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- 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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Category Archives: Education policy
Market autonomy or democratic autonomy?
With French presidential and parliamentary elections due in April , May and June next year, politicians on all sides agree that education should be a high priority and they are trying out a range of policies for education reform. These … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Education policy
Tagged autonomy, competition, Democracy, Education, Equality, France, marketisation, Philippe Meirieu, Social cohesion, Solidarity
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Overlooked and left behind?
The latest report from the House of Lords Select Committee on Social Mobility runs to over 100 pages and makes some worthy points. However, it seems to support the idea that education in itself can improve mobility and fairness in the … Continue reading
The challenge of small sixth forms.
The Department for Education has recently published new advice for academies intending to make significant changes. Amongst other things, the document requires them to make a full business case if they wish to add sixth form provision. This is a … Continue reading
16-19 education: from independence to interdependence.
I want to say a little about where we’ve been, where we find ourselves today and where we might be heading. When I say ‘we’ I am referring to 16-19 provision in colleges and most specifically sixth form colleges, although … Continue reading
A-level Drama in London.
Drama / Theatre Studies is an important area of study. It enriches the sixth form offer and provides students with opportunities to develop their cultural education, their understanding of the human condition, their confidence and ability to communicate well and work … Continue reading
Classical Capital.
Studying early civilizations helps us understand how people built sustainable ways of living together and made sense of the world many centuries before us. These civilizations have contributed so much to our own that studying them must form part of … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Education policy
Tagged A levels, Classical Civilization, collaboration, Colleges, curriculum, Education, Greek, history, Latin, liberal education, London, partnership, Sixth form, young people
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A sixth form profile for the ‘Local London’ area.
‘Local London‘ is one of London’s subregional local authority groupings. It consist of 8 boroughs and corresponds roughly to the East London sub-region for the post-16 area review. School sixth forms will not be part of the reviews but the … Continue reading
Skill shortage, training shortage or job shortage?
Unpicking the ‘skills gap’ narrative. “The number of job vacancies unfilled because employers cannot find candidates with the appropriate skills has risen by 130% in 4 years” (UK Commission for Employment and Skills UKCET report, January 2016) When employers or … Continue reading
A level languages in London.
What is the condition of A-level language provision in London’s sixth forms? Data from the 2015 performance tables show that: Over 5,500 London sixth formers entered A-levels in 19 different languages last year. Over two thirds of these were entered … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Education policy
Tagged A level languages, A levels, collaboration, Colleges, curriculum, Education, language learning, London, partnership, Sixth form
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A level minority report: Dance, Music, Philosophy.
I start from a belief that Dance, Music and Philosophy are wonderful A level subjects which should be accessible to sixth form students not too far from where they live as part of a broad educational offer. The published performance tables provide … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Education, Education policy, music
Tagged A levels, competition, curriculum, dance, Education, London, marketisation, music, philosophy, Sixth form, Sixth form college, young people
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Education: what’s it all for?
The House of Commons Education Select Committee has launched an inquiry into the purpose of education and is asking the following 3 questions: What is the purpose of education for children of all ages in England? What measures should be … Continue reading
New Year wishes for sixth form education in 2016
A year ago I posted 5 New Year wishes for post-16 education. I thought they were modest, realistic and realisable while also offering tangible benefits. My 5 wishes were: Recognise that innovation does not necessarily require the creation of new … Continue reading
The London Mayor’s Education Conference.
The Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority (GLA) have no statutory responsibilities for education, however they can use their convening power to bring people together, to advocate and call for action and to persuade. In many ways, the … Continue reading
Is collaboration the solution or the problem?
‘Collaboration between schools is now seen as an important way to improve educational performance yet little is known definitively about what impact this has for improving pupil attainment’. An interesting point which may well be worth looking into and luckily … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Education policy
Tagged collaboration, competition, CSMRE, Education, education system, marketisation, partnership, research, schools
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Susan Robertson on private interests and public education
When private interests into public education simply do not go was the theme of this year’s excellent Caroline Benn Memorial lecture given by Professor Susan Robertson of the University of Bristol on 10th November at the House of Commons. Susan … Continue reading
Eddie Playfair 