Category Archives: Education

Starting to rethink education.

Posted on June 10, 2020 by Eddie Playfair

There are different ways to think about life after a crisis. One is: ‘let’s try to get back to things as they were as quickly as possible’, another is: ‘we can’t go back to things as they were, this is … Continue reading →

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Knowledge and education for the future.

Posted on May 25, 2020 by Eddie Playfair

Edgar Morin’s seven lessons for the future. When the French sociologist Edgar Morin was asked by UNESCO for his thoughts on education for the future, he organised his proposals around seven key aspects of human knowledge and understanding. In his … Continue reading →

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England’s unexpected exam revolution.

Posted on May 5, 2020 by Eddie Playfair

One consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic is that we are embarking on an extraordinary national experiment in the way young people achieve their exam grades in England; switching from a heavy reliance on externally set and marked written exams towards … Continue reading →

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Decarbonising education.

Posted on March 15, 2020 by Eddie Playfair

The climate emergency is a global reality and the large scale catastrophic weather events we face on a regular basis remind us that it is affecting us in the here and now, while also threatening far more serious impacts in … Continue reading →

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Knowledge-rich and skills-rich

Posted on August 18, 2019 by Eddie Playfair

We can learn a lot from the telly. Skills competitions like ‘Bake Off’ and ‘Strictly’ and quiz shows like ‘University Challenge’ and ‘Mastermind’ are among the most popular programmes on TV. These shows fall into two main camps, reflecting a … Continue reading →

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Fred Jarvis and ‘what the future holds’.

Posted on January 20, 2019 by Eddie Playfair

It was a great privilege to join with so many others this week  in a belated celebration of Fred Jarvis’ 94th birthday at the Institute of Education in London. It was both a joyous and a serious occasion. Far from … Continue reading →

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The promise of a National Education Service

Posted on January 13, 2019 by Eddie Playfair

The proposed creation of a National Education Service (NES) for England offers us the possibility of a decisive break with the market model, where education is treated as a commodity and where individual and institutional competition are regarded as the … Continue reading →

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My NewVIc story: Nathan Coulson

Posted on July 6, 2018 by Eddie Playfair

My NewVIc story: Nathan Coulson When I started at NewVIc , I was sixteen and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. This was probably obvious from my A-level choices: Philosophy, English Literature, Classical Civilisations, Maths and Further … Continue reading →

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My NewVIc story: Joseph Adelakun

Posted on July 5, 2018 by Eddie Playfair

My NewVIc story: Joseph Adelakun Former NewVIc student Joseph Adelakun is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and performed in the new RSC productions of Julius Caesar, Titus Andronicus and Antony and Cleopatra. At NewVIc, Joseph studied A-level Drama, A-level … Continue reading →

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Creating the conditions for a successful FE system

Posted on April 29, 2018 by Eddie Playfair

This week saw the launch of The FE and Skills System, a study by The Policy Consortium. Subtitled ‘The consequences of policy decisions – lessons for policymakers and stakeholders’, this thorough survey reaches deep into the heart of FE; drawing … Continue reading →

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2017 sees further increase in sixth form student research.

Posted on March 19, 2018 by Eddie Playfair

The steady rise in Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) entries in England’s sixth forms suggests that student research is increasingly valued. 8% of all advanced sixth form completers in publicly funded sixth forms are entered for it, however many are studying … Continue reading →

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Sixth form hopes for 2018.

Posted on January 1, 2018 by Eddie Playfair

I’ve been posting new year’s wishes for sixth form education since January 2015. This started with 5 ‘modest, realistic and realisable’ hopes. By 2016 the list had been cut to 4 and was then further reduced to 3 a year … Continue reading →

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The narrative of the ‘poor bright child’.

Posted on December 30, 2017 by Eddie Playfair

The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life. Jane Addams. Earlier this month the government announced a £23m ‘future talent fund’ targeted at ‘bright’ … Continue reading →

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Education is a human right

Posted on December 10, 2017 by Eddie Playfair

We mark Human Rights Day on December 10th and this year it is 69 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted in Paris at a United Nations (UN) General Assembly in a post-conflict spirit of international … Continue reading →

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Learning through conflict.

Posted on November 19, 2017 by Eddie Playfair

Education, like all human endeavour, requires conflict, struggle, challenge, disagreement, argument, difference, dialectic, dialogue. If we want to learn or make anything new, we need to reach towards what we don’t know, to seek out the unknown. Education, and life … Continue reading →

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