … Continue reading
Posted in Education policy
Tagged aspiration tax, competition, comprehensive education, Democracy, Education, elections, Equality, Forum, marketisation, selection, Solidarity, young people
2 Comments
Young poets ‘write the wrong’
Brave new words from young writers at Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) Poetry is not a luxury, something we only turn to when more important things have been seen to. Poetry is essential. We need to listen to it, read … Continue reading
‘Saying thank you’ – a poem for father’s day.
Saying thank you In the beginning very little gratitude Who gets to choose their parents after all? But gradually you realise what you’ve been given And in time you understand the debt you owe So, For bathing me … Continue reading
Speaking up for 16-19 year olds
SFCA Summer Conference 2015 Our Sixth Form College Association conference is always a great opportunity to meet old friends, make new friends, share our fears and frustrations, hopes and joys, find comfort and support from colleagues across the country. We … Continue reading
Snatching hope from the jaws of despair
What we say and do about post-16 education, like everything else, has to be seen in the context of the outcome of the recent general election. Elections are the great democratic moment when the people ‘speak’ and all our individual choices … Continue reading
Education for solidarity
We should work with each other for the common good. Education should develop and support our understanding and consideration of others and our ability to exercise and challenge power collectively.1 Solidarity is a powerful idea but a widely misunderstood word … Continue reading
Posted in Education
Tagged Eduardo Galeano, Equality, identity, Lev Vygotsky, Rabindranath Tagore, Solidarity, xenophilia, xenophobia
1 Comment
Eddie Playfair 