Author Archives: Eddie Playfair

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About Eddie Playfair

I am a Senior Policy Manager at the Association of Colleges (AoC) having previously been a college principal for 16 years and a teacher before that. I live in East London and I blog in a personal capacity about education and culture. I also tweet at @eddieplayfair

The Oxbridge challenge

Posted on July 5, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

Having successfully increased the number and proportion of our students progressing to the most selective universities, why is it that we have not seen a similar increase in the numbers progressing to Oxford and Cambridge? In a recent post I … Continue reading →

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College success with disadvantaged students

Posted on June 29, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) in East London sent more disadvantaged students to university than any other sixth form in the country in 2011. Overall, England’s 338 colleges sent more disadvantaged students to university than its 1,839 school sixth forms: … Continue reading →

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How to achieve high university progression rates

Posted on June 21, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) in East London is a large comprehensive sixth form college serving one of England’s most socio-economically disadvantaged communities. Most of our advanced level students start with below average prior achievement. Yet we have university progression … Continue reading →

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If not now, when?

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

So, first we slashed the funding for education for 18 year olds Even if they were half way through a 2 year advanced course. When was education ever the wrong choice?   Then, if they haven’t yet achieved an advanced … Continue reading →

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Market madness #3 The well-informed educational consumer

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

A series of short posts about the marketisation of public education: #3 The well-informed educational consumer. An ideal market requires well informed consumers who are in a position to make choices between products based on accurate information about the things … Continue reading →

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Maxine Greene: resisting one-dimensionality

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

Maxine Greene, the eminent American teacher, teacher educator and educational philosopher died last month aged 96. She is relatively little known in the UK and her passing doesn’t seem to have registered much in the British education media. It’s too … Continue reading →

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A pale shadow of democracy

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

The government’s new local arrangements for overseeing schools are a pale shadow of what we need. A new regional architecture is being created to oversee England’s schools and we are beginning to see its outlines. Mostly, it’s made up of … Continue reading →

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Headteacher Board elections: excitement mounts

Posted on June 8, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

Elections? This month? About education? With policies, candidates, proper voting and everything? Overseen by the electoral reform services? Cool! Yes, indeed, there are national elections taking place right now across England which will shape the education system in every part … Continue reading →

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Sixth forms working together against the tide

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

Opening speech to the Sharing Good Practice conference at St.Angela’s school, Stratford, 4th June 2014. We are all here today because we are committed to providing the best possible educational opportunities to young people aged 16-18 and because we think … Continue reading →

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Market madness #2 “Choice and diversity”

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

A series of short posts about the marketisation of public education: #2 “Choice and diversity” “Choice and diversity” was the last government’s euphemism for marketisation in public services, putting a positive spin on something which is not particularly popular with … Continue reading →

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Post-16 citizenship in tough times

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

The times we live in demand more than ever that we assume responsibility for ensuring that all young people are educated for global citizenship, in other words for survival. What might this look like post-16? The context The current context … Continue reading →

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Blob and anti-blob

Posted on May 25, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

‘Lump and label’ name-calling is a poor substitute for real debate in education as elsewhere. The use of the term ‘blob’ is a classic example of ‘lump and label’ thinking or inappropriate use of agglomeration and reification. A wide and … Continue reading →

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Market madness #1 Oversubscribed?

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

A series of short posts about the marketisation of public education: #1 Oversubscribed? “6 applicants for every place”…”heavily oversubscribed”. These sorts of claims are often used to establish how popular, and by implication successful, schools and colleges are. They should … Continue reading →

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Voting and the habit of democracy

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

Do young people see the point of voting? Is democracy important in their lives? Should ‘something be done’ about low election turnouts among 18-25’s? Today, we are voting in elections for the European parliament and in many areas we are … Continue reading →

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A tale of two boroughs

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

I want to start by telling the story of 16-18 education in two London boroughs; a story which illustrates some of the things I think we should be concerned about. Borough A was an economically disadvantaged area where most secondary schools … Continue reading →

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