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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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Category Archives: Education
2017 sees further increase in sixth form student research.
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
Posted in Education
Tagged extended project, London, school sixth forms, Sixth form, Sixth form college, student masterpiece, student research
1 Comment
Sixth form hopes for 2018.
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
The narrative of the ‘poor bright child’.
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
Posted in Education, Education policy
Tagged Education, Equality, Future Talent Fund, high, NewVIc, selection, Social mobility, university progression
3 Comments
Education is a human right
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
Learning through conflict.
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
The East End’s ‘engine of progression’.
The East End’s ‘engine of progression’. In September, the Mail Online and others published articles extolling the achievements of the ‘Eton of the East End’, one of the highly selective sixth forms in Newham which have opened in recent years. … Continue reading
Being honoured
I was honoured to attend the 2017 Graduation ceremony for University of East London’s Sir John Cass School of Education and Communities on 1st November 2017. The ceremony granted UEL degrees in Early Childhood Studies, Education Studies, Social Work , … Continue reading
NewVIc class of 2017 progress to university.
The NewVIc class of 2017. Our class of 2017 was a diverse and ambitious cohort, full of great young people preparing to make a positive contribution by acquiring a range of professional skills and qualifications: 661 students progressed to higher … Continue reading
Posted in Education, NewVIc
Tagged comprehensive, comprehensive college, comprehensive education, Education, Middlesex University, Newham, Newham Sixth Form College, NewVIc, NewVIc alumni, Oxbridge, Queen Mary University of London, Russell group, Sixth form college, Universities, university progression, vocational education
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Oxbridge admissions – time for action.
Last week’s news that Oxford and Cambridge universities are failing to diversify and broaden their undergraduate intakes to reflect British society was deeply depressing for anyone who believes in university access and participation as a social good. The story broke … Continue reading
Posted in Education
Tagged Cambridge university, comprehensive education, diversity, Education, Newham, Newham Sixth Form College, NewVIc, Oxbridge, Oxford university, Russell group, Sixth form, Social mobility, Tower Hamlets, Universities, university progression, Wadham College Oxford, widening participation
2 Comments
Life in the sixth form funding canyon
The chancellor is currently pondering his priorities for the forthcoming autumn statement on public spending and given the critical state of our public services there are plenty of worthy calls on resources. Without minimising the case for spending more on … Continue reading
The GCSE retake challenge.
Imagine a year when all our efforts to improve sixth form students’ English and Maths worked for nearly everyone. A year when the English and Maths skills of all those post-16 students who achieved grade 3’s at school improved to … Continue reading
Posted in Education
Tagged achievement, criterion referencing, curriculum, Education, exam results, GCSE English, GCSE Maths, GCSE retakes, norm referencing, skills
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Easing student debt won’t cut it.
Apparently, the prime minister is considering ways to ease the burden of student debt (story here). That sounds like a good idea; she might also take the opportunity to consider how the tuition fee and loan system has changed the … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Education policy, Politics
Tagged Education, Labour party, marketisation, politics, student debt, student loans, Universities, university fees
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Challenging IQ.
Behavioural genetics; the clue to the difficulty is in the name. As with Sociobiology and Evolutionary Psychology before it, the squashing together of two very different levels of understanding into a single discipline creates a real problem. Genetics and psychology … Continue reading
NewVIc results 2017
Students and staff at Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) are celebrating another year of improvement in A-level pass rates and top grades, all of which have continued to increase faster than nationally. NewVIc’s A-level pass rate is up 1% on … Continue reading
The NewVIc class of 2016
As we prepare to celebrate the achievement and progression of our 2017 leavers on their results day, it’s worth looking back at our most recent previous cohort and where they progressed. As usual, the class of 2016 was a brilliant … Continue reading
Posted in Education, NewVIc, Students
Tagged Education, Newham Sixth Form College, NewVIc, Russell group, university, university progression
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Eddie Playfair 